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    Canonfire :: View topic - Adventuring Companies
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    Adventuring Companies
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    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 28, 2010
    Posts: 95
    From: San Diego, CA

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    Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:42 pm  
    Adventuring Companies

    I know of adventuring companies being detailed (rosters, main drives, alignments, base of operations, maps, etc.) but what I don't see are things like monthly payments to members, breakdowns of treasure division, percentages that the company takes before such a division can be made or codes of conduct.

    Can anyone name some examples of companies (or ones that may be home-brews) and how they work out these logistics and operations?
    GreySage

    Joined: Jul 26, 2010
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    From: LG Dyvers

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:22 am  

    If this isn't exactly what you're looking for, I am sorry, but maybe it will help.

    In my GH campaign world, I don't like adding NPCs to a party to buff them up as I end up having to play the character and either give the party all the info they can't figure out for themselves through that NPC or they use that NPC as a damage magnet, a pawn to take the hits for them. It just never works well.

    Instead, what I do for an under-powered party of player characters is allow them to hire a mercenary band. They can haggle the price and I determine it based upon the mercenary's power and the ability of the party to pay. The mercenaries generally will agree to work for a silver piece per day per mercenary per level or they will agree to split any treasure found 60%/40% - the mercenaries get 60%. They also get first choice of any looted arms and armor with the exception of magic. They agree to allow the PCs to claim any magic.

    Low-level adventuring parties almost always end up agreeing to give the mercenaries 60% of any monetary treasure found (including money gained by selling looted arms, armor, etc.) for several reasons. First, they get to keep all the magic. Second, they can't afford the daily upkeep cost initially. Third, the mercenaries are much more eager to accompany the PCs on dangerous adventures since they won't get paid unless they do.

    PCs that reward their mercenaries with better equipment, magic items as gifts to the sergeants and captain, etc., use their spellcasting abilities effectively and for the benefit of the mercenaries, sacrifice themselves to save mercenary lives, and generally treat the mercenaries as if their lives are as valuable as those of the PCs themselves, find that their mercenary company is extremely loyal. This means they won't hire themselves out to another despite not having a binding contract. It also means that the mercenaries don't run in fear when the party orders them to hold their ground, nor will they betray the party.

    Eventually, the party will be high enough level to survive without the mercenaries and the mercenaries will not be high enough level to survive the encounters the PCs run into, so the mercenaries will decide that they've had a good run and would like to retire and buy a farm to raise their families on with all the loot they've earned working for the PCs. Perhaps one of the surviving sergeants or the captain will decide to stay on as a Henchman of one of the PCs, if they have established a relationship conducive to such.

    Having a small mercenary company that is known in the area as being employed by your PC party allows for lots of excellent role-playing opportunities as well. I've really enjoyed teaching younger players how to empathize with others by demonstrating the effects of their decisions through the actions and attitude of their employed mercenary companies. Smile

    SirXaris
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 07, 2004
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    From: Mt. Smolderac

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:31 am  

    Those sound like some pretty good guidelines, especially their use in developing a sense of ethics and empathy with players. Smile
    I remember when I first start playing as a teenager and man, the things my group got up to. We sure were some amoral, bloody-handed villains. Wish I'd had a more responsible DM there to guide us. Sad
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 28, 2010
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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:22 am  
    Hmm

    I think it's helpful overall as I form what it is I'm after. Though, I think the players involved will be well-rounded enough to forego any sort of mercenaries (I think) and thankfully, the developing and playing the NPCs is definitely going to be enough for this DM. Wink Keep in mind, the adventuring company being formed is headed by a benevolent group with it's own self-interest in mind.

