Captive Followers

[Karna5]

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but I've been trying to trouble shoot something for a few hours. The MCM for Captive Followers says there's one Captive, so I decided to try to rescue him:  Rulnik Wind-Strider at Fort Hraggstad

 

So I went there and killed all the bandits and searched for Rulnik. In the main Fort Hraggstad there were no friendly NPCs nor slave furniture. In the Prison portion there is a lot of bondage furniture, and there were two friendly NPCs called "Captive" whom I told to follow me and led outside. And they walked away fine once outside.

 

But I've been searching for hours and can't find Rulnik. I also used the Vampire Aura skill to show me all NPCs through walls (blue for friendly and red for enemy). And it doesn't show me any friendlies waiting to be rescued, not in the main Fort nor the Prison.

 

So I used SSEEdit to identify which Plugin has Rulnik:

 

Plugin: cckrtsse001_altar.esl

NPC ID: FE03E80A

 

I tried to use the prid command on him in game, but I can't target him with prid (though in-game confirms that's his NPC_ ID).

 

Looking at the plugin's quests and contents, I think Rulnik is an NPC who isn't supposed to exist until needed in a quest (ccKRTSSE00i1_zQuest "A Dying Wish").

 

So what I'm trying to figure out is if Rulnik doesn't exist in game yet even though the MCM for Captive Followers says he's in that fort as a captive or whether he was that male "Captive" whom I freed and that MCM simply didn't recognize he's no longer there.

 

Any elucidation would be appreciated. Thanks

 

p.s. I did a follow up test and had MCM capture additional followers. It found and captured 6 followers, so I picked one named Karrie at Drelass Cabin (sp?). I found her there and rescued her. She followed me for a while then wandered off, but her name was Karrie the whole time. So I suspect the issue with Rulnik is specific to Rulnik. (I wasn't able to invite Karrie to actually follow me as a follower after I rescued her, but I suspect that issue with Karrie might be a problem with Immersive Wenches, not this mod.) MCM for Captive Followers did recognize that Karrie was rescued. It removed her from the list of Captives.

Edited January 17 by Karna5

[Miauzi]

1 hour ago, asianboy345 said:

Ich benutze das Nether Follower Framework und stoße nach der Rettung meines ersten Begleiters auf ein seltsames Problem.

 

Mit dem Befehl „Swift Follower“ sehe ich, dass der NPC als mein Begleiter registriert ist, aber seine KI lässt ihn ständig zu seinem ursprünglichen Zuhause zurückkehren. Ich habe auch keine Möglichkeit, ihn zu entlassen. Selbst beim Import ins NFF-System erscheint die Dialogoption zum Entlassen nicht. Ich muss ihn über das MCM entlassen.

 

Aber danach kann ich sie nicht rekrutieren, da sie keine „Folge mir“-Dialoge hat. Obwohl ihr Beziehungsrang nach der erfolgreichen Rettung auf 4 gesetzt ist.

 

Hat sonst noch jemand mit NFF das gleiche Problem? 

 

Where does NFF rank in the load order - before or after "Captive Followers"?

[darkdesires04]

1 hour ago, Karna5 said:

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but I've been trying to trouble shoot something for a few hours. The MCM for Captive Followers says there's one Captive, so I decided to try to rescue him:  Rulnik Wind-Strider at Fort Hraggstad

 

So I went there and killed all the bandits and searched for Rulnik. In the main Fort Hraggstad there were no friendly NPCs nor slave furniture. In the Prison portion there is a lot of bondage furniture, and there were two friendly NPCs called "Captive" whom I told to follow me and led outside. And they walked away fine once outside.

 

But I've been searching for hours and can't find Rulnik. I also used the Vampire Aura skill to show me all NPCs through walls (blue for friendly and red for enemy). And it doesn't show me any friendlies waiting to be rescued, not in the main Fort nor the Prison.

 

So I used SSEEdit to identify which Plugin has Rulnik:

 

Plugin: cckrtsse001_altar.esl

NPC ID: FE03E80A

 

I tried to use the prid command on him in game, but I can't target him with prid (though in-game confirms that's his NPC_ ID).

 

Looking at the plugin's quests and contents, I think Rulnik is an NPC who isn't supposed to exist until needed in a quest (ccKRTSSE00i1_zQuest "A Dying Wish").

