Leadership
There are now three kinds of subordinates that leadership can grant you: Cohorts, Companions, and Followers.
- Cohorts: Having a cohort is very similar to having a secondary character. You have direct control over your cohort, just as you have control over your own character. This means that you literally have your cohorts character sheet and operate them as an additional PC. Your cohort, if you have one, always has a CR that is 3 less than your character level or half of your character level, whichever is greater. Every cohort beyond the first one you gain has a CR one less than the previous cohort. Cohorts are usually gained by taking [Leadership] feats.
- Companions: Companions play supporting roles to your own character. You have direct control of your companions as long as they are with your character. If for some reason one of your companions is separated from your character, the companion continues to act in your best interest, typically following any orders you have given it. This means that while your character and their companions are in the same "scene" you countrol them just as you would a cohort and have access to their character sheet. Companions do not follow any standardized power schedule, and are usually gained via class features.
- Followers: Your followers are people that take orders from you, possibly as members of an organization you lead or have a leadership position within. Instead of keeping track of all of your followers individually, they are represented by your Leadership Score (see below). By using your leadership score to issue orders, you can have your followers accomplish tasks for you.
Leadership Score
Your Leadership Score represents the amount of benefit you have from being the head of your organization. It variously represents the manpower of your followers, the favors that can be called in, and the knowledge of those that work for you. Your leadership score entitles you to issue a number of 'orders' per week equal to your leadership score.
The time it takes for a task to be finished, wether successful or not, varies. Each order has a base time requirement that fits in somewhere on the table below, every favorable circumstance changes the time required to the nearest faster category. Every unfavorable circumstance likewise adjusts the time required to the next slower category. These adjustments are cumulative.
Table: Time Required to Complete Orders
| Time Needed |
| Right Now |
| One Hour |
| One Day |
| One Week |
| Two Weeks |
| One Month |
| Three Months |
| Six Months |
| One Year |
| Never |
Orders
Table: Orders
| Order | Base Time |
| Body Guard | One Week, see text |
| Favor | One Day, see text |
| Gather Intelligence | One Week |
| Labor | Two Weeks, see text |
| Provide Service | One Week |
| Requisition | One Day |
| Retinue | One Week |
| Service | One Day |
| Skill Check Equivalent | One Week |
Base Time: One Week
You have a character or group of characters follow you around and assist you in battle. These characters together must have an encounter level that is no greater than half of your character level. You can only have one instance of this order active at any given time.
Special: The amount of time required for this order represents the time needed to gather your body guard, and they follow you around for one week after the order is completed. You can keep your body guard with you afterwards by expending a use of your leadership each week you keep them. If you allow your body guard to be killed your leadership score is reduced by 2 for one month.
Favor
Base Time:[/b] One Day
You can call in a favor from a specific NPC. For the purpose of a single task, that NPC is considered to have a Helpful attitude toward you. You cannot call in a favor from an NPC that has a Hostile attitude toward you. The amount of time required, if lengthy, represents the time needed for agents from your organization to make the appropriate contacts to call in the favor.
Gather Intelligence
Base Time: One Week
You can use your followers to find out about a person place or thing. After the required amount of time has elapsed you make a Character Level Check against a DC of 10. If successful you learn a single piece of information about the object of your investigation at the end of the week, and an additional piece of information for every 5 points by which your check exceeds the DC. On a failed check, you gain a piece of information that turns out to be false. The DC of this check is modified depending on the target of your investigation, as shown on the table below. Additionally, if you have recently succeeded on a check against the same target, you gain a cumulative +5 bonus (maximum +15), a failure clears these bonuses.
- Person: A successful check indicates that you learn one thing of your choice about a person: their current location, where they plan to be during the next week, if there is currently a plot against that person, the truth about one rumor about the person.
- Place: A successful check allows you to learn one thing about the place: presence of people or monsters and a general indication of how dangerous the area is, the number of a specific group of people that you already know the presence of in the area, the presence or absence of ambush points.
- Thing: A successful check lets you learn one of the following about an object: the history of the object, the previous owner of the object, the function of the object, the activation method for the object (if magical).
