This is true. It would not only spare lots of time for us GMs, it would be logical and helping for the players.
does it mean u give the mercs back to players ?? if they get killed ?
I'm kind of thinking that if there was some mercenary hired into my party, and I were to die...This random thug would much sooner grab anything he could and take off to his own objective, rather than heading to a nearby city, or abode of his recently deceased 'master'. Although, logic should not have bearing on this, as nobody really dies in the wasteland, they just taking a bloody nap and waking up somewhere in the same area.
I think this should be the difference between mercs and sexy new F2 style companions that I propose. You can buy Mercs, but they're just hired guns. You die, they leave. The alternative is to recruit Followers in bars - through some kind of technological wizardry they're always within a level or two of you.You recruit them with a speech roll and they come with you for free. They're not as good as mercs, but they also don't cost anything. Mercs are hired guns, these guys are just travellers who know which end the bullets come out. They can't be told to guard anywhere, nor can they be told to follow anyone else. So Mercs are still preferable in a lot of cases, but Followers are intended to actually follow you around the wastes without you having to worry about how much money you lose if they die.If you want to go further and add interesting long-term gameplay you'll also allow Followers to respawn after death and level up, so both you and your companions become more skilled as time goes on.Shit, did I just make Speech useful?