There are easily enough items in this game to fully equip and kit out every camp follower including the hangers on. We'd still probably have enough left over in arms, armor, scrolls and consumables to kit out a full party of 6 NPCs for whatever faction we are supporting throughout each act. That would be fun!
So for example, if you side with Tiefs or Goblins (Druids/Shadowdruids?) this would result in us needing to arm individual characters from that faction. They sorta play this up with Wyll training Tiefs to fight, and Sazza talking about how their priestess fixes em up with potions galore. As players we don't get to really weigh in on that stuff. We can gift items to NPCs via barter, but then we don't really see that pan out. They should utilize something like the sidekick system where we have actual followers who sort of do their own thing in each act but who also require our assistance to stay competitive.
Lets just use Rolan as an example. If he's on our B team, but we don't give him anything to work with, then he shoud be much more likely to die during the raid, or in the shadowlands. If instead we supe him up with some scrolls and training, maybe one of the robes we weren't using, then he performs much better and survives to the next leg. We can be altruistic about it our petty and self serving about, where it's only on loan, but basically they work like walking chests or boxes for our gear, but who also fight sometimes.
Instead of just having a gang of magic treasure and other items that we horde, this would be a way to sink those into story payoffs. Same idea as the camp goat who eats the rotten food. Gives the overabundance of stuff a place to go. Before major setpiece battles or at camp, we might have that whole scene where we divvy up and decide who gets what. Rolan and Lia show up and whoever else and we have to arm them and help them out from our haul. This is like dress em up, but with periodic consequences in set piece fights that scale. All the best moments in BG are invariably party vs some other party of goons who need to get shown what's what by our pcs. I love all those moments, this could play into that as part of an ongoing camp dynamic where we are hunted or subject to ambushes like the ones we've already seen, but with our B teamers in tow as well.
To accommodate this and the regular party members who are in camp (but not currently in the party) everyone runs a shared inventory through the pack animal/wagon, which calls up anyone into that slot. Part of the fun is just having more people to kit out, deck em up, and to make that whole process simpler via the UI. The wagon as the 5th wheel there for the inventory management.
ps. oh also, shouldn't it happen at least once, where our camp/wagon train is attacked, and we have to manage with our B team of hangers on? This could happen periodically after long rests. For our sidekicks this could be a sink for regular arms and equipment, which they sometimes lose or which might break and need repair, if we don't kit them with the better enchanted +1 stuff we find all over the place. Maybe Cal shows up, his sword broke, you give him that Axe you've just been holding onto, but aren't quite sure you want to sell. That sort of thing. We should be able to see their avatars and bring em up that way, again via the wagon conceit. If you don't have a bard in the party maybe Alfira gets whatever they might have used if you get her tagging along, instead of selling it for gold you kit out a B teamer. Stuff of that sort. Same for the regular camp followers of course, this would just extend the concept a bit further. It'd be more fun to me then dumping stuff in a container ya know lol
Last edited by Black_Elk; 15/09/23 10:03 AM.
