Men-at-Arms a.k.a Mercenaries

Men-at-Arms, also known as Mercenaries, are a main stay of any in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons campaign. (DMG 29)  The various types are listed in the following table in the Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG) page 30:
Note the hit point range for these soldiers, which lines up with them being zero level fighters. This is confirmed in the Players Handbook (PHB) on page 105:

DMG 237 Non-Player Character tables give us more details about a Mercenary's Attributes:

The Monster Manual (MM) page 66 confirms normal men have hit points in the 1-6 range, informing us Mercenaries are a more hardy stock.

In case you were wondering, if Men-at-arms have more hit points than normal people, DMG 88 fills in that data on page 88:

So it's probably fair to deduce some of the different in hit points is  from their training.
So, how do they actually fair in combat?
Not great considering their ability to attack is the same as any other typical human...I guess they just have a better chance of survival.



One of the misconceptions I have heard several times is the number of Mercenaries a Player Chracter can employ at any time is limited by their Charisma; however, PHB 13 clearly says otherwise:

Another false claim about Men-at-Arms is that beginning PCs cannot hire them, again PHB 34 dispels this myth in the passage about creating your first Character:


DMG page 175 states that Men-at-Arms will not go below the 3rd level of a dungeon:

One interesting mention of the Men-at-Arms appears in the description of the Heroism potion.  (DMG 126) Raise your hand if you've fed these to your hirelings.

Could be great for the Magic User with heavy foot for protection...

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