Vile Leadership

You rule over your own cabal of minions with a villainous cohort as your lieutenant.

Prerequisite(s): Character level 7th, good standing with an evil organization.

Benefit(s): You can attract a loyal cohort and a number of cowed followers to assist you in your journeys. This feat is similar to Leadership, except Vile Leadership rewards— rather than hinders—leaders who have cruel reputations or who cause the deaths of their followers. Once you take this feat, you cannot take the Leadership feat without retraining your feat selection).

In order to benefit from this feat, you must belong to one of the evil organizations listed in this section and also be in good standing with that organization.

Numerous factors can affect your Vile Leadership score (which acts as a Leadership score for the purpose of feats and abilities that rely on a Leadership score, other than Leadership itself); work with your GM and use the tables below to adjust your Vile Leadership score.

The NPCs you attract must be affiliated with the evil organization to which you belong.

Vile Leadership Modifiers

A leader’s reputation affects here Vile Leadership score.

Leader’s Reputation Modifier
Ruthless +2
Rewards loyalty/success +1
Possesses a special power +1
Indecisive –1
Tolerant of failure –1
Merciful –2

Other modifiers may apply when you try to attract a cohort with this feat, as listed below.

Leader’s Attributes Modifier
Gained power by eliminating a superior +1
Fails to punish or kill minions who make costly mistakes –2*
Recruits a cohort of a different alignment –1

* Cumulative per incident of compassion shown. This penalty is incurred even if you show mercy to avoid killing or punishing more than 20% of your minions during a given character level (see the footnote to the following table).

Followers have different priorities from cohorts.

When you try to attract a follower with this feat, use the following modifiers.

Leader’s Attributes Modifier
Has a stronghold, base of operations, guildhouse, etc. +2
Has punished or killed minions to set an example or assert dominance +1*
Has a tendency toward long periods of inactivity –1
Restricts minions from looting, pillaging, or pursuing other spoils of war –1

* Cumulative to a maximum bonus of +1 per character level, with minimum of one minion per incident. If you punish or kill more than 20% of your minions during a given character level, this bonus becomes a penalty instead. At the beginning of a new level, any bonus of penalty from punishing or killing minions resets to 0.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Player Companion: Champions of Corruption © 2014, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Paris Crenshaw, Jim Groves, Sean McGowen, and Philip Minchin.

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