In my wishlist: Minions

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I like minions -- very handy for a variety of play styles. I'd like to see that particular option retained.

 

[ferratus]

I'm a big fan of minions, but I must confess I only used them for certain types of monster. Kobold, goblin or even orc minions were fine, but I never used minions for Ogres or Gnolls, much less angels or elementals.

But that is a matter of personal taste.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I'd rather do away with minions. They just don't make any sense, even in a non-simulation game and are either easy to manage (several AE chars in party) or a royal pain (no AE chars in party).

• Design to-hit to allow lower level creatures to have more than a 5% chance to hit
• Design the game so higher level creatures can quickly dispatch lower level creatures (no need for minions), Maybe just high damage output vs low HP (Hopefully monster HP isn't as high in 5e)

I think you've accurately described the tactical problems with the minion concept.

The broader conceptual issue is that it rather discredits or dehumanizes them-suggests that the only purpose of these creatures is to be killed. Even in a kick-in-the-door fantasy game, that's a problem.

There is definitely a need to speed up combat once the outcome has been determined. Frankly, I often just handwave the rest of the battle if a powerful creature has died and only his "minions" remain. But there's better ways of accomplishing that goal than this.

 

[Glade Riven]

MINIONS!

I love minions. Handy tools for DM control for combat pacing. Combat too quick? MORE MINIONS! Combat taking too long? FLEE, MY MINIONS! RUN AWAY! This slightly dangerous ablative armor is great for controlling battlefields.

I'm gonna use them whether or not they are in the official 5e rules. I already use them in Pathfinder.

 

[mlund]

What I like about minions is that they are optional by design. The DM doesn't have to ever include them in an encounter if his players don't like them.

- Marty Lund

 

[Simplicity]

Minions are awesome. Really awesome.

 

[Henry]

I loved minions as well and want to see some form of minion mechanics in any new D&D.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Hate them. Want them to die horribly, which they will, just as soon as they stub their toe.

 

[Smoss]

Minions were quite nice in their own way (Like the mooks from Savage Worlds or other 1 hit critters that came before 4e). I can see some conceptual issues (As brought up in earlier posts) - but mechanically they were beautiful (No book-keeping, one hit go boom, etc)

It really helped me conceptualize when I looked for a way to improve my own RPG system to reduce/remove book-keeping and math for faster/easier play. (Though my solution ended up more closely related to Savage Worlds than 4e, but the basic concept is the same)
Smoss

 

[FireLance]

I've been toying around with the idea of a "kill defence". Basically, if you make an attack roll that hits that defence, the monster dies immediately. This solves one half of the minion problem in that it allows high-level PCs to one-shot low-level monsters.

The other half, allowing low-level monsters to remain a threat to high-levelPCs, I still haven't got a satisfying way to handle.