    What I'm looking for, as I know at least one player is going to ask, is:

    1) How much does the company take off their earnings? Is it 10%? Is it 40%? Are there things found along the way that are automatically forfeit to the company (like new discoveries, ingredients, food stuffs, etc. as it's a candy shop that sends them out on most jobs)? Does everything go back to the company and the company pays on merit?
    2) Is the division done by the company or by the players themselves? Can they lie about it, taking choice goodies or does everything go in the holding kitty until back at base?
    3) Are there a set of rules/code of conduct that they need to abide by to represent the company? Are there certain people who can't be hired?
    4) What happens when a rule is broken?
    5) Is there a "health plan" (go ahead... you laugh, but I know he's going to ask!) - as in, if they get hurt, does the company cover expenses when it comes to becoming maimed, diseased or raising from the dead? Is there a type of co-pay? (I'm not kidding.)
    6) Are there yearly dues on top of everything?
    7) How much do they get paid per month or is their cut enough?
    8) Is the contract signed per job? per year? until they quit?

    I suppose some of these questions will answer themselves now that I wrote them out. Embarassed I would like to have some clever things as well in "the fine print" that I can haul out if the players become to high and mighty and need some humility too... Evil Grin
    GreySage

    Joined: Oct 06, 2008
    Posts: 2788
    From: South-Central Pennsylvania

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:15 pm  

    Wow! Your World of Greyhawk is set in the Twenty-first century? Shocked

    For myself, I'd laugh at him and send him to read a few history books. And I'm not kidding.

    I just don't like it when a player wishes, or tries, to bring what are literally twenty-first century concepts into my (basically) pre-history game. I like a "time of Conan" type setting, not a "Renaissance" setting. But that's just me.

    Sorry, no insurance policy and no hospitalization. rolleyes

    But the answers to these questions are for you to decide. You're the DM, that is to say . . . You Are God Almighty.

    You are greater than Pelor, Boccob and even, dare I say it, Dread Tharizdun.

    You make the rules, not your players. If a player wishes to argue points with you TOO much, perhaps you should ask him to start his own game. Wink

    But that's just my two pennies. Laughing
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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:21 pm  

    No one is greater than He who should not be named.
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 28, 2010
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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 4:35 pm  
    *Laughing*

    It's not that he's a pain or even argumentative... he's just a little bit of a logical smarty pants and I like to stay ahead of him with answers for things, if it can be explained easily while adding to the overall game theme. Laughing

    Maybe I could just say "In joining up with the company, there are risks involved." Wink
    GreySage

    Joined: Jul 26, 2010
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    From: LG Dyvers

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:23 pm  

    Now that I understand what you're after a little better, I'll make this point:

    The idea of a company sponsoring the adventurers is all about what the PCs will get out of joining and what they have to sacrifice.

    What does the company offer them? Does it equip them with better arms, armor, spellbooks, etc. than they can get with their starting gold? Does it promise to Identify magic items for them at a discount? Will it pay for some or all of the cost of spells the party needs from NPC spellcaster, like Cure spells, Restoration, and Raise Dead? Will the Company provide shelter free of charge for members down on their luck? Will it provide added muscle, information from sages, free training, etc.? Maybe it offers affiliation with a noble organization or powerful people that can benefit the PCs' role-playing.

    As far as PC sacrifices goes, what does the Company require of them in return for the services offered? Monthly/yearly dues? A percentage of all treasure acquired? Service demanded when needed? Service of one type or another for a set amount of time each year? Swearing some type of oath?

    I think it will be quite difficult to entice an adventuring party into joining such an organization without offering them unreasonable gifts to do so. One option to make joining more appealing is if you add penalties for not joining.

    For instance, I have the local guild in the Keep on the Borderlands represent not only the various merchants who travel through the land, but also the mercenary bands. They require monthly dues, but provide up to a week's worth of free lodging to members needing it, allow members to make purchases between each other at discounts, send messages for modest fees, including requests for special products which otherwise might be unavailable to the PCs, and a willingness on the part of the Banker, Blacksmith, etc. to take the time to attend to the PC's needs more quickly, etc. My PCs discovered that refusing to join the Guild caused them to run into many delays and prevented them from accessing many items that they desired to purchase. Joining the Guild made them many more friends in the Keep.

