I run my game using traditional retainer rules and I tell players that all retainers within their limit (4+CHA bonus) are 100% loyal, but any surplus hands hired will have to roll morale check like monsters do. War dogs, horses, raptors, war bears, any sort of mount or pet you want to be 100% loyal also counts against this limit. This rule has worked ok for me. But nothing special ever happened. Some people like a lot of retainers, some don’t. We have a lot of players, so we often have up to 20 characters in the party, everybody 100% loyal. On rare occasions (once or twice a year?) there are sessions with mass combat and dozens of mercenaries hired, so morale rules practically never affect “ordinary” adventures. I’m not sure if, given the choice, players would not rather have fewer retainers instead of unloyal ones. And if retainers have characteristics that affect other retainers, I feel like I’m playing two characters interacting instead of giving players agency. So, long story short, I’m no longer tinkering with this. 😄
This was inspired by David Bowman’s Entourage Approach.
#RPG