I wanted to give my players squad mates using the Squad Rules so that they could last longer in some fights and not drop dead on the first hit from the big bad guy. But after thinking about it, I also wanted to give those squad mates some real personnalities and not be generic meat shields... so I tried having my NPC squad mates give the players some bonus.

Here are a few I had...

Imana Whitesky : Diplomat

- If Nemesis is eliminated, spend Destiny to have all remaining Rivals and Minions surrender.

- Spend a Destiny Point and gain 4 strain.

Mellia Nell : Medic

- Gain 2 ranks of Surgeon

- Spend a Destiny point and succeed a free "It's not that bad"

Scubb : Explosive expert

- Spend a Destiny point and blow up a locked door.

- Add Blast 6 to ranged attacks.

Tulana Darkhunter : Assassin

- Add Boost die to melee attacks

- Melee attacks gain Vicious +2

Now with "minions" like these, you have to think twice before sacrificing one to soak a hit. Choosing the right minions for your group is also a nice puzzle to solve... I gave my 4 players a list of 12 minions, they had to choose 2 each.

After talking with my players and fellow GMs, we even thought the idea was so good we could apply it to space battles.... each player being the captain of a freighter or small ship with crewmen being minions giving a bonus also.

What do you guys think ?

"It's not that bad" is a once per session Talent a Medic has to have invested a minimum of 85 xp to obtain. Is there a xp cost associated with having these minions? There should be a once per session and a DP cost for that.

Blast 6 on all ranged attacks is way OP.

The Diplomat one is essentially a Signature Ability level option, and way OP.

The Assassin isn't too bad.

Use of them should also cost a measurable % of payouts and items, and there should be a steep xp cost placed on the addition of one of these assets.

I know some of them had pretty potent powers...

It was our playgroup last session with these characters, it was planned ahead that their story would end this session.... and they all died heroically So I knew I could go overboard with this idea to jump start it.

Talking about this idea... we also came up with some "cost" to get those...

Some NPC companions would required ranks in Charm or Coercion or Leadership... Others might be mercenaries, asking for credits to do the job... Others would require some kind of side quest to get...

My friend GM and I are trying to find some good ideas to get our players invested in some kind of structure or organization... theirs or somebody else.

Having some hired gun to help you out, give a hand and take a few shots could be one step towards that goal. And it can hep the players take a few hits if need be...

Thanks for the input 2P51

Would you guys try this idea ? How could you make it work out ? Some sample powers that would be alright ?

Some of what you suggested isn't too bad, some is OTT. Blast 6 on every attack for instance is way OP. Giving the PCs access to a 25 xp Talent like It's not that bad for no real cost. The everybody surrenders thing for offing the Nemesis, also way too much.

A medic with some ranks of Surgeon, the door breacher for a DP, those are fine. There needs to be a xp cost though if you're handing them Talents and Skills they don't have. Giving a scout NPC something like Heightened Awareness might be ok, but anything that already costs a DP for a PC should be once a session, and anything that's already once a session should be that plus a DP. The auto surrender thing is like a Sig Ability and I wouldn't let that fly at all.

I'd probably rather it ends up being something that enhances a check the PCs are already doing, as opposed to they do it for them.