For example, in the case of the drow, they usually have many slaves, but practically if you have got a mount you can have just one. And if you are a wizard with a mount and familiar no slaves for you at all! What pains me, though, are the possibilities for rp that are lost.
I don't think it is something limited for the drow, though, despite surface races have not usually slaves, I suppose that if one is into pets, like say, rangers or druids, the limit is still too strict.
But on the other hand I don't think that simply proposing to raise the limit would be a good alternative.
In my humble opinion the best solution would be to have something along the lines of languages, i.e. to link the limit to a stat on the score sheet. In this case charisma, since also in first edition AD&d was the ability that determined how many followers one could have.
In my opinion this solution would be win-win:
-Charisma gets some numbers in the score sheet and becomes mechanically useful for every character not just for bards and, a handful skills, or checks in quests (which can often be bypassed with potions and the likes, as far as I know).
-People get the possibility to have better rp options with minions, mounts, pets, etc. but some balance is kept, so that we won't see everybody wandering with a horde of creatures.
-It is consistent, since it is only logical that a more charismatic character would have a better leadership capability and thus will be able to sway over more underlings than a character who is less charismatic.
Now feel free to throw at me tomatoes.
P.S.
I've got on a +2 light mail, +4 against missile-tomatoes, just for the record.
