How would you indicate to your players that a creature is a minion?
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Desperation vs confidence. After watching them fight even a round its obvious their desperate, exaggerated defense and offensive moves still leave broad deadly openings... Even before combat insight may reveal they are situationally in over their head and looking to a leader for courage (or similar tell tales).
AbdulAlhazred
Legend
I haven't really bothered to state it. Usually its obvious, "12 orcs rush out of the cave armed with scimitars and shields. They charge towards you. Behind them you can see several other figures emerging..." You hardly need to be told those 12 orcs are minions. They are filling the NARRATIVE role of 'cannon fodder', so that's what they are!
Now, once in a while a player has tried to guess that something or other was a minion and it wasn't, but that's OK. Some people say it "deprives the players of tactical information", but I disagree. Gathering that sort of information (by observation, making probing attacks, scouting ahead, capturing an enemy and interrogating him, etc.) are all pretty much smart things to do and part and parcel of any sort of action, just like swinging swords and such. I don't want to turn 4e into a detailed operational wargame, particularly, but I see nothing wrong with factoring into play some degree of learning about your opponents and adjusting your tactics. Its fun.
Now, once in a while a player has tried to guess that something or other was a minion and it wasn't, but that's OK. Some people say it "deprives the players of tactical information", but I disagree. Gathering that sort of information (by observation, making probing attacks, scouting ahead, capturing an enemy and interrogating him, etc.) are all pretty much smart things to do and part and parcel of any sort of action, just like swinging swords and such. I don't want to turn 4e into a detailed operational wargame, particularly, but I see nothing wrong with factoring into play some degree of learning about your opponents and adjusting your tactics. Its fun.
The Crimson Binome
Hero
Being a minion is short-hand for a lot of factors that are observable within the game world, but since not every player would understand such a description when I give it, I just tell them that they're minions so that everyone can be on the same page.
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Well that too... its not necessary most of the time
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Minions don't want to be there, they would rather avoid dying and so look craven and pathetic, only there fighting because their more confident and aggressive masters are forcing them to.
"The twelve orcs rushing towards you are a motley and disordered lot, snarling as they furtively looked from you to the three larger orcs emerging from the cave behind them..."
"The twelve orcs rushing towards you are a motley and disordered lot, snarling as they furtively looked from you to the three larger orcs emerging from the cave behind them..."
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