This Perk means the character has a Follower of some kind — an individual who’s loyal to the character and willing to do what he asks. Examples of Followers include human agents, animal companions, kid sidekicks, familiars, intelligent computers, zombie servants, and golems.

Buying Followers
Players build Followers just like any other character. They typically have the same Base Points as other characters, and can have Disadvantages (up to the campaign’s Disadvantage limit); the GM may change the Base Points or Disadvantage total available to Followers if he wishes. The GM should write up Followers, or review and approve Followers written up by players. A character cannot take the same NPC as a Follower and a Contact or as a Follower and a DNPC, unless the GM specifically permits him to. A character cannot buy another PC as a Follower, nor can he buy a known NPC (such as the king, or an infamous supervillain) as a Follower without the GM’s permission.

The character pays 1 Character Point for each 10 Base Points possessed by the Follower (in other words, when calculating the character’s cost, do not include the Follower’s Disadvantages, just the Base Points he receives “for free”. However, this cost only applies as long as the Follower’s total points (Base Points + Disadvantages) is less than or equal to the total Character Points of the character buying the Follower (including the points spent on the Follower). Beyond that total, the character pays 1 Character Point for each Character Point possessed by the Follower. If the character later earns enough Experience Points to make his point total equal or exceed the Follower’s, he does not receive a “refund” of the Character Points previously spent to buy a Follower built on more points than he.

The minimum cost for any Follower, regardless of the Follower’s total points or abilities, is 1 Character Point.

A character can have two times as many Followers for + 5 Character Points (ie; twice as many Followers for + 5 points; four times as many for + 10 points, and so on). These additional Followers do not have to be identical to the first Follower, they just have to be built on the same number of Character Points (or less). For example, a character who’s a knight built on 150 Character Points might have two Followers, each built on 100 points — a well-trained horse and a squire. Followers cannot themselves have Followers, except with special permission from the GM.

Using Followers
A Follower is loyal to the character (sometimes slavishly so), but that doesn’t mean he’ll do anything for him. He’ll often risk life and limb to aid the character, but the character can’t exploit him at will. Followers won’t tolerate abuse, degradation, or similar poor treatment any more than any other NPC would; a character who wants to keep a Follower’s loyalty has to treat that Follower with a certain amount of respect. The GM determines what tasks a Follower will perform, taking common sense and dramatic sense into account.

The GM should review Followers’ Disadvantages to make sure they’re balanced and fair. Follower “Disadvantages” that help the character who bought the Follower (such as the Psychological Limitation “Always Obeys Master”) aren’t really disadvantageous, and thus are worth 0 points.

A character should spend his own Experience Points to “improve” a Follower after purchasing him, using the same rules as for its creation.

If a Follower dies during an adventure, the character permanently loses the Character Points spent on him. At the GM’s option, the character can recruit another Follower (built on the same amount of Character Points) to replace the dead Follower, but this typically takes a long time and should be roleplayed.

Followers Cost: 1 Character Point per 10 Base Points in Follower

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