>From: "Jane Williams" <janewilliams20_at_...>
>I think the intent of the rules would seem to be that Followers only use
>one ability at a time, and are intended to be "simple" in terms of how
>they're used.
>
>Personally I have problems with the whole concept (I tend to swap
>characters from PC to NPC to follower to ally between scenarios, as
>focus shifts), but after discussion here, found that turning most
>Followers into Allies solved a lot of them. If you want Bob to do more
>stuff and be more important, converting him to an Ally might be a useful
>way forward?
It's always been my assumption that there's a simple trade-off that happens. You can either have a relationship with an NPC, in which case the narrator plays the NPC, and it has a full array of potential abilities that it might use for you, against you, whatever. Or you can have the relationship with a follower, which gives you much more control of the character (complete unless the narrator calls for a roll) at the expense of the follower being limited in scope as to what it can provide.
I think your solution is a good one, Jane, to make them what they need to be at the time. But I think that the basic mechanism is a good one in terms of how it balances. Having them as allies is quite often more what players were expecting, however. The important thing is for players to realize just what they're getting. Followers are really fun if you go into it knowing what you want out of them.
Mike
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