There are loads of great generators online for virtually any need that a referee might have. It’s practically an embarassment of riches. Unfortunately, there are still times when I can’t find a generator that does exactly what I want in the way that I want it to. This was the case with hireling generators.

My use case is fairly specific but not, I think, unusual. I run a Lamentations of the Flame Princess play-by-post campaign. My players, somewhat flush with cash, want to bolster their ranks with hired help. In my campaign world, their base of operations is at a colonial port town that is constantly filling and refilling with arriving labor seeking employment. There’s a constant flow of perspective hirelings of all sorts that I want to model.

With those in mind, these were my needs for any generator that I was going to use on an ongoing basis:

Generate a fairly large number of hirelings at a clip;

Generate the list in an easy format for copying, pasting, and reformatting, with a focus on preparing player-facing material; and,

Generate a mix of mundane hirelings (torchbearers, teamsters, butlers, etc.) and classed retainers (fighters, clerics, magic-users, etc.).

There are many great generators out there but I couldn’t find one that met all of these needs. Perhaps my search-fu failed me. It wouldn’t be the first time. Either way, unhappy with that state of affairs, I decided to write up my own. The first, bruised fruit of my labors is located here: http://hirelings.hexed.press.

The generator loads up fifty random hirelings when you load the page. Just hit your handy reload button or shortcut to generate fifty more. The top section, I call The Rolls, is a player-facing style list of the hirelings. It only includes the most basic information, namely their names and their occupations. Below that is the Curriculum Vitae. Here, in a sort-of notecard form, is the referee-facing information for each of the hirelings. This includes attribute rolls, some equipment, and their alignment.

This is most definitely a work in progress. I’ll be adding to it and expanding it as whim and inspiration drive me. As it stands though it’s already completely useable and I’ve already begun using it for my campaign which was the entire reason I built it to begin with. Let me know on Twitter or elsewhere if you find it useful (or not) or if you have any suggestions or ideas.