Finding Help Amongst the Four Taverns: Hirelings and Retainers

This post has been revised, and is only now retained for its historic value. The list of hirelings is outdated, as are the costs and particulars

A variety of individuals frequent the four major taverns of Cothon, from lowlifes looking to score some wine-money, to would-be heroes seeking adventure. These individuals can be hired by player-characters looking for a little extra muscle, carrying power, or general ability to weather the vagaries of underworld expeditions.

When seeking to retain the services of one of these potential hirelings, a character must spend gold according to the table below. This expenditure represents drinks bought or offered, coin spent on urchins to seek out interested parties, wagers on bar games as an ice-breaker, etc. etc.

Gold Spent	Die Rolled
2 gp	a d6 roll
5 gp	a d10 roll
10 gp	a d20 roll
25 gp	a d30 roll
50 gp	a d20+10
100 gp	your choice of any 1 of the listed retainers

Rolling the die according to the gold thus spent, you will look up on the next table just whose services you managed to win for the upcoming expedition. It's entirely possible that you won't like the particular individual; to roll again, you would have to spend another amount of gold, at whatever new level you wish. It is also possible to spend the gold to hire several retainers--just remember that they'll require payment on the other side of the expedition as well, or else hold a grudge!

Before we get to the table, there are a few things to note:

• beggars are lowlifes just in it for the promise of coin at the end. They can be equipped, but still make poor fighters, and will pawn away everything given to them; nevertheless, they can be useful in that once per expedition they can be "induced" to suffer whatever doom their employer would have suffered, e.g. poor Matho might trip his way into sword point that would have pierced "our hero's" heart.
• footmen are basically competent servants and squires. They can serve to carry light and burdens (hopefully of treasure, out of the dungeon), or to assist in fighting; in the former case, they can serve as a weapon-bearer, and allow their employer to swap weapons freely, while in the latter case, they can lend their shield bonus to an adjacent ally.
• likely lads and lasses serve as footmen/women, but are also keen to take on the adventuring life themselves; at the end of an adventure on which one serves, the likely lad (or lass) will take up the same adventuring class as his(her) employer that expedition on the roll of a 1 on a d6 (and possibly be inclined to seek longterm service)
• specialists (e.g. "physician", "psychic", etc.) act as footmen, but are also able to use the indicated skill.
• classed characters act as the class indicated; non-human classes ("Kzin", "Alkari", etc.) are not yet written, but I have enough of a sense of what they are to run with them until their stats are actually pinned down.

Die Roll	Name	Class	Equipment	Notes
1	Wahid the Wastrel	beggar	empty tankard	likely still drunk or hungover
2	Gan ad-Din	footman	camp hatchet	aspiring water-bearer
3	Musa "the Hook"	beggar	hook-hand	missing his right hand
4	"Zero" Zaid	likely lad	crook and sling	loyal and brave
5	Mad Matho	beggar	broken boat oar	infatuated with Ysarla (#27)
6	Pseudolus Freedman	footman	spear and shield	freed slave
7	Theria the Thief	spy/tracker	cloak & dagger	skilled as a spy/tracker
8	Warda the Rose	likely lass	short sword	crushes hard on Stark (#15)
9	Stout of Auk	footman	mace	solidly built
10	Vlana the Bard	magic-user	composite bow	skilled poet and singer
11	Barabajagal	psychic	extra senses, i.e. he "hears colors"	beware his "cup of cosmic truth"
12	Kalil al-Kitabi	likely lad	pen knife, book	knows a great deal of trivia
13	Bridne Murcada	likely lass	hands & feet	open-hand martial artist
14	Tanit al-Jamila	magic-user	kindjal dagger	she's got it and flaunts it
15	Stark the Wandsman	fighter	mail, sword, shield	grim-faced and dour
16	Uthia of Tarth	footwoman	hunting crossbow	proud of once serving royalty
17	Doctor Sontag	physician	healing poultices; he refuses to fight	haunted by something in his past
18	Ly Mantok	Sakkra	scimitar & dagger	disgraced smuggler
19	Tumu the Assassin	fighter	poisoned dagger	trained assassin/spy/tracker
20	Pkunk the Mystic	Alkari	6th sense	offers aura readings
21	Vudot Vodot	magic-user	charm person	"stentorious" orator
22	Nuur of Nous	psychic	psionic blast	hair is prematurely greyed
23	Hry-Haya Yehat	Alkari	bolas, magic	keen on ancient artifacts
24	the Grey Gadhar	magic-user	sword "Flicker"	mysterious hooded type
25	Slith Sly	Sakkra	javelins & shield	chameleonic hunter
26	Harrava Rrl	Mrrshan	claws, teeth, and longbow	hates Rakir (#29), able spy/tracker
27	Maer Ysarla	magic-user or fighter (roll)	mail and sword, or sword and spells	she's silvery-skinned, pointy-eared, and beautiful
28	"Ix" Xixachxit	Thri-Kreen	longsword "Tuck"	fights with four arms
29	Riit Rakir	Kzin Hero	wtsai and claws	won't work with Harrava(26), Pkunk(20) or Yehat(23)
30	Kogus the Bodyguard	Bulrathi	macuahuitl war club, steel arbalest	insists on completing "contract", even unto death

Further Items:

• hit points are rolled anew for any hireling at the beginning of an expedition they join
• experience points are earned by classed hirelings at the rate of half of whatever the player-characters earned (these are sui-generis, they don't cut into the players' xp-pool); I'll keep track
• treasure shares vary according to the retainer's class: beggars expect a paltry 5 gp for their efforts at the end of an expedition; footmen, likely youths, and specialists expect a 10% share of any treasure at the end of an expedition, or 25 gp, whichever is greater; classed characters feel owed a 50% share of any treasure acquired
• grudges will be remembered against those who treat their hirelings poorly, just as fair treatment will be remembered; along those lines, I may eventually indicate their preferred tavern, for further effects on morale
• beggars and footmen are easily replaceable, but classed individuals are not; if, e.g. a magic-user were to buy it in the underworld of the Tel, that spot would remain empty until something shakes up the list--either by player initiative, or through the devices of the referee in shaping wider circumstances ...