I mostly feel like my character got the job because nobody else wanted it, and the group is just a bunch of unlikely maybe-friends who stick together because you have a shared problem
That's a totally legit setup for a journey - except why do they believe in entitlement to my servitude? Why the hell am I supposed to escort Lae'zel to the Creche? Why the hell do I have to bring Shadowheart to the Temple of Shar? I owe them nothing. But at the same time, if I don't do things their way, they dare to threaten to kill me. How are they a "a bunch of unlikely maybe-friends"? They are clearly potential enemies that leave only two options: avoid at all costs, or strike first.
If they want to belong to the group, they must obey the law of the group. If they want freedom - they leave and stay free. But they cannot benefit from group protection and supplies while exploiting the group and threatening the leader for their own interests.
Would the game maybe define "Camp" and "Companions" differently, there would be no question. But clearly I'm the leader. I decide the location we visit and the enemies we fight. I decide who equips what. I decide how everyone levels up. I decide what we sell and what we buy. I am the leader. And if you are beloved of the leader - you are his right hand, and he trusts you with his life. If he dies - you continue his cause. This is what strength looks like. And if, as a leader, you hear from your beloved one "Do it my way or I'll gut you with my sword" then that "beloved one" will, at best, get kicked out of the camp - and next time, she's welcome to fight the leader however she wants as a regular enemy encounter, not sneakily kill him in his sleep like Lae'zel regretted not doing. There must be order, respect, and honor. Otherwise, it's not a group that's going to fight the big evil and win. It's a messed-up circus that'll fall apart and end up killing each other after the first squabble over a badly roasted sausage.
