How to design your followers.
Upon their land or during a unique quest, masterclass players will have a unique set of followers who act as soldiers, teachers, and friends/loyal minions. They will be by your side, and their existence in a universe is always signifies their masterclass is nearby. In this post I will go over how to design your own personal following like the felt.
Your followers are a key signifier of you. When you see them people should think, âOh they work for/with this person.â As such they will match the personal tastes, personality, and aesthetic of the masterclass player, with reasonable variation. They should also be comfortable for the masterclass player. No spiders for the arachnaphobe. Other than that be creative with their species Make them unique individuals but they should share one to five themes with you and each other. For example the felt have the themes of Mobsters, All Men, Dangerous Idiots, and Pool (to match the session). Caliborn is violently aggressive and a misogynist with a learning disorder. As such his followers are Mobsters, reflecting his aggression, male, to match his personal philosophy, and dangerous idiots to reflect his learning difficulties, and how heâs deadly regardless.
Your followers are your army. A small group of fighters that given proper leadership can topple any force, but left alone are still a dangerous bunch. As such they each have a power, artifact (usually a juju) or weapon that makes them a mighty force to reckon with. There are three groups of followers. Theres the Direct classpect, the Aspect related, and the leader/support. Direct classpect followers are directly related to the classes related to the masterclass (active for lord and passive for muse) in the same aspect. Typically there are six to eleven of these guys. (Itchy, (theif) Doze, (knight) Finn, Trace, (mages) Die, (witch) Stitch, (maid) Sawbuck, (witch) Eggs, (knight) and Biscuits (maid) are these felt members.) Aspect related are followers with powers that arenât directly related to a classpect, but have powers directly related to the aspect. They are lessons about the aspect in general for the masterclass. Thereâs usually three to nine of them (Cans, Quarters, and Matchstick are these felt members.) Finally leaders/support. These guys typically donât have powers of their own, or the power does not match the masterclasses aspect, but they either provide utility as a decent leader for the crew, or through other ways. There is at the least one (the leader) and at the most four (and thatâs extreme). Clover and Crowbar are the only two here. Crowbar is charming and intelligent, and as such acts as the leader of the felt while LE Is gone or when caliborn tells him to, and despite not having time related powers of his own, his Crowbar can destroy any time related juju and is a powerful weapon. Clover on the other hand, is more light like than time like, being incredibly lucky (4 leafed clover + leprechaun = stupid luck) and giving out information. However he only gives out knowledge when you answer one of his meticulous time based puzzles.
Honestly these guys are characters your masterclass will be around for most of the session. Donât bore them with, albeit useful, blank slates. Give them character, depth. Give them drives and purpose. They are people too after all. Clover was basically a quadrant whore leprechaun style, Itchy was a card shark, and crowbar was done with everyoneâs bs. Heck I have a follower named Sparks (my follower post and my land post will come at some point but donât hold your breath) And she is a hyperactive, easily distracted, clingy sweetheart that will often steal my phone to take pictures of important things or the group.
So yeah. Follow these three rules and you will have a squad of loyal minions/disciples that will follow you to the end of paradox space. And please. Be creative. I want you guys to send in what you come up with. ^u^
