Currently, hirelings are not part of Shadowdark. They can shift the spotlight away from the heroes and too easily become little more than cannon fodder. With that in mind, it is understandable that official rules for hirelings are not on the horizon.
I get it. Shadowdark leans hard into the “alone in the dark” experience, where the adventurers are isolated and vulnerable, their torches sputtering out as the dungeon presses in. That is a powerful tone to preserve.
Still, hirelings have been a part of dungeon-crawling since the earliest days of the hobby. They add texture, tension, and sometimes comic relief. My take pares them down to narrative abstractions. They provide simple benefits without ever stealing the spotlight. They are fragile, unreliable, and remind the players that sometimes the only thing between them and the dark is a trembling torchbearer.
Party Limit
The party may retain a number of hirelings equal to the highest group CHA modifier + 1.
Types & Costs
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Torchbearer: 1 gp per session. 1 Gear Slot. Holds the torch for the party. No combat.
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Porter: 5 gp per session. 5 Gear Slots. No combat.
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Guard: 10 gp per session. 2 Gear Slots. Once per session, a Guard may act on the turn of a nearby PC to either:
• Attack a foe within Near (d20 +1, 1d4; Guards cannot score critical hits), or
• Perform one heroic stunt (slam a door, drag an ally, distract, etc.).
Availability
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Small settlement: Only torchbearers available.
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Medium settlement: Torchbearers and porters available.
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Large settlement: All types available.
Morale
Roll a DC 15 check per hireling type (torchbearers, porters, guards) when:
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A PC or hireling dies,
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A terrifying foe appears,
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A major trap or catastrophe occurs.
On a failure, that hireling type panics. They flee or surrender, whichever makes the most sense for survival.
Fragile
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Hirelings have no HP or AC and cannot use Luck.
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Enemies attack PCs, not hirelings.
Exposure and Collateral Death
If present in a dangerous space, whenever a PC takes damage roll 1d6 for each hireling present. On a 1, that hireling dies..
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Hirelings left behind are normally safe. If the danger level is Deadly, nowhere is safe and all hirelings are considered at risk. A random encounter may reach them first; the GM determines how the danger manifests, and may use a 1d6 roll for each hireling to resolve it (on a 1, the hireling dies).
Supplies and Recovery
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Hirelings are assumed to have their own rations.
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If a hireling dies, only the items carried in their listed gear slots (torchbearer 1, porter 5, guard 2) may be recovered.
Hirelings in Camp
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Torchbearers and Porters: Handle chores like unpacking, tending fires, or cooking. They cannot keep watch.
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Guards: May take a camp watch. If danger arrives, they will raise the alarm but must make a morale check to see if they stand firm or panic.
Special Hirelings
Sometimes a hireling may join as a story reward. This might be a rescued captive, a noble’s escort, or a grateful NPC. These special hirelings may break the normal rules, but they should never overshadow the adventurers.
Why Narrative Hirelings?
Narrative hirelings are simple, fragile, and easy to run. Kept abstract, they add tension without adding bookkeeping. They serve the story rather than the initiative order, which fits Shadowdark’s ethos of keeping the focus on the adventurers. YMMV.