The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide introduced me to the concept of henchmen. They were a follower loyal to your main character and provided another character that you could control. (Good when there were fewer players!)
Henchmen advanced at half rate and took a share of the treasure. But these seemed quite reasonable compared to the benefits.
However, I never played in an AD&D campaign where we used henchmen. For the primary D&D campaign of my youth, there were just the four of us – Brunak the Barbarian, Bardal the Rogue, Scarlett the Paladin, and Meliander the Mage. And we explored many a dungeon without a thought as to having other characters along.
It was not until 3rd edition that we saw our first henchmen enter the game. In 3E, you needed to take the Leadership feat, and that allowed one character of a few levels under your own to join you. So, Ernie’s cleric hired the bard Nerie. Who then died one round into her first fight.
And then henchmen disappeared again from our games in 4th edition.
The Challenges of Henchmen
In the original Dungeons & Dragons game, characters are pretty simple. Yes, wizards and clerics have spells, but the mechanical abilities of a fighter come down to “swing a sword well” and little more. (Enjoyment comes from using your imagination to describe actions not covered by the rules).
The effect of this is that it is easy to run more than one character. When you consider the complexity of current edition characters, the task becomes more challenging. If a player needs to control a second character, what then? So, consider that before adding such rules.
Role-playing both the henchman and the main character is also tricky. It is something that some players enjoy, but the depiction of one or both can suffer. It depends significantly on your campaign style as to whether this loss of focus it is acceptable.
The Benefits of Henchmen
Henchmen are great for rounding out a party. They can provide spell-use when everyone is a fighter or be a front-line fighter when everyone else hates being in melee. Do you need a rogue? Hire one!
Henchmen do not have to accompany the party on all adventures. Soon after introducing them into my Waterdeep campaign, the players quickly realised that they could get the henchman to undertake useful downtime activities while they were on a wilderness quest.
There are also times when you use the henchman as your primary adventurer while your main character is busy elsewhere. You can play someone with a connection to your main character while your wizard is crafting a staff of power!
In older editions, wizards had limited effectiveness at low levels, so controlling a man-at-arms or henchman would allow the wizard’s player to participate in combats effectively.
Why Not Sidekicks?
One version of the henchman concept is the sidekick introduced in the D&D Essentials Kit. The sidekick fulfils many of the roles of the henchman, particularly in filling out the party.
The attraction of the sidekick is that it is a lesser character that is easy to play. It fills a hole, and it is easy to implement.
However, the rules for sidekicks are only useful for a few levels. No sidekick has a progression past the sixth level, and their abilities are less than a sixth level character! A sixth-level sidekick is likely as capable as a third or fourth level PC.
You would never play a sidekick on its own.
With these considerations, I do not think sidekicks are a suitable replacement for a henchman in the game – at least with all the uses my games have for henchmen. However, there are tools you can use to make the henchman easier to play at the table.
Creating Potential Henchman
The rules in AD&D for hiring a henchman are quite detailed, and probably more complicated than we need today. However, one aspect I wanted to keep was to maintain a choice of henchman from a predetermined list. You cannot get any character you wish to, but you can choose from various options available. So, this is the procedure I followed as the DM to create the potential list:
- Generate ten henchmen for a large city or five for a town.
- Roll randomly using character selection dice to determine alignment, race, and class. I have a special set of these dice, but you could create a table for yourself (Roll d12, 1=Bard, 2=Barbarian, etc.)
- Roll ability scores randomly using 4d6, drop lowest, in order. Then swap ability scores, so the two prime abilities of each class are the highest. You can find those ability scores in the Quick Build in the PHB.
- Generate the rest of the character (including personality traits and ideals) – using equipment packages. I also generated their backgrounds randomly.
By doing this in D&D Beyond, I was able to assemble the character list quickly. If I were doing everything by hand, I would stop with the ability scores & ideals; and do the rest of the creation process if the character were selected.
Hiring Henchmen
Hiring henchmen is a downtime activity. It takes one work week and costs 50 gold pieces to discover potential henchman. At this point, I provide the character with a list of the likely henchmen. I do not disclose their alignment, but I do reveal their ideals. (Hiding this information is not required; it is a consideration of the campaign I am running).
