By Techpriest

Special characters are like the monsters that attack the warriors in the dungeons.  They will add to the atmosphere of the warriors lives but should not take the focus away from the warriors.

Unless the GM decides to give control of a Special Character to a player for a limited time they are controlled by the Game Master.  If working directly with the warriors they should act during the Warrior's Phase, otherwise they should act during the Monster's Phase.

In some cases the Special Character may be working against the warriors.  The alignment of each Special Character is listed as either good, neutral or evil.  This should be kept in mind when the Special Characters deal with the warriors.  

The Gold Value listed for the Special Characters is when a warrior defeats a Special Character that is an opponent.  Good warriors should never receive gold for killing good Special Characters.  Evil warriors can get gold for defeating evil Special Characters, after all, playing nice with others is not an admirable trait for villains.  On the same token good warriors can breathe easy when in the company of good Special Characters but evil characters should always be wary when among "friends".

It is not necessary to keep track of gold or experience for Special Characters.  In most cases they will only be among the warriors for a short amount of time and then move on.  If the Special Character is with the warriors for an extended period of time and the GM feels they should be ready to progress in level then he should feel free to do so.

Keep in mind that even though the game tends to revolve around the adventuring heroes, the Special Characters will probably not have that same point.  A wandering bard that befriends the party would probably want his fair share of the treasure as long as he pulls his own weight.  The players may argue that "NPC's don't need gold" but in the game world that would not hold weight and is not a very realistic way to play.