 

So what I'm trying to figure out is if Rulnik doesn't exist in game yet even though the MCM for Captive Followers says he's in that fort as a captive or whether he was that male "Captive" whom I freed and that MCM simply didn't recognize he's no longer there.

 

Any elucidation would be appreciated. Thanks

 

p.s. I did a follow up test and had MCM capture additional followers. It found and captured 6 followers, so I picked one named Karrie at Drelass Cabin (sp?). I found her there and rescued her. She followed me for a while then wandered off, but her name was Karrie the whole time. So I suspect the issue with Rulnik is specific to Rulnik. (I wasn't able to invite Karrie to actually follow me as a follower after I rescued her, but I suspect that issue with Karrie might be a problem with Immersive Wenches, not this mod.) MCM for Captive Followers did recognize that Karrie was rescued. It removed her from the list of Captives.

 

If the MCM for Captive Followers shows Rulnik is in the fort then he must be there because the MCM uses the function GetCurrentLocation() for each captive. A quest tracker to track a specific captive would be useful. I am not sure that is possible, but it's something I can think about.

 

 

 

[darkdesires04]

14 minutes ago, Miauzi said:

 

Where does NFF rank in the load order - before or after "Captive Followers"?

 

I think either way is fine.

[Talesien]

8 hours ago, Karna5 said:

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but I've been trying to trouble shoot something for a few hours. The MCM for Captive Followers says there's one Captive, so I decided to try to rescue him:  Rulnik Wind-Strider at Fort Hraggstad

 

So I went there and killed all the bandits and searched for Rulnik. In the main Fort Hraggstad there were no friendly NPCs nor slave furniture. In the Prison portion there is a lot of bondage furniture, and there were two friendly NPCs called "Captive" whom I told to follow me and led outside. And they walked away fine once outside.

 

But I've been searching for hours and can't find Rulnik. I also used the Vampire Aura skill to show me all NPCs through walls (blue for friendly and red for enemy). And it doesn't show me any friendlies waiting to be rescued, not in the main Fort nor the Prison.

 

So I used SSEEdit to identify which Plugin has Rulnik:

 

Plugin: cckrtsse001_altar.esl

NPC ID: FE03E80A

 

I tried to use the prid command on him in game, but I can't target him with prid (though in-game confirms that's his NPC_ ID).

 

Looking at the plugin's quests and contents, I think Rulnik is an NPC who isn't supposed to exist until needed in a quest (ccKRTSSE00i1_zQuest "A Dying Wish").

 

So what I'm trying to figure out is if Rulnik doesn't exist in game yet even though the MCM for Captive Followers says he's in that fort as a captive or whether he was that male "Captive" whom I freed and that MCM simply didn't recognize he's no longer there.

 

Any elucidation would be appreciated. Thanks

 

p.s. I did a follow up test and had MCM capture additional followers. It found and captured 6 followers, so I picked one named Karrie at Drelass Cabin (sp?). I found her there and rescued her. She followed me for a while then wandered off, but her name was Karrie the whole time. So I suspect the issue with Rulnik is specific to Rulnik. (I wasn't able to invite Karrie to actually follow me as a follower after I rescued her, but I suspect that issue with Karrie might be a problem with Immersive Wenches, not this mod.) MCM for Captive Followers did recognize that Karrie was rescued. It removed her from the list of Captives.

I've hit something similar before, never really found out why the get captured as it appears they are either disabled or kept in a special "holding" cell.
You can try and install: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/76063, then use the visit function to find where the NPC actually is (it will also tell you if the NPC is enabled at all).
In one case it teleported me to a stock in the dungeon Captive Followers claimed that NPC was, but it was neither visible not possible to interact with. No idea how an NPC can be enabled but still effectively behave as if disabled. Skyrims ways are mysterious.

 

Edited January 17 by Talesien

[Karna5]

15 hours ago, Talesien said:

I've hit something similar before, never really found out why the get captured as it appears they are either disabled or kept in a special "holding" cell.
You can try and install: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/76063, then use the visit function to find where the NPC actually is (it will also tell you if the NPC is enabled at all).
In one case it teleported me to a stock in the dungeon Captive Followers claimed that NPC was, but it was neither visible not possible to interact with. No idea how an NPC can be enabled but still effectively behave as if disabled. Skyrims ways are mysterious.