Table: Gather Intelligence DC Modifiers
| Person is... | DC | Place is... | DC | Thing is... | DC |
| Friendly | -5 | Friendly Territory | -5 | In Your Possession | -5 |
| An Enemy | +5 | Hostile Territory | +5 | Not Specific | +5 |
| Secretive | +5 | Remote | +5 | Medium or Major | +5 |
| In Hiding | +5 | Guarded | +5 | An Artifact | +10 |
Base Time: Two Weeks
You can have your followers work to build or craft something. After the required time has elapsed, an amount of work has been done equivalent to a number of laborers working for one week. The number of laborers is based on your leadership score, as shown on the table below. If the task would normally require some sort of skill check or other special circumstance to complete, you must arrange for that to be done separately.
Special: The amount of time required for this order represents the time needed both to arrange for the laborers to arrive, and the time needed for the work to be done, as such this time cannot be reduced beyond one week. If the project is still not finished after one use of the labor order, you can continue to have work done on consecutive weeks by expending another use of your leadership, and in such a case the time required is always one week.
Table: Work Done by Laborers
| Leadership Score | Equivalent Number of Laborers |
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 25 |
| 4 | 100 |
| 5 | 500 |
| 6 | 2,500 |
| 7 | 15,000 |
| 8 | 50,000 |
| 9 | 250,000 |
| 10 | 500,000 |
| +1 | x2 |
Base Time: One Day
You can borrow a single item from your organization for one week. You can only borrow one such item at a time, and the maximum value of the item is based on your level and can be seen on the table below. You may only have one item requisitioned at any given time.
Special: the amount of time required for this order represents the time needed to get the item delivered to you, and you can keep the item for one week thereafter. You can continue to keep the item afterwards by expending a use of your leadership every week that you keep it. If you lose the item or you cease expending leadership uses for it without returning it, your leadership score is reduced by two until you pay double the items value back to your organization.
Table: Requisitionable Items
| Level | Most Expensive Possible Requisition* |
| 1 - 2 | A non-masterwork weapon or set of armor worth up to 1,000 gp |
| 2 - 3 | A masterwork weapon or set of armor worth up to 1,500 gp |
| 5 - 8 | A minor magic item |
| 9 - 15 | A medium magic item |
| 16+ | A major magic item |
* The items given on this table do not necessarily limit you to this selection, your DM may allow you to requisition other items of equivalent value.
Base Time: One Week
You can bring a group of advisers, craftsmen, squires and other such camp followers with you on an adventure. This camp following can do 'stuff' for you while you're busy with real work. This camp following can do the same amount of 'stuff' that a number of people equal to your leadership score could do, has a bonus equal to your leadership score to all skill checks, and can cast spells from the core Cleric and Wizard spell lists of a level up to one third of your character level a number of times per day equal to half of your leadership score. If for some reason you need to represent your personal retinue in combat, treat them as a group of NPCs with only NPC class levels with an encounter level equal to one half of your leadership score.
Special: The amount of time required for this order represents the time needed to gather your personal retinue, and they follow you around for one week after the order is completed. You can keep your personal retinue with you afterwards by expending a use of your leadership each week you keep them. If you allow your retinue to be killed your leadership score is reduced by 2 for one month.
Service
Base Time: One Day
You can have your organization, or someone in debt to it, provide you a service.
- Spellcasting: One of your followers casts a spell at your behest. This spell must be of a level that a wizard half of your character level could cast, and be chosen from the core Wizard or Cleric spell list. You must provide any costly materials or experience points required by the spell.
- Transport: Your organization arranges for you to travel by vehicle, either overland or by water, for a number of days equal to your leadership score. You may expend additional uses of your leadership to extend the journey beyond this.
Base Time: One Week
You can have your followers perform some task that is equivalent to a skill check. The skill may be any relevant skill, and the bonus is equal to your character level. Special: You may expend additional uses of your leadership score on this order, and for each extra use you expend the check is made at an additional +5 bonus, up to a maximum of twice your character level.
Favorable and Unfavorable Circumstances
Your base is...*
| You're actually in it now | Faster |
| In the local area (up to 50 miles away) | No change |
| In a neighboring province or country (50 - 500 miles away) | Slower |
| In a distant country (500 or more miles away) | Two slower |
| On Another continent | Three Slower |
| On Another Plane | Four Slower |
The target of your order is, relative to your base...
| In the local area (up to 50 miles away) | No change |
| In a neighboring province or country (50 - 500 miles away) | Slower |
| In a distant country (500 or more miles away) | Two slower |
| On Another continent | Three Slower |
| On Another Plane | Four Slower |
| Metropolis Two Faster | |
| Small or Large City | One Faster |
| Large Town | No Change |
| Village or Small Town | One Slower |
| Thorp or Hamlet | Two Slower |
| Unpopulated Area | Three Slower |
| Friendly | Faster |
| Indifferent | No Change |
| Unfriendly | Slower |
| Hostile | Two Slower |
Rushing an Order
By expending an extra use of your leadership, you can reduce the time required to complete it to the next quickest category, you may do this multiple times per order.
