Level Up (A5E) On followers

[xiphumor]

I started this thread with the intention of figuring out which were the best followers to choose, especially as I may be playing a Marshal soon, but I also wanted to address what I see as weird design choices with followers.

Some followers preserve the abilities they had at lower levels of experience as they improve (e.g. Smith, Sage). Of those that don’t, some have strictly numerical improvements which make that acceptable (Porter, Cook). But then some followers apparently loose their former abilities as they advance, and it’s not always clear that the new ability is better.

Take the Diviner: the Inexperienced ability (cantrip or 1st-level cleric spell once a day) is solid and highly versatile. But the upgrade loses this ability and replaces it with something that the inexperienced Sage does just as well if not better. And then at the next level, it changes from granting an expertise die once per day, to advantage once per week. It may be applicable to more kinds of throws, but an average of +5 once per week simply doesn’t seem to compete with an average of +2.5 once a day.

I’ve always quietly hoped that someone just forgot to add “As inexperienced, as seasoned” to such followers, but I the evidence seems to be against it. What are your thoughts?

 

[Pedantic]

I really don't see a problem with adding the "as inexperienced" text to the examples you're mentioning. If anything, the Sage feels like a pretty clear example of how that would work in practice.

That improves the Apothecary, Bodyguard, Diviner, Footpad, Minstrel and the Teamster? I don't really see any of those stacked abilities being so hugely impactful as to be a problem.

Really, the Footpad and the Minstrel stand out even more than the Diviner as weirdly losing past abilities if the more advanced version overwrites.

 

[Morrus]

The intention is that abilties are gained in addition, not instead of, except where the same value increases. It could be a little clearer.

 

[xiphumor]

Ah! Excellent! Although while we’re here, I do have other questions. For example, followers never participate directly in encounters, but what happens if you want the Diviner to cast a spell during combat? Can you not do that? Does it cost an action? Are they still assumed to be standing somewhere on the battlefield?

 

[Sword of Spirit]

For example, followers never participate directly in encounters, but what happens if you want the Diviner to cast a spell during combat? Can you not do that? Does it cost an action? Are they still assumed to be standing somewhere on the battlefield?

I expect this is the kind of thing everyone has to decide for themselves. We had a fight where the caravan the party was with was surrounded and attacked while by a group of fire giants and ogres while camped. I decided to have the healer be able to heal his Marshal on the Marshal's turn, and I put him on the map because the enemy had them surrounded and had an area attack (which actually killed him--though an ally revivified him).

The follower mechanic is a little bit too gamey for me, and I anticipate a different approach once I get to house ruling. Right now I'm attempting to run Level Up as close to by the book as possible for a couple adventures to give us all a feel for how it works, and that's what I had to do to suspend disbelief when an (essentially) flame strike came into play.

 

[toucanbuzz]

I expect to use them more often when I don't want to track an experienced NPC as a full combatant but they're in the group for some reason (e.g. freed prisoner, scout guide). It's far easier to handle. If I need to explain it for verisimilitude, they're holding back, defending, avoiding trouble, holding their own, etc., and largely having little impact on the overall outcome of the encounter unless an ability comes into play.