So i just cant find this anywhere i know ive read it before so it must be burried in one of the books. How many lifepaths compared to the player should a companion or allied npc have if hes going to tag along? And out of curiosity what were the guidelines for purchasing a follower?
I don’t have my book on me at the moment, but I think everything you want is in the Character Burner intro section, under Relationships. In particular, look for a subsection with the word “crew” in the title.
It’s on p. 96, “Bodyguards, Squires and Apprentices”: They must be bought via the relationship rules, cost 10 RPs and must take 2 fewer LPs.
But as far as npc’s themselves, that’s up to gm discretion. If they are supposed to be on equal footing with the party I use the same criteria as the pc’s, if a full burn is needed for a mentor type of roll I might go 1-2 lifepaths higher, the same amount lower for a recurring background npc who has become more than simple comic relief.
The Page 96 reference is needed if you are building the relationship into the character concept rather than as a seperate character concept themselves.
Jason and his crew from the Argonaut accompany the mighty Hercules on many adventures. Jason and Hercules may well have the same number of lifepaths while Jasons’ First Mate on the Argo (as well as the rest of the Argonauts) have two lifepaths less than Jason. (Jason & Hercules 5 lp. Crew of Argo 3 lp.)
I have to disagree with that particular example. The crew of the Argo was laden with other highly significant heroes in their own right. Castor and Pollus, Orpheus, Theseus and Bellerophon in some sources, and more. That ship didn’t have anyone who was just crew, it had an all-star ensemble cast of mighty warriors.
But otherwise I agree.
The Argo did indeed have a fine crew, and though the meaning of my example remains the same I probably should have picked on Sinbad.