I’ve previously talked about the original 1974 edition of D&D in Reactions to OD&D. I’ve also shared the house rules I used in my own OD&D campaign and later grouped those and some other rules together into the Blackmoor Player’s Reference. Today I want to share my guidelines for handling hirelings.
In OD&D, hirelings were presented as a far more central element of the game. Despite this, the rules and guidelines for running hirelings are scattered, incomplete, and often inconsistent. (This is not unusual for OD&D.) For my OD&D games, I gathered this material together and then added additional guidelines when I needed them.
AVAILABILITY
Roll 1d6 – 1d6 to determine the current number of hirelings available for hire.
For each hireling, roll 1d6 to determine their class:
| d6 | Class |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | Fighting Man |
| 5 | Cleric |
| 6 | Magic-User |
Roll 1d6 – 1d6 to determine the hireling’s level (minimum 1).
Design Note: These guidelines were developed my OD&D open table, in which the PCs were based out of a small town. In larger communities you might want to increase the number of hirelings available. However, the practical effect was to create a small pool of hirelings who were in specific demand: In some sessions you wouldn’t be able to get a hireling at all, and when they were available you might find yourself in competition with other PCs for their services.
BASE HIRING COST
The base hiring cost for a hireling is 100 gp per level.
If the base hiring price is offered, roll 2d6 on the reaction table on page 12 of Volume 1: Men & Magic to determine the hireling’s response. (Grant a bonus for higher offers; penalize severely for paltry offers.)
| 2d6 | Reaction |
|---|---|
| 2 | Attempts to attack |
| 3-5 | Hostile reaction |
| 6-8 | Uncertain |
| 9-11 | Accepts offer |
| 12 | Enthusiastic, Loyalty +3 |
DETERMINE LOYALTY SCORE
Roll 3d6 to determine the hireling’s Loyalty, modified by the employer’s Charisma and the reaction to the hiring offer (if they are enthusiastic).
| Charisma Score | Maximum # of Hirelings | Loyalty Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 3-4 | 1 | -2 |
| 5-6 | 2 | -1 |
| 7-9 | 3 | |
| 10-12 | 4 | |
| 13-15 | 5 | +1 |
| 16-17 | 6 | +2 |
| 18 | 12 | +4 |
Design Note: This table is an example of how OD&D put hirelings front and center, as it takes up as much space as all the other ability score-related mechanics combined. It also shows why Charisma wasn’t a dump stat in 1974.
DETERMINE MORALE
Roll 2d6 to determine the hireling’s base morale.
Their Loyalty score may modify their effective morale. (List morale adjustments separately – e.g., 8+2 instead of 10 – for clear bookkeeping in case Loyalty or employment changes.)
| Loyalty Score | Morale Modifier |
|---|---|
| 3 or less | Will desert at first opportunity |
| 4-6 | -2 |
| 7-8 | -1 |
| 9-12 | |
| 13-14 | +1 |
| 15-18 | +2 |
| 19+ | Never need to check morale |
END OF EXPEDITION
At the end of an expedition, adjust each hireling’s Loyalty:
- Significant Injury/Death: -1 loyalty
- Share of treasure less than 25%: -1 loyalty
- Share of treasure less than 5%: -2 loyalty
- Share of treasure 2x base hiring cost: +1 loyalty
- Share of treasure 10x base hiring cost: +2 loyalty
Then make a morale check by rolling 2d6. Rolling above the hireling’s morale is a failure.
On a success, the hireling will continue adventuring with their employer.
On a failure, roll on the reaction table above, with the following effect:
- Attempts to Attack: Automatically leaves service.
- Hostile: Demands bonus equal to base hiring cost x 2.
- Uncertain: Demands bonus equal to base hiring cost.
- Accepts Offer: Demands bonus equal to half hiring cost.
- Enthusiastic: Treat as a success after all.
The base hiring cost is determined by the hireling’s current level (not necessarily what they were actually paid).
If a demanded bonus is not paid, the hireling leaves their employer’s service. Such hirelings are generally available for hire in the community where they left service.
Design Note: It is possible to simultaneously offer a hireling a share of the treasure less than 25% of the total received by the employer AND more than twice the hireling’s base hiring cost. These loyalty modifiers cancel out. Note that if a hireling has a loyalty of 19+, there is no chance of them leaving their employer’s service.
TIP: RUNNING HIRELINGS
These guidelines are designed by used in concert with a morale system, which I heartly recommend employing for hirelings even if it is otherwise not used in your campaign.
In my campaign status document, I kept a list of all hirelings recording:
- Their name
- Current employer
- Loyalty
- Morale
And any other relevant notes.
This made it relatively easy to make the necessary upkeep checks and track their current loyalty and morale scores. Loyalty and morale scores, it should be noted, were kept secret from the players.
Generally speaking, hirelings were played by the player of the PC who employed them, with the rules for morale and loyalty granting them a sense of independence. Of course, you can also choose to run them yourself as the DM if that’s something you’re comfortable with, or you might employ something like the Sidekick on Your Left system.
I don’t understand the idea behind the hiring reaction table. What do “Hostile reaction” or “Uncertain” mean in this context, and doesn’t this make hiring people for the so-called standard rate unlikely?
I believe that’s the standard all-purpose NPC reaction table. But I also like the idea that your offer can be so insultingly low that they reject it by punching you in the nose.
From what I know of the OD&D booklets, I doubt they elaborate much on what “uncertain” means, but I’d take it to say that leaves it up to you, the DM, to decide whether they accept the offer or not. So yeah, on a 6-8 (Uncertain), a “standard” offer is accepted for a “standard” job, unless the last crew got massacred or something.
@Avian. I think there are a number of ways to handle “uncertain” results depending on the DM, and Colin mentions one possibility in his reply. In my games, I tend to play a result of “uncertain” as situations in which the offer is not accepted “as is,” but neither is the offered dismissed or rejected. That is, the person/group considering the offer is “uncertain” whether the deal is worthwhile. While ultimately up to the DM, I’ve used “uncertain” to get players to sweetened the deal or provide additional reasons as to why the offer should be accepted or reconsidered. Should players fail to provide additional reasons or compensation, then the offered will likely be rejected for the time being. Lastly, I’ve also used “uncertain” to indicate someone on the fence that requests additional time to consider the offer (e.g., come back in a week after I’ve had time to consider your offer). Since time plays a considerable role in my games, this can create new tensions and demands that players will have an opportunity to address and/or engage with.
It’s a base rate, not a standard rate. You will not get them any cheaper than this. It’s quite likely you will pay more.
Those saying that the whole point is to flexibly interpret the results are right on the money. For me, anything below “Uncertain” means that a deal is impossible.
“Uncertain” means a deal is possible, but you need to sweeten the pot: That might be more money. It might be selling them on the huge payday when the expedition pans out. It might be some other perk or offering to upgrade their equipment.
“Accepts offer” and “Enthusiastic” are self-explanatory.
I think you made a mistake in the post aventure check. With a 2d6 you will always roll under the loyalty if they have 13 or more so I guess it was 3d6. Nice article anyway !
I will see if I change my own system for this one.
@Teneombre: 12 or higher, actually. And that’s correct.
Note that Loyalty Score and Morale Score are not the same thing.
I’m thinking here… Is there any use for Loyalty besides modifying Morale?
It seems like I could toss it out and make adjustments to morale directly.
Loyalty is variable by employer. Base morale is not.
If you have a campaign where the employer will never change AND the employer will ALWAYS be present whenever the hireling is in combat, then you could theoretically conflate them.
But without radically altering balance, you’d end up just replicating the Loyalty scale with a different name in any case.