Replacing Cohorts and companions
Sometimes companions and even cohorts might die. Or maybe the one you have just isn't cutting it anymore. Often the requirements involve some amount of in-game time passing, and this assumes that the character spends some minimal amount of time between adventures looking for suitable replacements. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, the DM should try to follow these guidelines or work out another suitable means of replacing the minion. The requirements to replace them are as follows.
Replacing a Cohort: A cohort can be replaced any time you gain a level, or after some period of in-game time (typically a month). Your DM may also allow you to immediately replace your cohort with an appropriate NPC that is already in the campaign.
Replacing a Companion: Typically the steps necessary to replace a companion are given by the feat or class feature that granted it. If no method of replacement is specified, a companion can usually be replaced after one week of in-game time.
The original post, for reference.
Leadership in 3.x is not standardized and is often weird. Your followers are supposed to be useful, but they suck at combat and have no concrete rules so it sort of ends up as MTP (they also require plenty of paperwork). Classes give you things that are similar to cohorts, but aren't. I want to standardize this stuff and simplify it.
The stuff here is very preliminary and I'm not even trying to say it's complete, but I wanted to put something up on The Den for feedback.
There are now three kinds of subordinates that leadership can grant you: Cohorts, Companions, and Followers.
Your Leadership Score represents the amount of resources and manpower your followers can produce. Your Leadership Score has a maximum value equal to your level, and is replenished by an amount equal to your Charisma bonus each week (minimum 1). You only have one Leadership Score, if a source would grant you more than one Leadership Score, your score is instead increased by 4. Below are the tasks you can accomplish by spending your Leadership Score.
When you first gain a leadership score, you should select a location to serve as the base for your organization. The location of your base affects the DC of and the the time it takes perform certain actions.
Table: Uses of Leadership
Gather Intelligence: You can use your followers to find out about a person place or thing. If successful you learn a single piece of information about the object of your investigation at the end of the week, and an additional piece of information for every 5 points by which your check exceeds the DC. On a failed check, you gain a piece of information that turns out to be false. The base DC for this check is 10, modified by the conditions shown on the table below. You have a bonus to the check equal to you level.
Labor: You can have your followers work to build or craft something for one week. The amount of work done is based on how much of your leadership score you spend, and is equivalent to a given number of people working for one week. This cost recurs weekly if you have your followers continue to labor. If the task would normally require some sort of skill check to complete, you must arrange for that to be done separately.
Table: Leadership Cost of Labor
Personal Retinue: You can take followers with you on adventures. The cost to do this is equal to the encounter level (EL) of the followers you bring with you, up to a maximum of 1/2 of your level. The followers remain with you for one week, and the cost recurs for each week they remain with you. If some of them are killed or otherwise rendered unfit for service, a one-time penalty equal to half of the cost to bring them is incurred. If all of them are killed or otherwise rendered unfit for service, the penalty is instead equal to the full cost to bring them. This can temporarily reduce your Leadership Score to a negative value.
Skill Check Equivalent: You can have your followers perform some task that is equivalent to a skill check. The skill may be any relevant skill, and the bonus is equal to your character level. For every additional point you spend, the check is made at an additional +5 bonus, up to a maximum of double your character level.
When you first gain your leadership score, you should select a place to serve as the base of operations for your organization. Tasks take additional time to start based on how distant the task is to take place from your base. This amount of time does not necessarily equate to the time it takes for your followers to physically reach the location, but could be the time it takes to get in touch with with local contacts or contractors.
Table: Extra Time Required
By spending an extra 50% of the cost of a use of your leadership (round up), you can reduce the time it takes to complete the task from a number of weeks, to an equivalent number of days.
Sometimes companions and even cohorts might die. Or maybe the one you have just isn't cutting it anymore. Often the requirements involve some amount of in-game time passing, and this assumes that the character spends some minimal amount of time between adventures looking for suitable replacements. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, the DM should try to follow these guidelines or work out another suitable means of replacing the minion. The requirements to replace them are as follows.
Replacing a Cohort: A cohort can be replaced any time you gain a level, or after some period of in-game time (typically a month). Your DM may also allow you to immediately replace your cohort with an appropriate NPC that is already in the campaign.