 

That was a great and successful suggestion, Talesien. I installed that mod and had it search for Rulnik, and it said he's disabled. It offered me to enable him, but I decided not to as I wasn't sure what that would do to his quest.

 

Edit: On second thought, I decided to let the mod enable him, and I found him there on one of the bondage furnitures after that. He followed me out and was registered as being rescued after that by Captive Followers.

Edited January 18 by Karna5

[MortiferusX]

On 1/17/2026 at 1:37 AM, Talesien said:

Vanilla Followers are difficult, name one that isn't gated. So none of them actually is a follower until you do the quest that makes them one (or indeed like in the case of the Housecarls loads them into the world). Many also have special AI packages (before they turn follower). So if they are included that breaks, possible the quest to get them breaks and people will complain, even if it's an option, even if it's disabled be default. Not including them is the only sensible option from a mod authors view. Everything else is just going to cause you a headache. 

 

Thanks for answering. And how about the other things? Like Gender or Race?

[MortiferusX]

I have a big problem. It looks like this Mod enslaves really EVERYONE in my Game, including Quest-NPC's, Jarls or their stewards. 

 

Yes, Skyrim.esm and all other Basegame and Expansion (DG, DB or HF) are in the Blacklist. 

 

I just have tested the whitelist only option, too. It completly doesn't matter. It feels like the blacklist does not exist or count. 

Edited January 24 by MortiferusX

[xxxamogusxxx]

On 1/24/2026 at 3:19 PM, MortiferusX said:

I have a big problem. It looks like this Mod enslaves really EVERYONE in my Game, including Quest-NPC's, Jarls or their stewards. 

 

Yes, Skyrim.esm and all other Basegame and Expansion (DG, DB or HF) are in the Blacklist. 

 

I just have tested the whitelist only option, too. It completly doesn't matter. It feels like the blacklist does not exist or count. 

Make sure you have all of the requirements. If you edited the config there should not be parsing errors (look for error messages in console after follower capture is finished) and follow the syntax, compare with original file, add commas properly.

Edited January 25 by xxxamogusxxx

[grosaprap]

So "Cousin Followers" is a new NPC mod - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/170760 - that essentially clones a huge number of existing female NPCs and creates 'cousins' of them as followers. The problem is, it doesn't actually place any of them in game, you are meant to use console commands to spawn in a few yourself. 

 

I was thinking about trying to use them to 'seed' Captive Follower, but then realized the forceNPC config requires individual refIDs which would mean that's right out for this specific mod. Or am I misreading things? 

 

If not, would you possibly consider adding the ability to 'forceNPC' an entire esp, similar to how we can blacklist an esp, as a feature to the next revision?

 

I know it'd probably be a niche request, but then again, especially with stuff like  NPC Replacer Follower Converter - xEdit Script - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/146512 - coming out and letting you take replacer mods and convert them directly into follower packs, it'd be nice to be able to do something like that.

[eldritch68]

In the Broken Fang Cave cell (Block5, Sub-Block0), there's an X-Cross that is embedded in a sarcophagus, just to the right as you enter. I noticed on multiple playthroughs that it never had a captive on it. By changing its position to X:865, Y:540.5, Z:183, the Cross was properly sitting in front of the sarcophagus and was used by a captive on the next playthrough. Maybe a tweak worth making on the next release, assuming there is one?

 

Thanks for the mod. I've pretty much stopped playing proper Skyrim and have just been doing 'free all captives' playthroughs

[Revdrsyn]

On 1/26/2026 at 12:12 PM, grosaprap said:

So "Cousin Followers" is a new NPC mod - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/170760 - that essentially clones a huge number of existing female NPCs and creates 'cousins' of them as followers. The problem is, it doesn't actually place any of them in game, you are meant to use console commands to spawn in a few yourself. 

 

I was thinking about trying to use them to 'seed' Captive Follower, but then realized the forceNPC config requires individual refIDs which would mean that's right out for this specific mod. Or am I misreading things? 

 

If not, would you possibly consider adding the ability to 'forceNPC' an entire esp, similar to how we can blacklist an esp, as a feature to the next revision?