The character can then select to hire one or more of these henchmen. For each henchman, they must offer a minimum of 50 gold pieces and succeed at a DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Each additional 50 gold spent adds +1. I suspect that allowing this to occur after the roll would also be a good idea – although perhaps at an increased price. I may adjust exact costs depending on the availability of gold in a campaign.
Once a henchman is hired, it is time to determine their Loyalty score. The Loyalty score is a range from 2 to 12 that determines if they follow their hirer’s orders in a dangerous situation.
Loyalty has a basic level of 7, to which the hirer’s Charisma modifier is applied. Lawful henchmen get a +1 to their Loyalty, while Chaotic henchmen get a -1 to their Loyalty.
If you use alignment for player characters, you could further adjust Loyalty downwards by 1 for each difference between the two characters; in this case, you might give an additional +1 to the score. e.g. A Lawful Good character hiring a Chaotic Evil henchman has an additional -4 penalty due to alignment.
Henchmen are typically level 1 when hired, but your campaign might find it useful to make them available for the first three levels of experience. I suspect that only Tier 2 or higher level characters should employ henchmen; before that use the Sidekick rules.
Henchmen in Play
As noted, henchman can either stay behind or accompany characters on adventures. Whether a henchman accompanies the party should be a decision made by the entire group; there are times when enough characters are already active, and the henchman would slow down the game in a problematic manner. For the most part, they should be allowed. In the case of henchmen who stay behind, they can undertake a downtime activity.
Henchmen require a maintenance pay of 50 gold pieces per month, in addition to taking a half share of any treasure found on an encounter. However, henchmen never take magic items. Gold given to a henchman disappears; we don’t bother tracking it. Instead, we assume they spend it on something they like. If you want to upgrade the equipment of your henchman, your main character must pay the costs.
Henchmen follow the orders of their hirer in play. If an order exposes a henchman to unusual risk, then a loyalty check (see below) must be made to see if they obey. What is an unusual risk? Something that is not part of their regular duties. A fighter henchman can expect to walk in the front rank and fight monsters. However, asking a henchman to stay behind to protect the party, charge forward (alone) into a horde of goblins, or test a potion are all examples of unusual situations.
Loyalty of Henchmen
When a henchman receives an order to do something risky or drops to half their hit points in combat, then a Loyalty check should be made on 2d6. If the roll is equal to or under their Loyalty Score, as determined above, then they follow the command or keep fighting. If the roll is higher than the Loyalty Score, then the henchman refuses the order or flees from combat.
Whether or not the henchman abandons service altogether is the DM’s decision. In some cases, such is appropriate. In others, they will continue to serve.
The DM may adjust the Loyalty Score of a henchman up or down based on their treatment. If the henchman receives magic items and bonus shares of treasure, improve their Loyalty score by one or two points. Conversely, if they keep getting asked to do risky things or if their pay is low, then the Loyalty Score may be adjusted downwards – to whatever level seems appropriate!
Taking a cue from AD&D: A henchman who has to test a magic item will expect to keep that item! If they do not get to keep it, their Loyalty drops.
Henchman Advancement
After some consideration of the matter, I decided that henchmen receive 50% of the experience points they would otherwise accrue was a reasonable level. They still advance well and are only a couple of levels behind their hirer. (I also considered them receiving 80% of the XP, which also gives a good progression).
In a game using milestones, I would keep them about two levels below the level of their hirer, advancing them after each session If the level disparity were more significant.
Their hirer makes choices as to what abilities they gain.
Tactics for Henchmen
If you are playing a henchman in addition to your main character, you might want to create a cheat sheet of their basic tactics in combat. Just jot down what their main attacks and spells do and when they cast them. That way, you can swiftly resolve their actions in combat.
For instance, consider this for a second-level sorcerer:
Precisely what details and how to represent it is up to you, but a basic set of tactics aids with decision-making. You do not need to include all their abilities; it works better with just the most common ones.