Replacing a Companion: Typically the steps necessary to replace a companion are given by the feat or class feature that granted it. If no method of replacement is specified, a companion can usually be replaced after one week of in-game time.
So, now for some examples of what feats or class features would look like under this system. Surprise, they're shorter and standardized.
Druids Animal Companion: You gain a cohort that must have the Animal type, or have both the Magical Beast type and the [augmented animal] subtype. If you already have a cohort, you gain a companion with the same requirements instead.
Improved Familiar [Skill: Knowledge Arcana]
Requirement: The Familiar class feature.
0: You replace your familiar with a companion. This companion must be an animal, magical beast, elemental, or outsider that meets the CR requirements for being a companion. This cohort cannot gain class levels, and must be a creature that can advance by HD.
4: If your familiar makes a successful attack or successfully casts a spell on a creature, that creature takes a -2 penalty to saving throws against your spells for the next minute.
9: Your now keep part of your familiars soul within your own. If your familiar dies it spontaneously regenerates after one week.
14: Once per day, any time you would be killed you can have your familiar die instead.
19: You and your familiar are now best bros, as a full round action you can switch locations with your familiar regardless of distance, or teleport your familiar into an adjacent space. This is a supernatural ability.
The stuff here is very preliminary and I'm not even trying to say it's complete, but I wanted to put something up on The Den for feedback.
Leadership
There are now three kinds of subordinates that leadership can grant you: Cohorts, Companions, and Followers.
- Cohorts: Having a cohort is very similar to having a secondary character. You have direct control over your cohort, just as you have control over your own character. Your cohort, if you have one, always has a CR that is 2 less than your character’s level. A cohort increases in power, gaining a level or hit dice, when you gain a level. You may only ever have one cohort at a time, if a source would grant you more than one cohort, you instead gain a companion. Cohorts are usually gained by taking [Leadership] feats.
- Companions: Companions play supporting roles to your own character. You have direct control of your companions as long as they are with your character. If for some reason one of your companions is separated from your character, the companion continues to act in your best interest, typically following any orders you have given it. Your companions always have a CR equal to your level -4 or to 1⁄2 of your level (round down), whichever is greater. Companions are usually gained through class features.
- Followers: Your followers are people that take orders from you, possibly as members of an organization you lead or have a leadership position within. Instead of keeping track of all of your followers individually, they are represented by your Leadership Score (see below). By spending points of your Leadership Score (and temporarily reducing it) you can have your followers accomplish tasks for you.
Leadership Score
Your Leadership Score represents the amount of resources and manpower your followers can produce. Your Leadership Score has a maximum value equal to your level, and is replenished by an amount equal to your Charisma bonus each week (minimum 1). You only have one Leadership Score, if a source would grant you more than one Leadership Score, your score is instead increased by 4. Below are the tasks you can accomplish by spending your Leadership Score.
When you first gain a leadership score, you should select a location to serve as the base for your organization. The location of your base affects the DC of and the the time it takes perform certain actions.
Table: Uses of Leadership
| Action | Leadership Cost |
| Gather Intelligence | 1 |
| Labor | Varies, see text |
| Personal Retinue | Equal to EL of Followers |
| Provide Service | Varies |
| Skill Check Equivalent | 1 per +5 Bonus |
Gather Intelligence: You can use your followers to find out about a person place or thing. If successful you learn a single piece of information about the object of your investigation at the end of the week, and an additional piece of information for every 5 points by which your check exceeds the DC. On a failed check, you gain a piece of information that turns out to be false. The base DC for this check is 10, modified by the conditions shown on the table below. You have a bonus to the check equal to you level.
- Person: A successful check indicates that you learn one thing of your choice about a person: their current location, where they plan to be during the next week, if there is currently a plot against that person, the truth about one rumor about the person.
- Place: A successful check allows you to learn one thing about the place: presence of people or monsters and a general indication of how dangerous the area is, the number of a specific group of people that you already know the presence of in the area, the presence or absence of ambush points.