 

I know it'd probably be a niche request, but then again, especially with stuff like  NPC Replacer Follower Converter - xEdit Script - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/146512 - coming out and letting you take replacer mods and convert them directly into follower packs, it'd be nice to be able to do something like that.

I'm pretty certain you can get their refids in SSEdit, and earlier I was informed in this thread, they don't need to be loaded to be restrained. 

I also believe there is an option to hit entire .esps in the whitelist, but I've had problems with it, so I've been just adding reference ID's (almost 200 restrained followers at this point!)

[Wolfen09]

10 minutes ago, Revdrsyn said:

I'm pretty certain you can get their refids in SSEdit, and earlier I was informed in this thread, they don't need to be loaded to be restrained. 

I also believe there is an option to hit entire .esps in the whitelist, but I've had problems with it, so I've been just adding reference ID's (almost 200 restrained followers at this point!)

 

Unplaced followers don't get refids which is the problem for that mod, it needs the ACHR id in the references tab of sse edit and unplaced followers dont have that

[xxxamogusxxx]

Using the whitelist for the whole mods but about 20 out of 170 followers refuse to be captured. Is there a quick way to copy refIDs with the proper format that needs to be in the config?

[Revdrsyn]

On 1/30/2026 at 7:25 PM, xxxamogusxxx said:

Using the whitelist for the whole mods but about 20 out of 170 followers refuse to be captured. Is there a quick way to copy refIDs with the proper format that needs to be in the config?

I don't know if it qualifies as 'quick' but there's a script (linked in this thread) that can be run on .esl/p to get the reference ID and that can be added to the config. 

[Revdrsyn]

On 1/29/2026 at 10:47 PM, Wolfen09 said:

 

Unplaced followers don't get refids which is the problem for that mod, it needs the ACHR id in the references tab of sse edit and unplaced followers dont have that

Which followers don't have reference ids? what is an 'unplaced' follower?

[Wolfen09]

9 hours ago, Revdrsyn said:

Which followers don't have reference ids? what is an 'unplaced' follower?

 

All of them, they have form ids which is enough for them to be spawned in via console command, but they are unplaced in the world and require a console spawn in.  Sometimes the author will place them in an unreachable temp cell for you to spawn from console which would give them ref ids but thats not the case here.  If you go into sse edit and look for the npcs from that mod and check into the referenced by tab you won't see an achr number that gives them an anchor point in the world which is their ref id

[Revdrsyn]

On 2/1/2026 at 8:26 AM, Wolfen09 said:

 

All of them, they have form ids which is enough for them to be spawned in via console command, but they are unplaced in the world and require a console spawn in.  Sometimes the author will place them in an unreachable temp cell for you to spawn from console which would give them ref ids but thats not the case here.  If you go into sse edit and look for the npcs from that mod and check into the referenced by tab you won't see an achr number that gives them an anchor point in the world which is their ref id

No, they have reference ID's located in the .esp. 

 

Open up SSEdit and run the script linked in this thread to gather the reference ID.

[Revdrsyn]

Hi.

 

So, as you can see from this picture, I have the correct reference ID for this Aya Follower in the config file. Before leaving the starting cell in Alternate Start, I captured followers and it took and captured over 140 of them. 

However, in spite of having a valid .json, the correct reference ID loaded in the file, Aya *was not captured* and instead is found in her default location in Jorrvaskr.

 

If there is any more information you need, I'd be glad to attempt to locate or provide it. It clearly works for the vast majority of NPC's (due to capturing hundreds- as you can see I have 164 followers tagged to be captured) but for some reason, some followers get skipped.

 

I'd very much like some information on how I can find out why this is happening. 

[Seeker999]

This pt is the first one with Captive Followers. For the record, I'm 28 levels and 150 hours in. SSE v. 1.6.1170 and when I started Cap. Foll. was v. 1.4. 5 npc's were captured: Stenvar and Vorstag from vanilla Skyrim, and 3 modded npc's. 

I don't have a problem w/ Stenvar and Vorstag being captured, even though Skyrim is blacklisted. I don't see anything in my mod list to interfere with this process. I did not turn on or add to the whitelist. These guys are mercenaries for hire, no quest dependencies or other gates(?) to go through.

