Hirelings and Allies

 Hirelings are NPCs that are recruited to join the party on a quest, either temporarily or long term. There is no hard cap of the number of hirelings that the party or any individual PC can hire, beyond the ability and willingness of the PCs to pay. Most hirelings will be built on 62 or 125 character points, but there may be exceptions. The going rate is usually 10 silver shillings ($200) per week or 1 gold crown ($400) per week, respectively. Again, there may be exceptions.

 Who is doing the hiring, the sort of henchperson that want, and where they are looking, may all affect the availability. The loyalty of hirelings is also subject to variation, but this risk can be ameliorated to some extent by the personality and behaviour of the party (especially the hiring PC) towards the employee, and their general working conditions. Needless to say, the reverse is also true.

 The step up from hirelings is allies. Rather than a wage, allies get a share of the spoils, just like any PC. An NPC ally is a fully-reliable party member. This is guaranteed on a meta-game level, because the ally is paid for in character points. Points that might have been spent on some other aspect of advancement, instead are invested in a member of your personal retinue. 

 The other benefit of allies is that they improve, whereas hirelings do not. An ally will advance in step with the PC, to remain close to the ratio of the original point difference. For example, an ally that started out at 125 points to a 250 point PC, will improve at a rate to remain more or less consistent with their original 50% point value.

I set a limit on allies which is normally 1 per PC. However the advantages of Born War Leader, Charisma, and Status, each allow an additional ally per level of the advantage(s). Good commanders, high status individuals, and charming personalities, all attract more dedicated followers than those who rely on coin alone.