Followers Poll

[Diamond Spear]

Having just re-read my AD&D books and the part on henchmen having caught my eye, I got to wondering; how often people’s characters in their FH games have followers. So do you use them? And if so how often? If not, why not?

[Mister E]

Orphanages are great places to buy semi-retarded mute pack-dwarves for carrying your loot.

[Killer Shrike]

Followers can be so many things in FH; special steeds, animal companions, familiars, cohorts, etc are pretty common in the genre.

I find it to be fairly common in my games, where at least one player will have a follower of some sort.

[Vondy]

Its not the norm for my characters. Usually when a character has a follower its because they are a character with a history (who usually spent a chunk of their career in another system) that includes a supporting NPC who became integral to them in some way. As a result, during conversion, the follower gets tacked on. Its pretty rare for me to make a Fantasy character who starts out with a follower. I can see several character concepts that would support them, however. A lady with maids, a knight with a squire, a wizard with an apprentice or familiar, etc.

[Killer Shrike]

As a couple of for instances:

Saemund Magnussun has a better than average draft horse (bought as a follower) to pull his better than average heavy wagon (bought as a vehicle).

Normally, the character would not have had to pay points for either, but the horse is exceptionally tough and strong (necessary to pull the weight of the wagon), and the wagon was a juggernaut (in the literal wagon sense of the word) that was remarkable in many regards and effectively unique, so thus points.


Fyrclian has an exceptional Medium Warhorse named Aberjorn.

[Captain Obvious]

I've had a wizard with a small dragon familiar, and another guy with a mean ol' dog. One guy I played with back in the day took the Leader package deal and began amassing an army of Followers. They were useful for watching the horses or the ship or what have you while all the PCs went gallivanting off into some hole in the ground.

[AmadanNaBriona]

I can think of a few characters who've used the Follower rules... generally one or two per campaign. Most have been animal followers & familiars, but a couple of PC's have had troops as well. I generally don't require using the Follower rules for troops unless they are unusually loyal and omnipresent.
The Dwarven Prince in Exile bought his Royal Guardsmen as Followers.
The Captain of a pirate ship, OTOH, simply bought a Perk.
The Mercenary Captain did both... The Perk covered the "normal" troops, who usually only played a background role, but he also had a few Officer/NCO types bought as Followers.

Edit: I forgot... Charioteers were a VERY common Follower in my Epic Celt game.

[Rage]

As a couple of for instances:

Saemund Magnussun has a better than average draft horse (bought as a follower) to pull his better than average heavy wagon (bought as a vehicle).

Normally, the character would not have had to pay points for either, but the horse is exceptionally tough and strong (necessary to pull the weight of the wagon), and the wagon was a juggernaut (in the literal wagon sense of the word) that was remarkable in many regards and effectively unique, so thus points.


Fyrclian has an exceptional Medium Warhorse named Aberjorn.

DOMESTICATED!! AH AHA AHAHAA! THAT'S TOTALLY BOSS!


(caps indicates shouting, don't ya know.)

[Nolgroth]

I voted never, based on the fact that none of my characters have ever paid points to have a Follower. I have had characters that made extensive use of the Summon power, but near as I can tell, no Followers.

Of course, I'm not opposed to the idea and will have to work that in somewhere now that it's been brought to my attention.

[Killer Shrike]

DOMESTICATED!! AH AHA AHAHAA! THAT'S TOTALLY BOSS!


(caps indicates shouting, don't ya know.)

Huh? Not sure what you're on about. Thats straight out of the Bestiary.

[mayapuppies]

It seems that in this campaign the group is fond of animal followers with one hawk, one raccoon and one cat. The cat is a divine familiar, whereas the hawk and raccoon are just really friendly.

Of course, this just feeds the cats already inflated ego...