Of the 3 modded npc's, 2 are disabled. I found this out when I was captured and sent to the same location as one of the disabled. My initial thought was 'cool, I can rescue this guy now' but he wasn't there.

 

When you're scanning for captives, could you add code to ignore the initially disabled? Once they're in game and a follower, no problem. At that point they can come with me to SS++, if that's what happens. I don't want to risk breaking quests by enabling them so I can rescue them, or waiting until they should be enabled and then rescuing them. I am going to try the resetquest command I saw earlier in the thread. Edit: What was I thinking? Of course that didn't help. Now, if I remove them from the prisoner and restrained factions ... will they show up where they are supposed to when they are enabled in game? ...

 

Thank you. I do like the mod. When I was captured and sent to SS++, so were 6 followers (3 vanilla or vanilla ai). I liked how some of them left my service because they got tired of waiting. Waiting for me to rescue them, I presume 😏

Edited February 8 by Seeker999
update

[Talesien]

1 hour ago, Seeker999 said:

This pt is the first one with Captive Followers. For the record, I'm 28 levels and 150 hours in. SSE v. 1.6.1170 and when I started Cap. Foll. was v. 1.4. 5 npc's were captured: Stenvar and Vorstag from vanilla Skyrim, and 3 modded npc's. 

I don't have a problem w/ Stenvar and Vorstag being captured, even though Skyrim is blacklisted. I don't see anything in my mod list to interfere with this process. I did not turn on or add to the whitelist. These guys are mercenaries for hire, no quest dependencies or other gates(?) to go through.

The reason they get captured is that you have some mod that modifies them, which makes Captive Follower "think" they are mod added. Like something that gives them better perks or changes their dialogue in an old-fashioned way (i.e. Devious Followers). The easiest way around that is to load your entire LO into xEdit and then check which mods are touching their records and adding all of them (you should be able to exclude mods that are purely cosmetic, but if in doubt ...).

[trgdolors]

3DNPC Issue: - Zora Fairchild getting affected by this mod

 

I was doing the quest for Creation Club (CC) - Staff of Hasedoki. It takes you to Brittleshin Pass. The mod 3DNPC puts Zora Fairchild in there, too. When I got there, Zora (who is supposed to be in a cage anyway), seemed to be getting affected by this mod. I then had a series of CTDs that likely were not caused by this mod, but the crashlogs did mention Captive Followers. It suggests that Captive Followers is doing something there.

 

I have this mod configured to only allow whitelisted NPCs. I do not have Zora or 3DNPCs whitelisted. No other followers from my whitelist were there. Why does Zora get affected and how do I stop it?

 

Would adding the 3DNPC esp's to the BlacklistedMods section of the Config.json either fix or mess this up?

3DNPC.esp

3DNPC0.esp

3DNPC1.esp

 

Here is my Config.json:

