Endless Minion Challenge! FIGHT

[Scribble]

So the other week I had to spend most of the week at a product training seminar in texas... Since it's the busiest time of the year for me, I also had to spend most of my nights in the hotel I was staying in doing my normal job as well...

Yay...

All this to say while there I was way to busy to put together an actual adventure idea, and I was WAY to tired to run anything real when I got home. So we played the Endless Minion Challenge...

Basically wave after wave of minions. I rolled 4d4 to see how may minions showed up. and rolled a random direction to see where they entered the "battle zone" from. If I rolled max, then they would go up a level, and every 5 rounds of minions they went up a level as well.

It was all considered ONE encounter, so no short or extended rests.

Every so often a minion, however, would drop a potion that was either a healing potion of some type, or a potion that restored an encounter power.

It was pretty fun... Although next time if we ever do this again I will fix a few "problems."

1. Roll for minions every actual round, not just after the wave is destroyed.

Not sure why I didn't do this in the first place. I don't think I'll increase the number of possible minions I can roll at a time, since they weren't all killed in one round, so there's a good chance of "minion buildup."

2. Higher chance of dropping potions.

Not enough potions were dropped. I think more potions would be more fun, because it allows the players to do more then just fall into basic attack mode, and they can also survive longer.

3. Possibly only have the potions be healing potions because:

4. I think I will allow a certain number of action points to be spend to regain powers. Not just encounter, but dailies.

I think this would be a good reward for surviving longer, and a fun tactical choice... Do you use that action point to get another attack in, or do you save them up to regain a better attack?

All in all it was fun though.

 

[Wik]

Good idea! I especially like the idea of the minions levelling up through play.

I'd add in a skill challenge (I like the Obsidian system, right now) involving moving about the terrain while all this is going on.

All in all, it reminds me of a kung fu movie, or something.

 

[wedgeski]

Heheh, sounds hella fun! It sound slike a cross between the Crazy-88 scene from Kill Bill, and Diablo!

 

[Lorion]

I get a distinct Gears of War 2 Horde feeling. I like it!

 

[Dice4Hire]

This sounds like a good idea, and I have found waves of minions to be a scary, but not really dangerous fight for low level 4e parties. Masses of monsters are both scary, fun to kill en masse, but ultimately, not that dangerous.

I would have liked to play in that fight.

 

[green slime]

Why not grant a certain number of new action points for every five or ten rounds the PC survived? Then you could have the action points be spent on:

Renewing dailies and/or encounter powers,
"Forcing" a healing potion drop.

 

[D'karr]

Great Gauntlet feel. Wizard needs food badly... LOL

This sounds like a lot of fun for an evening game.

 

[awesomeocalypse]

Fun challenge--definitely turns traditional 4e on its head in that single target dpr is irrelevant, and a bow ranger would be one of the worst possible classes. You'd probably want everyone either going controller, leader, or building a warlock with rods of corruption and reaving.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

This is a very cool concept. Consider this idea stolen

 

[malraux]

Depending on the starting level of the party, what might work is to allow one encounter power to recharge every two or three levels, with the option to recharge a daily power instead of an encounter power every other time. That opens up a bunch of options, but because most encounter powers typically just do 2[w] damage, giving them out doesn't hurt the minions all that much more.