    Hope this helps. :)

    SirXaris
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:49 pm  

    This is from Osprey books Condottiere 1300-1500: Infamous Medieval Mercenaries, "The terms of many condotte (mercenary contract) refer to an obligation of the part of the employer to provide some recourse to medical treatment. While billeted near towns, condottieri could make use of the local surgeons. In the field this was more problematic, but contemporary illustrations show surgeons working from their tents in military camps, so it would appear that large armies travelled with their own surgeon or surgeons." Not exactly an HMO, and what qualifications surgeons had varied a great deal, but it would appear to me to qualify as a "health plan." Like Mystic Scholar said though, your mileage is going to vary depending on what kind of GH you run. Mine is more along the lines of the Renaissance (minus gunpowder, plus magic) so that would work for me.
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 28, 2010
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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:30 pm  
    Exactly

    SirXaris and smillan_31 - that's exactly what I was looking for! Smile
    Journeyman Greytalker

    Joined: Aug 30, 2001
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    From: Niflheim, 9to5

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:56 pm  

    Check out the Greyhawk Wiki page on the Seekers of the Arcane. They seem like what an Oerthian version of an adventuring company would be. Not a mercenaries' guild, not a wealthy patron, but a network of like-minded people with agendas, resources, and a need for adventurers.
    Adept Greytalker

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:05 pm  

    The 1st Edition DMG has some good stuff on paying for mercenaries for an army that I have used to regulate how henchmen are handled. You could easily take a cue from this.

    Any actual attempt I have ever made to build an adventuring company have failed, however.
    Adept Greytalker

    Joined: Apr 11, 2009
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    From: Verbobonc

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:56 pm  

    Is the contract going to be a Hobson’s Choice? If not, an idea that might offer some fun, and a chance for your more “interesting” player to enjoy himself would be to role-play negotiations. This way, the characters can have a bit of say in the nature of the contract. Of course, this requires more preparation; a point system for the DM to use as a guide might be good.
    I also had a few ideas for the contract:

    Retainer: What is the nature of the character’s retainer?
    How much are they paid a week/month in coin or in trade?
    What sort of a recall are they on? Do they have to check in every three days?
    Are their specific days when they must be “on hand”? The four festival weeks leap to mind here.
    Are they allowed to take other jobs? Are they forbidden to work for anyone in particular?
    Does the sponsor get first bid on certain things found on side jobs (recipes, ingredients, etc.)

    Jobs: What type of jobs does the sponsor send the characters on?
    Are there limits on distance, durations, danger, humiliation?
    Are the characters paid while on the job? What is their cut, the company’s cut?
    What does the company provide for on-the-job injuries (healing, resurrection, etc.)?
    Who pays for lodging, transportation, etc. on jobs the company assigns?

    Bonus:Some extra things to make life interesting.
    The characters have to spend 30 minutes advertising their sponsor in each community they pass through.
    The characters have to hand out samples while travelling.
    The characters are required to only take meals in Greyhawk at inns or restaurants that work with the sponsor.
    If the character’s band has a coat of arms, it must employ the sponsor’s symbol prominently in it.
    Perhaps there is a “company store” system to keep the characters dependant.

    As an added bonus, all legal documents in Greyhawk are written in Ancient Suloise. This means that unless the characters have taken some interesting proficiencies, they will be unable to actually read the contract. This is a good way of sneaking something in that you may have forgotten. Of course, you can probably only use this once.
    [/u]
    Forum Moderator

    Joined: Feb 26, 2004
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    From: Ullinois

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    Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:07 pm  

    Good discussion guys. I have nothing to add. I just want to say I like Illustr8or's avatar.
    Grandmaster Greytalker

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    From: Mt. Smolderac

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    Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:36 pm  

    mortellan wrote:
    Good discussion guys. I have nothing to add. I just want to say I like Illustr8or's avatar.


    Yeah, I'll second that. I see dead gnomes.
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:06 pm  
    Thanks!

    I like those bonus touches, tarelton! It's a good way to force some newbies into roleplaying situations. And the key areas you fleshed out breathe life into something I think a lot of people might find the kiss of death in a game.

    Good stuff IronGolem and chaoticprime, as well.

    And the dead gnome? Yeah, I decided I didn't want a garden gnome for my icon after those Travelocity ads came out, so I killed him off. Happy
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