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The motive would be for Sidekicks, I think, rather than Player Heroes - a Player hero doesn't really need "Keyword 20". (yes, I can think of several minor reasons to do so, most of which come down to min-maxing or other sorts of sleight-of-character).
A sidekick, on the other hand, only has three abilities besides his keyword, and if you intend those three abilities to be different than what's contained in his keyword, then he'll never be a better Warrior or Healer or "Devotee of XX", he'll just have a higher "Strong" or "Run Fast" or "Magical Doohickey". A sidekick *should* be growing along with his Hero. However, there should not be a rule to use HP to "buy up" keywords. Let the Sidekick get "keyword" bumps along with the Hero during Advanced Experience. The question each group then needs to ask is: "Does he get his own keyword raises, or does the player have to split them between his main hero and his sidekick?"
I'm of the opinion that a player should have to decide if he's going to raise his main hero or his sidekick. The reason I think this is that the sidekick really *isn't* his own character; ultimately he is a loose collection of abilities housed in a seperate body. While he can be killed independently of the Hero, he can occasionally be used independently of the main hero - "My Sidekick will watch the prisoners". The abilities are normally available to the Hero without too much effort - he'll not normally be unavailable (like an ally can be), though you might still need to roll on the "Follower's reaction table" if you ask him to to something nasty.
RR
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has
done what he has done.
- Richelieu
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