tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6342215385174131306.post4527195630332716000..comments2023-11-25T13:58:54.632-05:00Comments on Murphy's Victim: AD&D: When to Just Say NoRob Beckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07827879812868245027noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6342215385174131306.post-13232811635475598822020-03-25T15:28:16.741-04:002020-03-25T15:28:16.741-04:00Rob, it's clear you're a thoughtful DM. Y...Rob, it's clear you're a thoughtful DM. Your players are lucky. As for the consequences of not going into the earth and dealing with the drow there? Well, that just means that they'll have to deal with them eventually when they come to the surface.LMcFarlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16440670616392415062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6342215385174131306.post-71041928353579381592019-12-11T19:39:29.007-05:002019-12-11T19:39:29.007-05:00I spent a while this summer looking at ranger foll...I spent a while this summer looking at ranger followers, and they really do split into bands mostly-mundane and mostly-monstrous, depending upon that first roll. I can certainly imagine a player being disappointed with a mundane result, knowing what's possible among the monsters. I built an app to generate a set of followers to explore this (try it here: https://side77.shinyapps.io/Rfollowers/ - I'm curious to know if it will work for others). <br /><br />I'd be very tempted to give a player a few rolls at followers, maybe maintaining a DM's veto in the unlikely event they get 5 12 HD treants (a possible outcome!) and are thereby weaker than their followers. I realize that re-rolling isn't Gygaxian as he wrote, but it might be in the spirit of the way he played. I don't sense that a ranger's followers were ever meant to be a nuisance or hardship the way a cavalier's were, and while some followers are clearly superior to others, unless the player re-rolls just trying to max out levels on humans and demi-humans, I don't think you're risking much. <br /><br />Coming back to this specific player's problem and possibly addressing it through allowing re-rolls to skew more monstrous, you don't need to worry about keeping giant owls (or the other monstrous followers) busy and employed, they can just be out there, keeping an eye out for interesting developments and bringing back adventure hooks. <br /><br />In fact, and maybe this is just me, I'd always believed followers served without compensation. The DMG refers to them as "fanatically loyal" or "stalwart admirers," and, I don't think, ever addresses compensation for them. Please tell me if I'm missing something. The PHB points out that monk followers "require no support, upkeep, or pay of any sort," but the PHB isn't written so tightly that this sentence means other classes' followers do require same.<br /><br />Also, I don't see a tie between a ranger attracting followers and building a stronghold - the PHB just says they attract followers at 10th level, and that they *can* construct a stronghold, independent of level.<br /><br />One last thought on this: the DMG takes the PHB warhorse-calling of the paladin and adds some challenge and detail to it. Perhaps you could justify the ranger's ability to have some influence over his followers as seeing them in a vision in need of rescue, and they're serving after that...?<br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the great blog!Anson Caralyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16573208003809441956noreply@blogger.com