Mercenaries for Solo Play

[Count_Monte]

I've tried finding the answers or advice, so forgive me if I've missed it. I wanted to see what's the best way to use Mercenaries for solo play (1 player and 1 GM).
If the quests are meant to be played with 1 Barbarian, 1 Dwarf, 1 Elf and 1 Wizard , instead of having the solo player control all 4, I would prefer they control 1 player plus some Mercenaries. Think of the Mercenaries as Red Shirts from Star Trek, they're expendable but they add enough help so the player can just be attached to their main character (and level up and get gear for their main only).

So the question is, without modifying the stats for the mercs (they just have 2 body points) - how many and what type would make it about equal to having the 3 other players? 3 men-at-arms seems too few, because they have 2 body points each. What about one of each type (Scout, Halberdier, Swordsman, Crowssbowman)?

So it would be Player, plus 4 NPC's (the player still rolls for them).

Would that work for the "The Trial"? I'm just trying to figure out how many/ what types of men-at-arms to use with a solo player to create the same balance that 4 players would have.

[Anderas]

First, please don't play the Trial first. It is good as fifth or sixth quest.

Second, if you have some days, I'll calculate it for you the coming days. What are your heroes stats? Which quest do you want to play first? (Assuming "not the Trial")

[Count_Monte]

This would be starting with a basic hero. I assume we'd have to come up with variations depending on which Hero is selected. I.E. if the hero is the Dwarf, then the Scout would be redundant. If the hero is the Wizard, now the whole party would have low body points.

But the idea is to start a fresh campaign, could be the Maze or Arena first - just trying to get some numbers crunched to make equivalent difficulty balance using mercs instead of the 3 other heroes.

I fully understand that normally the preferred method is to introduce Men-At-Arms once the 14 basic quests, kellars, and RotWQ are finished and WoM starts. But in this instance, if the player just wants to roleplay one Hero, who brings along some hirelings, it would be a fun way to start at the beginning and go through all basic quests.

[Pancho]

It'll be good to see Anderas' stats but until then I'd say that one Hero is worth at least as much as the 3 mercs that he is potentially allowed to hire. Meaning that if you are running a difficult quest that would ideally require 4 heroes, you should allow your one hero to take all 12 men-at-arms with him.

[Pancho]

12 mercs at 2BP each is 24BP, then add the BP for the solo hero.
All four Heroes together have 25BP but when they are healed with spells or potions they typically regain 4BP each time, whereas a Merc can only heal up to 2BP. They can also be killed in one attack. So I would argue that all of the mercs together plus one Hero is not as good as all 4 heroes together, even before factoring in the four elemental spell decks, and artefact usage.

If I were running it your way I'd let the Solo Hero get through the Maze on his own (as intended),then give him 2 or 3 mercs for the next quest. From then on the Hero has to pay the cost to maintain the merc, plus buy new ones. Let him hire as many as he can afford, up to the 12 merc limit. By the time you get on to the expansions, add some special rules for sergeants and captains, maybe even apprentice spell casters...

[Maurice76]

If you're planning on running it that way, bending the rules somewhat, you might also consider upping the body points of the mercenaries to at least 3. Maybe even vary a bit: have the Swordsman have 4 BP and the Crossbowman maybe only 2 or so, the other two have 3. Something like that. Makes them a bit more durable.

Still, the fact that you can't really upgrade them makes it hard already. Mercenaries can't replace Heroes 1-on-1, so you end up having to field more of them than Heroes. And in some scenario's, that might be deadly, because characters are blocking one another, or are unable to escape whatever danger is around.

One particular mission that might be hard on the Mercenaries is the Castle of Mystery, since they enter rooms individually. Not being as strong as a Hero, they have lower survival chance in that one because backup and support may not come, based on luck or lack thereof with the dice.

[Pancho]

Good point about the Castle of Mystery. I hate that quest anyway, and suggest switching it out (for the Trial?).

[Anderas]

The normal mercenaries pack more punch per BP than the Heroes. So you don't need all 12 to replace a hero group, somewhere between 4 and 6 would be good. Having the complete set is useful as each has his specialty. Letting the scout search for traps is invaluable, for example; letting the swordsman fight is good but the Helbardier has a longer range... and so on.

[Pancho]

The normal mercenaries pack more punch per BP than the Heroes. So you don't need all 12 to replace a hero group, somewhere between 4 and 6 would be good. Having the complete set is useful as each has his specialty. Letting the scout search for traps is invaluable, for example; letting the swordsman fight is good but the Helbardier has a longer range... and so on.

They pack more punch but die very easily, and can't be healed efficiently. Having 4-6 will serve for the middling quests but will result in frequent TPK's in the later quests and expansions. Just a single room of orcs will have a chance to kill off your henchmen, and a fight versus chaos warriors or a Gargoyle will not be pretty.

[Count_Monte]

Thanks for the quick replies. It sounds like 4-6 could work for a while, then a different solution will be needed once the quests get harder. Maybe being able to buy armor (BP)between quests for the mercs would solve it?