Followers are companions who can accompany you on your journey throughout the game. Some may join for a short time until their own agenda is fulfilled, while others can stay with you to the bitter end. Followers may be good or evil, Magickal or Technological, fighters or healers, so there are sure to be companions who fit in with any playing style.
Basics[]
These are NPCs which may accompany the Living One on their journey through Arcanum.
- A player is limited to the number of regular followers that they can have. This limit is calculated by dividing the player's Charisma by four and rounding DOWN. However a player can always have at least 1 follower.
- An extra follower slot may be gained by becoming an expert in Persuasion.
- Temporary Followers (see below), summons, mechanical constructs, and a certain Dog do not count towards the player's follower limit.
- Followers in the party do not gain Experience Points through combat, though they do steal it from the player on a per hit basis. They will only gain an Experience Level each time the player does. This occurs until the player hits the level cap at 50 and stops leveling.
Recruiting[]
Getting an NPC to join is not automatic.
Regular Followers[]
- Generally an NPC will not join the party if they are two or more experience levels above the player.
- Followers have their own agenda, and each has different preferences. They may choose not to join the player's party if the player's character is too different than theirs, like the player's alignment or aptitude.
- Some followers may leave the party if the player has changes in alignment, particularly if it changes from net positive to net negative, and vice versa.
- Some followers have a disliking for each other, and will not travel in each other's presence. This can result in them either not joining the party, or quitting the party if the other joins.
- Having Master training in Persuasion and/or the bonus for a Charisma of 20 can override some of these issues.
- Sometimes certain conditions must be met (Skill or stat level, story line progression, quest status) for a follower to join.
Temporary Followers[]
- Temporary Followers will generally only join the party for the duration of a specific quest.
- They also generally do not count towards the player's follower limit (ie. they are "free" followers).
- They will also usually quit the party if the player strays too far from the quest objective.
Special Followers[]
- These are followers who possess elements of both types and/or who have a twist.
- Sometimes they are temporary followers who can be turned into permanent followers via dialogue or specific game play.
- They may be permanent followers who do not take up a follower slot, or temporary followers who do.
Dismissing[]
- Followers will generally return to the place where the player recruited them if they leave the group.
- They may or may not rejoin if asked, and the requirements to rejoin are sometimes more lax.
- As noted above, followers will sometime leave the group of their own accord.
- Followers can always be told to disband (see below)
- Followers who are told to WAIT (rather than being disbanded) will stay in place for a short time (usually about an hour game time) and can be asked to rejoin.
- Followers who are left waiting too long will often times disappear.
- Wait time can be extended (roughly doubled) with Apprentice training in Persuasion.
Vocalization[]
An element of Arcanum is the voice acting of several followers who are important to the storyline.
Follower List[]
Use the links below for full Follower descriptions and any special requirements and/or notes.
| Follower | Level | Aptitude | Alignment | Voiced | Status | Reqs? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil | 1 | Magickal | Special | Yes | Regular | No |
| Sogg Mead Mug | 2 | Neutral | Good | No | Regular | Yes |
| Jayna Stiles | 6 | Technological | Good | No | Regular | Yes |
| Magnus | 8 | Technological | Good | Yes | Regular | Yes |
| Swyft | 9 | Magickal | Neutral | No | Temporary | No |
| Gar | 10 | Neutral | Good | Yes | Special | Yes |
| Dante | 12 | Magickal | Good | No | Special | Yes |
| Geoffrey Tarellond-Ashe | 12 | Magickal | Evil | Yes | Special | Yes |
| Worthless Mutt (Dog) | 12 | Neutral | Neutral | No | Special | No |
| Vollinger | 15 | Technological | Evil | No | Special | No |
| Chukka | 16 | Neutral | Good | No | Regular | Yes |
| Lady Druella | 17 | Neutral | Good | No | Temporary | No |
| Cynthia Boggs | 20 | Neutral | Neutral | No | Temporary | No |
| Jormund | 20 | Magickal | Good | No | Special | Yes |
| Torian Kel | 20 | Neutral | Evil | Yes | Regular | Yes |
| Waromon | 20 | Magickal | Neutral | No | Regular | Yes |
| Thorvald Two Stones | 23 | Technological | Neutral | No | Special | Yes |
| Perriman Smythe | 25 | Magickal | Good | No | Regular | Yes |
| Weldo Rubin | 25 | Technological | Good | No | Regular | No |
| Z'an Al'urin | 29 | Magickal | Evil | Yes | Regular | Yes |
| Doc Roberts | 30 | Technological | Good | No | Temporary | No |
| Murgo | 30 | Neutral | Neutral | No | Special | No |
| Sebastian | 30 | Technological | Good | No | Regular | Yes |
| Tollo Underhill | 30 | Technological | Evil | No | Special | Yes |
| Raven | 32 | Magickal | Good | Yes | Regular | Yes |
| Franklin Payne | 35 | Technological | Good | Yes | Regular | No |
| Loghaire Thunder Stone | 35 | Technological | Good | Yes | Regular | Yes |
| The Bane of Kree | 45 | Neutral | Evil | No | Regular | Yes |
| Kraka-tur | 45 | Neutral | Evil | No | Regular | Yes |
| Gorgoth | 50 | Neutral | Neutral | No | Special | No |
| Arronax | 50 | Magickal | Neutral | Yes | Special | No |
Commands[]
Players can issue commands to a single follower or their entire party in a few ways:
- Left clicking on a follower will bring up the dialogue menu.
- Right clicking a follower's portrait allows the player to choose a command. It is also possible to view a follower's inventory or character screen this way, bypassing the need for dialogue.
- Pressing Enter and typing a command and sending it by pressing Enter again will broadcast commands. Preface a message with a follower's name to instruct only that follower (e.g. Virgil Wait), or preface it with # to instruct all followers within range (e.g. #Wait).
Below is a list of available broadcast messages.
To add or remove party members[]
- Wait — Instructs follower(s) to leave the party and stay in place for a short time. Followers may quit the party and go back home if left waiting for too long (about an hour of ingame time).
- Join — Instructs a waiting follower to rejoin the party.
- Leave — Instructs follower(s) to leave the party. The follower to go back to their starting point after some travel delay. Most followers will rejoin at a later time is asked.
- Disband — Same as "Leave"
- Fuck — Will cause the follower to quit the party and attack the player.
- Fuck You — Same as "Fuck"
For active party members[]
- Attack — Instructs follower(s) to attack an object or creature.
- Back Off — Instructs follower(s) to stop attacking an object or creature.
- Close — Instructs follower(s) to stay close to the player.
- Come — Same as "Close".
- Follow — Same as "Close".
- Move — Instructs follower(s) to walk to a specified tile.
- Spread — Instructs follower(s) to stay further away from the player.
- Spread Out — Same as "Spread".
- Stay Close —Same as "Close".
- Stop — Same as Back Off.
- Walk — Same as "Move".
Finally, the player can use hotkeys to instruct all followers quickly. See the respective page for details.