My Henchman House Rules for The Black Hack

There was a post in the Black Hack Google community this morning about henchmen, so I thought I'd post the henchmen house rules I've been using for the Ravensburg game.

Henchmen 

Each PC begins the game with one henchman of any class the player chooses. Thereafter, the PC gains one additional henchman at every even-numbered experience level. New (and replacement) henchmen are level-1 NPCs equipped with a backpack, any one weapon the player chooses, and the following according to class:

Warrior: Shield – OR – Missile Weapon and Ammo
Thief: Thief's Tools
Cleric: Spell book and Holy Symbol
Conjurer: Spell book

The PC is responsible for paying for any other gear the henchman will use. In exchange for their loyalty, henchmen will expect level- and class-appropriate gear upgrades, and will also expect a 10% share of all monetary treasure earned by the PC on adventures in which they participate.

Henchmen always have average HP and have a single stat* for all attributes according to level:

Levels 1-2: 10

Levels 3-4: 11

Levels 5-6: 12

Levels 7-8: 13

Level 9:      14

Henchmen level up at the rate of one level per adventure until they reach one level below that of the PC leading them. Thereafter, they level up when the PC does.**

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* Henchmen are very ordinary, with stats slightly lower than average to ensure the PC leading them will be the star.

** In other words henchmen stay one level below the PC at all times except when the PC is at first level. If a PC ever loses a level, the henchman stays at his present level until the PC gains enough levels to be one level above him again.