Then please use spoiler tags; I have added them.
You need “speculation†tags.
Speaking of wild speculation:
OK, the Origin characters are your core party, all in the same boat and all of roughly equal importance (because multiplayer presumably).
We also have mercenaries we can use to fill gaps in our party, but who don’t really have any personality or story associated with them. Then we have the camp followers who are specific characters, with their own personalities and possibly side quests.
So is it not possible that some of these camp followers could also be up for exploration and combat duty? They would be somewhere between fully developed origin characters and mercenary, ie not unlike companions in many other RPGs.
That could be a way to increase the party roster significantly without having to write every single line needed for a tadpole character, and allow us to swap out a member or two of the main gang for different missions.
