Whether seeking everyday workers or rare experts, the methods PCs use for employing hirelings are generally the same. Basically, a player character advertises his needs and seeks out the recommendations of others. Given enough notice, hirelings will then seek out the player character.
Who Might Be Offended?[]
When hiring, the first step is to figure out if the player character is going to offend anyone, particularly the ruler of the city or town. Feudal lords have very specific ideas about their land and their property (the latter of which sometimes includes the people on his land).
If the hirelings are true freedmen, they can decide to come and go as they please. More often, the case is that the hirelings are bound to the fief. They are not slaves, but they cannot leave the land without the permission of their lord.
Depopulate at Your Own Risk[]
Depopulating an area will get a strong negative reaction from local officials. If the player character seeks only a few hirelings, he is not likely to run into difficulty unless he wishes to take them away (i.e., back to his own castle). This type of poaching will certainly create trouble.
If Targash, having established his paladin's castle, needs 300 peasants to work the field, he cannot go into the nearby town and recruit 300 people without causing a reaction! The lord and the town burghers are going to consider this tantamount to wholesale kidnapping.
Finally, local officials have this funny way of getting upset about strange armies. If Targash comes into town to raise 300 heavy cavalry, the local lord is sure to notice! No one likes strangers raising armies in their territory. It is, after all, a threat to their power.
Securing Permission[]
Thus, in at least these three situations, player characters would do well to secure the cooperation of local officials before they do anything. Such cooperation is rarely forthcoming without some kind of conditions: A noble may require a cash bond before he will agree to release those under him; guilds may demand concessions to regulate their craft within the boundaries of the player character's lands; dukes and kings may require treaties or even diplomatic marriages; burghers could ask for protection or a free charter. Anything the DM can imagine and negotiate with the player is a possibility.
Finding the Right People[]
Once a character has secured permission, he can begin searching for the hirelings he needs. If he needs craftsmen with specific skills, it is best to work through the guild or local authorities. They can make the necessary arrangements for the player character. This also obviates the need to role-play a generally uninteresting situation. Of course, guilds generally charge a fee for their services.
If the character is seeking a large number of unskilled men or soldiers, he can hire a crier to spread the word. (Printing, being undiscovered or in an infant state, is generally not a practical solution.) Fortunately, criers are easily found and can be hired without complicated searching. Indeed, even young children can be paid for this purpose.
At the same time, the player character would be wise to do his own advertising by leaving word with innkeepers, stablers, and the owners of public houses. Gradually, the DM makes applicants arrive.
If the player character is searching for a fairly common sort of hirelingólaborers, most commonlyóthe response is equal to approximately 10% of the population in the area (given normal circumstances).
If the position being filled is uncommon, the response will be about 5% of the population. Openings for soldiers might get one or two respondents in a village of 50. In a city of 5,000 it wouldn't be unusual to get 250 applicants, a respectable company.
If searching for a particular craft or specialistóa blacksmith or armorer, for instanceóthe average response is 1% of the population or less. Thus, in a village of 50, the character just isn't likely to find a smith in need of employment. In a slightly larger village, he might find the blacksmith's apprenticed son willing to go with him.
Unusual circumstances such as a plague, a famine, a despotic tyrant, or a depressed economy, can easily alter these percentages. In these cases, the DM decides what is most suitable for his campaign. Furthermore, the player character can increase the turnout by offering special inducementsóhigher pay, greater social status, or special rewards. These can increase the base percentage by 1% to 10% of the population.
The whole business becomes much more complicated when hiring exotic expertsósages, spies, assassins, and the like. Such talents are not found in every city. Sages live only where they can continue their studies and where men of learning are valued. Thus they tend to dwell in great cities and centers of culture, though they don't always seek fame and notoriety there. Making discreet enquiries among the learned and wealthy is an effective way to find sages. Other experts make a point not to advertise at all.
Characters who blurt out that they are seeking to hire a spy or an assassin are going to get more than just a raised eyebrow in reaction! Hiring these specialists should be an adventure in itself.
For example, Fiera the Elf has decided she needs the services of a spy to investigate the doings of her archrival. The player, Karen, tells the DM what she intends, setting the devious wheels of the DM's mind in motion. The DM plans out a rough adventure and, when he is ready, tells Karen that her character can begin the search.
