Whenever they show up, the Dragonborn essentially gets up to three protected followers for free, which is invaluable for surviving tough battles on Master/Legendary difficulty. The frequency of their appearance is not high enough to affect gameplay in general, but is high enough to feel their existence. If downed in combat by enemies or other NPCs, they will get up shortly, seemingly in full health, and continue to fight. They don't do much damage, but can hold ground reasonably well even against most powerful foes such as the ghost of Karstaag. 'Once the Dragonborn becomes the new chief for the Thirsk Mead Hall Rieklings, up to three Rieklings will randomly show up at any time anywhere, Solstheim or Skyrim, to aid the Dragonborn in combat. Originally posted by smr1957:That is, indeed, a vanilla game mechanic.