- Thing: A successful check lets you learn one of the following about an object: the history of the object, the previous owner of the object, the function of the object, the activation method for the object (if magical).
| Person is... | DC | Place is... | DC | Thing is... | DC |
| Friendly | -5 | Friendly Territory | -5 | In Your Possession | -5 |
| An Enemy | +5 | Hostile Territory | +5 | Not Specific | +5 |
| Secretive | +5 | Remote | +5 | Medium or Major | +5 |
| In Hiding | +5 | Guarded | +5 | An Artifact | +10 |
Labor: You can have your followers work to build or craft something for one week. The amount of work done is based on how much of your leadership score you spend, and is equivalent to a given number of people working for one week. This cost recurs weekly if you have your followers continue to labor. If the task would normally require some sort of skill check to complete, you must arrange for that to be done separately.
Table: Leadership Cost of Labor
| Points Spent | Number of Laborers |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 25 |
| 6 | 55 |
| 7 | 110 |
| 8 | 225 |
| 9 | 450 |
| 10 | 900 |
| 11 | 1,800 |
| 12 | 3,750 |
| 13 | 7,500 |
| 14 | 15,000 |
| 15 | 30,000 |
| 16 | 60,000 |
| 17 | 125,000 |
| 18 | 250,000 |
| 19 | 500,000 |
| 20 | 1,000,000 |
| +1 | x2 |
Personal Retinue: You can take followers with you on adventures. The cost to do this is equal to the encounter level (EL) of the followers you bring with you, up to a maximum of 1/2 of your level. The followers remain with you for one week, and the cost recurs for each week they remain with you. If some of them are killed or otherwise rendered unfit for service, a one-time penalty equal to half of the cost to bring them is incurred. If all of them are killed or otherwise rendered unfit for service, the penalty is instead equal to the full cost to bring them. This can temporarily reduce your Leadership Score to a negative value.
Skill Check Equivalent: You can have your followers perform some task that is equivalent to a skill check. The skill may be any relevant skill, and the bonus is equal to your character level. For every additional point you spend, the check is made at an additional +5 bonus, up to a maximum of double your character level.
Leadership and Location
When you first gain your leadership score, you should select a place to serve as the base of operations for your organization. Tasks take additional time to start based on how distant the task is to take place from your base. This amount of time does not necessarily equate to the time it takes for your followers to physically reach the location, but could be the time it takes to get in touch with with local contacts or contractors.
Table: Extra Time Required
| Distance to Task | Extra Time Required |
| Local | No Extra Time |
| Neighboring Province (100 mi.) | 1 Week |
| Distant Province (250 mi.) | 2 Weeks |
| Neighboring Country (500 mi.) | 1 Month |
| Distant Country (1000 mi.) | 2 Months |
| Another Continent (3000 mi) | 3 Months |
| Another Plane | 4 Months |
Rushing Your Followers
By spending an extra 50% of the cost of a use of your leadership (round up), you can reduce the time it takes to complete the task from a number of weeks, to an equivalent number of days.
Replacing Cohorts and companions
Sometimes companions and even cohorts might die. Or maybe the one you have just isn't cutting it anymore. Often the requirements involve some amount of in-game time passing, and this assumes that the character spends some minimal amount of time between adventures looking for suitable replacements. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, the DM should try to follow these guidelines or work out another suitable means of replacing the minion. The requirements to replace them are as follows.
Replacing a Cohort: A cohort can be replaced any time you gain a level, or after some period of in-game time (typically a month). Your DM may also allow you to immediately replace your cohort with an appropriate NPC that is already in the campaign.
Replacing a Companion: Typically the steps necessary to replace a companion are given by the feat or class feature that granted it. If no method of replacement is specified, a companion can usually be replaced after one week of in-game time.
So, now for some examples of what feats or class features would look like under this system. Surprise, they're shorter and standardized.
Druids Animal Companion: You gain a cohort that must have the Animal type, or have both the Magical Beast type and the [augmented animal] subtype. If you already have a cohort, you gain a companion with the same requirements instead.
Improved Familiar [Skill: Knowledge Arcana]
Requirement: The Familiar class feature.
0: You replace your familiar with a companion. This companion must be an animal, magical beast, elemental, or outsider that meets the CR requirements for being a companion. This cohort cannot gain class levels, and must be a creature that can advance by HD.
4: If your familiar makes a successful attack or successfully casts a spell on a creature, that creature takes a -2 penalty to saving throws against your spells for the next minute.
9: Your now keep part of your familiars soul within your own. If your familiar dies it spontaneously regenerates after one week.
14: Once per day, any time you would be killed you can have your familiar die instead.
19: You and your familiar are now best bros, as a full round action you can switch locations with your familiar regardless of distance, or teleport your familiar into an adjacent space. This is a supernatural ability.
