How many characters on this board buy NPC's? Personally, I haven't seen one character with an NPC follower that they purchased from the mercenary shop. Why? Well, a lot of people like to focus on their characters rather than a group of characters. Another reason is that- and this is my opinion- the current mercenary shop is over priced, and fairly useless.

Not to say that I'm bashing Lothy's pricing/creative abilities! :o I just think that, just as other things on this board are improving (mostly guilds and fighter equality, at the moment), some things are being forgotten. Here are some of my thoughts on NPC mercenaries.

• Their prices are too high, and I'm thinking about this logically. You can buy the services of a big, bulky barbarian that has absolutely no magic, and only a normal longsword for 500 gold. You can also buy a samurai warrior, monk, cleric, and others for about the same price. They either come with a non-magic weapon, or none at all, and have a spell or two. Let's look at this realistically. 500 gold is a lot of money in Ardian society. You can buy a large home with that much money, powerful weapons, training in several powerful spells, and it's even almost enough to by a dragon. The cost of two barbarians gets you one of the strongest creatures in Arda: an ancient dragon. Who do these mercenaries think they are? Nobody would hire someone for such an outrageous price, unless of course they were immensely strong- something these NPCs are not.
• Usefulness is an issue. These NPC's come with mundane weaponry, skills, and magic. Lothy said something about being able to equip your mercenaries, or buy magic for them. I think this is an excellent idea.
• Followers or mercenaries? Certain PrC classes grant you an NPC, but wouldn't your character, after becoming a legend in Arda, attract people who want to learn from your character? Who want to serve or help your cause, while learning how you became so strong? Mercenaries and followers could be one in the same purchase-wise, but when you buy a follower, you could say that he found your character and wanted to join him (though your character wouldn't actually pay him; OOC payment would prevent people form claiming they have an army of armed followers).

I suggest a complete turn around in the NPC mercenary shop. It wouldn't be terribly difficult, I don't think, and here's what I'd do: have a small form filled out about your NPC, like this:

• Name: (NPC's name)
• Class: (NPC class; doesn't effect anything, just like a PC's class.)
• Relation to PC: (Mercenary, follower, friend, etc.)
• Starting equipment: (NPC starts with a weapon or a spell, either from the starting equipment area or a different selection that Lothy wants.)
• Notes: (Just to flesh out the NPC- but not too much. These are only NPC's, after all, and should only be so detailed.)

NPC's created in the above fashion are 150 gold. This is realistic. Followers require food- this gold would cover that, tavern expenses, and other things. Mercenaries want pay. 150 gold is pretty good, considering you'll be taking care of them.

Players upload a picture of their NPC along with the info, with all of this in a regular sales post, so that admins can easily retrieve information.

Here's another suggestion to combat people who want many, many followers:

Players may have one NPC follower per character, unless they purchase a specific feat.

• Leadership: You are a born leader, and your charisma earns you the respect of your followers. You may now have two followers if you wish, instead of only one.
• Advanced Leadership: You are the epitome of a leader, strong and forward in your direction, with an aura that demands respect. You may now equip your followers with weapons, armor, or spells you purchase. You may also have 3 followers if you wish. Must own Leadership before you can purchase this feat.

I do believe that anything more than three NPC followers (Familiars not included) would just get in the way, and take away from a roleplay.

So, what do you think? It's just a thought, and since I've got free time and nothing to respond to, I figured I could try and help out in making the site better. ^_^

I agree that the current prices have proven to be too high. They should be a few hundred gold because they are valuable and I'd like to avoid people owning whole armies, but at the same time I want them to be generally more available than they currently are.

I have been thinking and thinking on a good way of upgrading a mercenary's equipment, and I think I've finally settled on something like a leveling system. You pay x amount of gold to bring them up a level, and that level allows them to take on new skills / feats / equipment / spells / etc. At the next level, even more things open up to them.

I think the form isn't really needed. The whole mercenary idea doesn't have to be strictly followed, it was just a good way to present the shop. If you want, IC-ly you can write the mercenary as a follower that's not being paid really. Whatever you like.

I like the idea of the leadership skills, and yet I also don't. It's a good thought, but I think it's more restriction than necessary. :unsure:

What do you all think of all the things proposed in this topic?

I too agree that the prices may be too high. For me right now, the choices I have available are merely two: whether I invest money to better the character so that he could be self-sufficient and kick npc mullet :p orrrr I could have him invest money on npc mercenaries like the ones we have.. but think about it, Dragons of greater strength and abilities can be bought for practically the same price as the said merc. It's also possible to buy a certain set of spells to make duplicates of one's self--- which pretty much would be more powerful than any npc you could hire if your build is right.

Those are just my two cents ;)

I like what Sartana has said and Itotally agree wit heverything except the feats well maybe not the feats probably we should have those feats just in case. Someone may go a little crazy in buying mercs if we don't But beyond all that heck yes implement the suggestion I liek the idea. Wish I had come up with it.

