Dozens of Minions, Bad Idea?

[MeMeMeMe]

When I saw the name "Pack Zombie," I was thinking, "the zombie who carries my pack for me." I've just realised it means zombies in packs, heh.

 

[Sanzuo]

For some reason i find that absolutely hilarious

That actually gives me an idea to recreate the exploding kobolds from Baldur's Gate II. Give them a power that allows them to self-destruct, causing massive damage to everyone in a close burst. Make it a daily though, don't want it to be TOO powerful!

 

[Abisashi]

If your party is likely to chop through minions like butter with area of effect attacks, consider having the zombies ambush them from all directions at close range.

To see a cool example of this watch the first minute or so of the gameplay example here: http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/

I am totally using something like this on my paragon-tier players.

 

[Sanzuo]

To me, the minions mechanic seems to exist to help get your players caught up on experience if you need to. Or to make them feel bad ass if they're discouraged after a rough combat encounter.

"Good news guys! You're only 50 goblin cutters from a level! So here ya go!" *Rolls initiative*

 

[Xorn]

Hmmm. About 1200 XP right? So that's just shy of a level 5 encounter, n+2 should be a fun fight. I agree to make sure the battle happens in a chamber with several entrances. I'd love to see them themselves when they kick in a door and zombies start flooding in from every direction!

 

[Sanzuo]

Hmmm. About 1200 XP right? So that's just shy of a level 5 encounter, n+2 should be a fun fight. I agree to make sure the battle happens in a chamber with several entrances. I'd love to see them themselves when they kick in a door and zombies start flooding in from every direction!

If they're Zombie Rotters then I think the players' eyeballs would turn into little "xp signs" and they would pump their fists and make "cha-ching" cash register noises every time they dropped one.

Seriously. In the 2nd edition monster manual, elves were worth five times the xp of a regular human, and they had less hit points. They were a cash cow for xp.

We had comments like: "Hey Alex! How far are you from leveling?" - "Oh I'm about 10 elves from a level."

 

[King-Panda]

My players recently fought a minion battle. They were all first level.

Players:
Dragonborn Paladin
Elven Rogue
Human Wizard
Human Cleric
Dwarven Ranger
Dwarven Fighter

They fought two waves of sahuagin minions, which I lowered from level 6 to level 2, using the rules in the DM's guide. They chewed through them like a berserk chainsaw. The first wave was 15 minions, the second wave of 11 flanked them from behind two turns into the fight (there were about 4 minions left then from the first wave). I gave the sahuagin 2 javelins each, with their standard 4 damage per hit. Not one of my players dropped below 0, and I think only one was decently bloodied by the time it was over. With the Wizard's Scorching Burst, the Paladin's breath weapon, the Ranger's Twin strike, the Cleric's Divine Glow, and the Fighter's Cleave, it was a slaughter.

 

[Foxen]

Last adventure our party (of five, including one cleric and two Dragonborn) had to escape a house getting swarmed with zombies. In an epic escape (much like Night of the Dead), the characters bull rushed through mobs and mobs of zombie minions until they reached the road, which for some unexplained reason, was undead proof...took them a bit too long to figure that one out.

I think the zombie horde was probably one of the most challenging encounters for the players...and probably most exciting...as they faced tide after tide of undead...and for each one they took down, another another one took their place from the edge of the battlemat.

I'm guessing they must have killed well over twenty, but that wasn't the point...it was more of a puzzle that the party needed to figure out. Heh. They lived...

The encounter right after, they decided to "sprint" past the zombies...heh.

Fox

 

[Sanzuo]

Last adventure our party (of five, including one cleric and two Dragonborn) had to escape a house getting swarmed with zombies. In an epic escape (much like Night of the Dead), the characters bull rushed through mobs and mobs of zombie minions until they reached the road, which for some unexplained reason, was undead proof...took them a bit too long to figure that one out.

I think the zombie horde was probably one of the most challenging encounters for the players...and probably most exciting...as they faced tide after tide of undead...and for each one they took down, another another one took their place from the edge of the battlemat.

I'm guessing they must have killed well over twenty, but that wasn't the point...it was more of a puzzle that the party needed to figure out. Heh. They lived...

The encounter right after, they decided to "sprint" past the zombies...heh.

Fox

That sounds awesome. My players would have just fought them all, died and then yelled at me. Then I would have to remind them. "You could have just run away..."

 

[Xorn]

I like to kill one player in the third game of any campaign. Just to make sure they know I'll do it. This might be the method.

And the original encounter proposed, I'd have stripped it down a tiny bit (only four players in my group) and they have a dwarf fighter, tiefling warlord, halfling rogue, and now a dragonborn wizard. I'd imagine the wizard would have fun, but I wouldn't totally write off the zombies.