Not knowing where to begin (after all, where does one hire a spy?), Fiera starts to frequent seamy and unpleasant bars, doing her best to conceal her true identity. She leaves a little coin with the hostelers and word of her needs. The DM is ready for this. He has prepared several encounters to make Fiera's search interesting. There are drunken, over-friendly mercenaries, little ferret-faced snitches, dark mysterious strangers, and venal constables to be dealt with.
Eventually, the DM has several NPCs contact Fiera, all interested in the job. Unknown to the player (or her character) the DM has decided that one applicant is really a spy sent by her rival to act as a double agent! Thus, from a not-so-simple hiring, one adventure has been played and the potential for more has been created.
The Weekly Wage[]
Once applicants have arrived (and the player has rejected any that seem unsuitable), the issue of pay must be negotiated. Fortunately, this is somewhat standardized for most occupations.
Table 65 lists the amount different trades and craftsmen expect under normal circumstances. From these, salaries for other NPCs can be decided. The wages for soldiers, because of their highly specialized work, are listed on Table 64.
| Profession | Weekly Wage |
Monthly Wage |
|---|---|---|
| Clerk | 2 gp | 8 gp |
| Stonemason | 1 gp | 4 gp |
| Laborer | 1 sp | 1 gp |
| Carpenter | 1 gp | 5 gp |
| Groom | 2 sp | 1 gp |
| Huntsman | 2 gp | 10 gp |
| Ambassador or official | 50-150 gp | 200-600 gp |
| Architect | 50 gp | 200 gp |
These amounts may seem low, but most employers provide other benefits to their hirelings. Appropriate room and board is expected for all but common laborers and higher officials. Those falling in the middle range expect this to be taken care of. Traveling expenses must come out of the PC's pocket, as must any exceptional items of equipment or dress.
Important hirelings will also expect gifts and perhaps offices to supplement their income. Soldiers expect to be ransomed if captured, to have their equipment replaced as needed, and to receive new mounts for those lost in combat. All of these extra benefits add up quickly. Furthermore, most activities are much more labor-intensive when compared to modern standards. More workers are needed to perform a given job. More workers means greater overall expenses and lower wages for each individual laborer.
For example, consider Targash at his castle. He has assembled the officials, craftsmen, and soldiers he feels he needs to maintain his standing and protect his small fief. These break down as follows:
| 250 light infantry | 250 gp |
| 50 heavy infantry | 100 gp |
| 100 longbowmen | 800 gp |
| 75 light cavalry | 300 gp |
| 25 heavy cavalry | 250 gp |
| 1 master artillerist | 50 gp |
| 10 artillerists | 40 gp |
| 1 master engineer | 150 gp |
| 1 master armorer | 100 gp |
| 5 armorers | 50 gp |
| 1 master bladesmith | 100 gp |
| 5 bladesmiths | 50 gp |
| 1 master bowyer | 50 gp |
| 1 bowyer | 10 gp |
| 1 master fletcher | 30 gp |
| 1 master of the hunt | 10 gp |
| 8 huntsmen | 40 gp |
| 10 grooms | 10 gp |
| 20 skilled servants (baker, cook, etc.) |
40 gp |
| 40 household servants | 40 gp |
| 1 herald | 200 gp |
| 1 castellan | 300 gp |
| Total | 2,970 gp per month |
These costs cover only the wages paid these nonplayer characters. It does not include the funds necessary to provide provisions, maintain equipment, or expand Targash's realm (a desire of many player characters). Over the course of a year, Targash mush bring in at least 35,640 gp just to pay his hirelings.
Considering a reasonable tax to be one gold piece for each person and one or two silver for each head of livestock, Targash must have a considerable number of people or animals within the borders of his fief or go into debt! Supplementing one's income thus becomes a good reason for adventuring. However, even powerful, adventuring lords often find themselves forced to borrow to maintain their households.
And these costs don't even begin to cover the salaries demanded by any extremely rare hirelings Targash may need. Spies and assassins normally demand exorbitant wages—5,000 to 10,000 gold pieces or more. And they are in a position to get away with it. Aside from the fact that not many can do their job, they can also force an employer to pay through blackmail. The act of hiring must be secret, not only to succeed, but to prevent the character from being embarrassed, disgraced, or worse. Woe to the employer who attempts to cheat his assassin!
Others can also resort to such blackmail. Mercenaries may refuse to go on campaign until they are properly paid (a tactic used by the condottieri in Italy). Peasants have been known to revolt. Guilds may withdraw their support. Merchants can always trade elsewhere. All of these serve as checks and balances on the uncontrolled power of any ruler from local lord to powerful emperor.