I think Loth and Sarty both had some good ideas here. I like Loth's idea of levelling your NPCs, mildly reminiscient of other RPGs. However, I do think Sartana's idea of using feats to restrict massive NPC purchases is also a good idea. Obviously, if you could buy as many as you want, wealthy players could build large armies of these NPCs, some of which might be high level and this would simply be unfair and unrealistic. One player should not lead an entire army.

Except Tulk the Hulk. He's just that awesome. :rofl:

I do agree that the prices are too high on the current mercenary NPCs. When a Cleric or Magician is only 50 gold less than a Greater Cerberus, we have a problem. :p

...Well, I was the first advocate of cheaper mercenaries(We once added up how much it would cost to give Original Charlotte even a small group of horsemen. 10,000 gold).

But what I do argue against is limiting the amount of NPCs one can buy. If you do this, please do the following:

Limit spells.
Limit weapons.
Limit fighter abilities.
Limit armor.

Because that will also stop super-PCs! If you were to limit them, I would limit them on the relative strength of the enemy, so that a player could deploy a large amount of mercs, but only if the enemy could match that in relative power.

I've thought about the required skill / feat thing, and now I've decided against it. It seemed good as a leadership kind of thing, your ability to attract followers, but this is a mercenary shop and they are people you are paying to do what you want - that doesn't require skill.

I also don't want to limit the number you're allowed to purchase anyhow. I think lowering the price is good, but it won't be that low. I think of it this way: If someone is spending a lot of money buying mercs and leveling them up, then they aren't going to be able to buy spells and expensive equipment for themselves. I think that's a fair trade. With the leveling system for the mercs, it also provides a limit on how much stuff you can get for them, on top of further eliminating money you can spend on yourself.

Obs mentioned how one can buy that spell that makes copies of yourself, which creates a large discrepancy. However, the clones summoned from that spell can be easily destroyed. Mercenaries cannot be destroyed without permission, just like a familiar. The only reason the rule about destroying familiars / mercenaries exists is because it costs money to replace them, and if they are not fairly killed it's a problem. With the spell, however, you can simply re-summon them.

Which can make having the spell to be convenient. Try to think of it this way: if tulk the hulk made two clones of himself (even if they can be easily unsummoned), they'd be difficult to kill mainly because they're the exact clone of a really powerful character. They'd basically be more useful than any npc you could hire as they are instantly equipped with weaponry, armour, spells, abilities... and they could easily be called upon with a few chantings here and there. -- At least for me they would be more valuable than an npc who would unlikely be able to move as fast or cast spells that your character has. So for me, as a consumer, I'd say I'm getting my money's worth for getting the spell instead of an npc, that though people cannot just readily kill without permission, will be unable to perform as well with their basic items and limited skills.

So yes, with that said, I support Sartana's idea of leveling up mercs. It'll generally make them more useful than they seem.--- but if you were to ask me, I'd still go for the spell. It's cheaper, efficient, disposable but at the same time easy to re-cast. Just a personal opinion right there.

Ahem. That was my idea, and said that it's what I will most likely implement. :angel:

I still think that the actual mercenaries are more useful because they can't die and you don't have a limited number.

How bout you buy you own amour/weapon fer yer merc.?

As per discussed inthe help forum I am suggesting the expansion on the mercenaries shop to include a White Paladin or the direct inverse of the Dark Knight for us goddie two shoes. Really and truly you could use the same image by lightening eet XD

Murloc Tide Runner
This murloc is especially trained to scout for enemies
Requirments: None


Murloc Tide Ripper
This Murloc is skilled in fighting
Requirments: None


Succubus
The succubus can easily subdue a male
Requirments: Must be Female


Sea Ogre
A barbarian of the waters, he is able to survive on land
Requirments: Water Element


Hakkar Fighter
The Hakkar Fighter is trained well with pole arms, and is dangerous in combat
Requirments: Fire Element


Orc Warrior
This orc will die by your side in battle
Requirments: Lawful Aligned


Undead Acolyte
A dark follower that knows several spells
requirments: Evil Aligned


Troll Rogue
A shadowy figure carrying two blades
Requirments: chaotic Aligned

I not only believe that the mercanaries need to be cheapened but that there needs to be more of them. More...variety. I mean where are the goblins, the trolls, the wraith warriors? Isn't this RPG based of Tolkein's universe?

I believe that only the Demon Imp and Skeleton have race specifications, though perhaps the Amazons should be labeled as human. If you buy a merc, you can pick whichever race you want it to be. ^_^

There's a good idea! You buy a merc and then decide what its race will. Could such an idea include choosing their weapons? Nothing fancy just common weapons: sword, mace, axe, bow and arrows.