Hirelings for His Majesty The Worm Duet Play

04 Apr, 2026

Usually hirelings aren't needed for His Majesty The Worm, and they still might not be! Here's some roughly sketched ideas on how a hireling or a companion works. Don't use these for campaigns with more than one player, what would be the point?

The Contract

The first thing any delver does when hiring someone to join them in their delves is sketch up a contract. Guilds have a guild charter, but there are more temporary contacts. The contract can typically cover:

• A Flat Per Delve Fee.
• A Maximum Share per Delve
• A Job (Which defines their responsibilities)
• Penalties (If you're deemed untrustworthy, a breach could cost you extra!)

Do not mock the contract, for the scribes of the districts of law write them in binding ink. I encourage you to give your player a contract with blanks for negotiation, much like the guild sheet in the base game.

Mechanics

We'll start with your most common hireling and then expand our way out.

Say we go into the city, looking for a chap to hold a torch into the delves. All hirelings have:

• Stats (Probably not impressive, but definitely a 1 in a relevant stat.)
• A Bond (Their Relationship to you as core, you can burn it like an oath!)
• A Kin Talent, if they're a traditional kith or kin.
• 4 Health and 0 Defense
• 4 Belt Slots
• 4 Pack Slots. Okay, that's not very impressive. Well, remember that hirelings aren't going to be doing much more than their contract unless they like you or have some reason to do so! Our torchbearer is probably carrying a pack full of rations and a bevvy of torches on his belt.

Some companions are specialized - they might come with you as part of a contract, or they might be paid better for their skills. Extra features cost more:

• A Skilled hireling (Fighter/Burglar/Wizard/Antiquarian/ect) will have A Relevant Motif, a two in a Relevant Stat and a Mastered Talent. They all have some relevant gear on them.
• a Laborious hireling, like a pack mule, will have 12 pack slots.

In a Challenge

If anyone controls the Hireling, it's the player. They're dealt an extra card per hireling controlled. Non-Skilled hirelings will not participate unless they're persuaded into it. They can take no action unless the player spends a card.

Health represents the steps of health a delver usually has, Defense is roughly the amount of notches a piece of armor can have.

Any hits reduces their health, then defence. Health can be restored in a camp phase using bonds, but defence requires a trip back to town or the dedicated use of a tinker's kit.

Hiring Costs

#HMTW