1 Basics

If you haven't already done so, flesh this follower out as an NPC. Give them a name, develop their concept, and think about how you'll describe them. Add additional details if they seem important or valuable. See Creating NPCs for guidelines.

Andras is a young lad who's eager to become one of the village hunters.

First, we flesh him out as an NPC. I ask some questions of the PCs, and we learn that he's Padraig's son and just a few months younger than Caradoc. Caradoc's player also suggests that he fancies Blodwen, but hasn't worked up the courage to say anything about it. That's plenty to work with!

2 Tags

Give each follower 2-4 tags, sometimes more. Tags are adjectives or nouns, and they should finish the sentence, "This follower is/is a __."

Tags serve as a guide when you portray the follower, informing how they act or what they will/won't want to do. Tags also affect what a player rolls when they Order Followers.

Avoid overly broad tags like experienced, invincible, skilled, incompetent, etc. You want tags that apply some of the time, not all of the time!

Give followers a mix of tags that are useful, problematic, and mixed blessings. Morecompetent followers should have more useful tags and fewer problematic ones, but even highly skilled followers can have some unpleasant quirks.

If the follower is truly outstanding, then give them the exceptional tag (see NPCs and Followers). Such followers should be rare; save this tag for the best of the best.

If you're creating a group follower, then pick tags that apply to the entire group. As individual members stand out, consider giving each one a unique tag of their own.

I ask Rhianna to pick two of the crew's tags that Andras already has. "Hmm. I think he's already good with a bow, so archer*. And I think he's* observant*. That's one of those traits that's hard to teach, y'know?"*

Those are both useful traits, so I add eager (a mixed blessing) and rookie (definitely problematic).