Spoiler

{
  "ForceCaptureNPCs": [],
  "BlacklistedMods": [
    "Skyrim.esm",
    "Dawnguard.esm",
    "Dragonborn.esm",
    "Hearthfires.esm",
    "LegacyoftheDragonborn.esm",
    "SexLab-AmorousAdventures.esp",
    "troublesofheroine.esp",
    "troublesofheroineDG.esp",
    "troublesofheroineDB.esp",
    "troublesofheroineHF.esp",
    "banneredmareimmersivesexualplayground.esp",
    "YurianaWench.esp",
    "Minerva.esp",
    "nwsJennaFollower.esp",
    "DK_Thogra.esp",
    "Lucien.esp",
    "LucienReplacer.esp",
    "HLIORemi.esp",
    "Geralt.esp",
    "0Kaidan.esp",
    "Kaidan - visual replacer.esp",
    "MarcusHealerFollower.esp",
    "Inigo.esp",
    "Katana.esp",
    "Serana.esp",
    "Kangmina.esp",
    "AliciaPainSlut.esp",
    "shadowman_VirginSisterNun.esp",
    "Priscilla.Follower.esp",
    "Armana.esp",
    "shadowman_armana.esp",
    "Aniya Follower.esp",
    "RidiculousFemaleCompanion.esp",
    "Sexica.esp",
    "VermillionSuccubusCompanion.esp",
    "Naz_Lilith as Vermillion.esp",
    "Hyren - New Companion - Follower - High Poly - ESL.esp",
    "LetaStrange.esp",
    "Enna.esp",
    "CS_Vayne.esp",
    "CS_Astara.esp",
    "SofiaFollower.esp",
    "k404Koemia.esp",
    "k101Daegon.esp",
    "Recorder Follower Base.esp",
    "OrbOfDivines.esp",
    "NWS_Maloria.esp",
    "JSFollowerDumitra.esp",
    "Ashe - Fire and Blood.esp",
    "NWS_Amaniri.esp",
    "MMX452 New Additional Starts.esp",
    "DanarielStormbow.esp"
  ],
  "BlacklistedNPCs": [
    "__formData|Deviously Cursed Loot.esp|0x094B48",
    "__formData|Deviously Cursed Loot.esp|0x02D74E"
  ],
  "RestrainOnlyFromWhitelist": 1,
  "WhitelistedMods": [
    "Ahlalia Follower.esp",
    "Void Nyr - Standalone Follower.esp",
    "AZ_KaydenFollower.esp",
    "Anastasia - Follower.esp",
    "_VK_Rowan.esp",
    "_VK_Reivhen.esp",
    "Struck Speechless.esp",
    "Ximena BAC_Follower.esp",
    "Aiyana BAC_Follower.esp",
    "Mingxia BAC_Follower.esp",
    "(SDZ21) Morgan Follower.esp",
    "Lucyah Follower.esp",
    "AkiraFollower.esp",
    "Paris Nyr - Standalone Follower - CBBE 3BA.esp",
    "DT_Aredhel Follower.esp",
    "Dhaena Follower.esp",
    "MinMin Standalone Follower.esp",
    "MVC Realore Follower Britany.esp",
    "(SDZ21) Charlotte Follower.esp",
    "(SDZ21) Katie Follower.esp",
    "LisbethFollower.esp",
    "Meredith_Follower_Healer.esp",
    "000Vythica.esp",
    "Tessa BAC_Follower.esp",
    "Lyanna Standalone Follower.esp",
    "Arwen Follower.esp",
    "VeronicaFollower.esp",
    "FollowerElf.esp",
    "Evelyn.esp",
    "Sarah Follower.esp",
    "(SDZ21) Jasmine Follower.esp",
    "(SDZ21) Fiona Follower.esp",
    "(SDZ21) Frida Follower.esp",
    "(SDZ21) Snow Follower.esp",
    "Lynx.esp",
    "Sayu.esp"
  ],
  "WhitelistedNPCs": [
    "__formData|VR_Tannick.esp|0x01838",
    "__formData|Helen_follower.esp|0x0811"
  ]  
}

Edited February 8 by trgdolors

[Seeker999]

5 hours ago, Talesien said:

The reason they get captured is that you have some mod that modifies them, which makes Captive Follower "think" they are mod added.

I do have Devious Followers, but you won't see that modifying the followers in XEdit. As far as Stenvar and Vorstag are concerned, the culprit is Cutting Room Floor. But, like I said, I don't have a problem with them or the other mercenaries being captured. I don't have to do anything other than hire them and they'll follow. As far as I'm concerned, that's a risk they take in their line of work. 😀

Nope, it's the 2 disabled followers from 2 different mods that concern me. If I remove them from the prisoner and restrained factions, will they spawn properly at the appropriate time?

[Seeker999]

On 1/18/2026 at 2:39 AM, Karna5 said:

Edit: On second thought, I decided to let the mod enable him, and I found him there on one of the bondage furnitures after that. He followed me out and was registered as being rescued after that by Captive Followers.

Has he been working since? Any issues since releasing him - since I have 2 disabled captives.

[Talesien]

3 minutes ago, Seeker999 said:

I do have Devious Followers, but you won't see that modifying the followers in XEdit. As far as Stenvar and Vorstag are concerned, the culprit is Cutting Room Floor. But, like I said, I don't have a problem with them or the other mercenaries being captured. I don't have to do anything other than hire them and they'll follow. As far as I'm concerned, that's a risk they take in their line of work. 😀

Nope, it's the 2 disabled followers from 2 different mods that concern me. If I remove them from the prisoner and restrained factions, will they spawn properly at the appropriate time?

Sorry I wouldn't know, I always made sure Captive Followers only touches followers I'm comfortable with to get capture.