I just watched this video(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pewh1sCGSQM&t=811s)
I am handling Hirelings & Henchmen similiar way but i not entirely happy with it.
While I believe it crucial that they do not overshadow the party, I also feel like Hirelings are severly lacking in personality in my games.
They will still have interests of their own, but those tend to be reduced to a loyalty check to see if they remain and not something that shines through in play.
What ways have you found to give them a distinct personality without taking away from player agency.
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Iām a huge fan of the Gig Economy for OSE. It gives you a bunch of cool hirelings with some personality.
I also treat them all as mini pregens that the player can hire and control. That overshadow part is not much of an issue if the players are the ones controlling them. In fact I love when they actually come to like their hirelings and want to do stuff for them, or a little bit sad when one dies.
My problem isnt necessarily that they lack personality when created but even when i have fleshed out npcs, when they later on join the party the tend to crumble to an apendix of the players until they part ways with the players.
I like to use some of my Random Tables to give them more depth:
- Why Did This Hireling Join?
- Henchperson Habits & Follower Foibles
- Retainer Refusals & Hireling Hangups
I combined results from these, and a few of my other tables in this Hapless Hireling & Rapid Retainer generator to help spit them out quickly.