D&D 5E (2024) How Many HP Should 5E 2024 Minions Have
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
Yeah, I was trying to avoid any convoluted rules but wanted to avoid 1 HP wonkiness.
As to "cleave" I think my main fighter PC relies on that a lot using Weapon Masteries and I don't want to obviate it by giving it away free to everyone.
the Jester
Legend
1 hp. Otherwise, you're gonna have a ton of unnecessary tracking to do.
The whole point of minions is that they're one hit kills.
I wouldn't worry too much about hp-dependent effects. Just throw in another wave of minions.
The whole point of minions is that they're one hit kills.
I wouldn't worry too much about hp-dependent effects. Just throw in another wave of minions.
Yeah, I used it when the PCs were defending the town from a Hill Giant and his "army." Hill giant and a few lieutenants had regular HP, but all the mooks were minions.
Tried this out because I wanted the minions to go down fast but still be a bit random. And also because that way I didn't have to keep track of their HP at all. Worked great, definitely will use again under those kind of conditions.
As I mentioned in the OP, this is not a concern because I am using Fantasy Grounds.
Is it? I mean, usually, yes, but more importantly they are there to a) harry the PCs, and b) make the PCs feel awesome.
In this case, minions can't just appear out of thin air.
the Jester
Legend
Fair enough!
I think it is. Minions are simpler than standard monsters, are designed to eliminate the need to track much, and are satisfying to mow down in large numbers.
IMHO, anything with more than 1 hp is not really a minion. YMMV, obviously.
Is there a nearby location they can enter from or something? Is there a way they could be just off-screen?
TwoSix
The Year of the TwoSix
My minion approach is to give them a pool of communal hit points. So 20 soldiers for an 11th level party might have 300 hit points (15 HP per soldier). Whenever an attack lowers the communal pool by 15, that soldier goes down. But it requires a successful attack to actually make the soldier drop. An crit on a soldier doesn't make an unrelated soldier drop elsewhere.
I also have them make a communal save against area effects, and damage from AoE stacks. If 5 soldiers take 25 damage from fireball, the communal pool takes 125 damage. It makes minions very vulnerable to AoEs, which seems appropriate.
I also have them make a communal save against area effects, and damage from AoE stacks. If 5 soldiers take 25 damage from fireball, the communal pool takes 125 damage. It makes minions very vulnerable to AoEs, which seems appropriate.
This is more or less where Draw Steel! landed as well. Any hit over the individual reduces the pool and you figure out how many more die (within boundaries of area). This reduces the need to calculate partial HP per minion, and makes figuring out how many extra you get to cleave simple.
I like this, because if it's 1 hp per creature area of effect spells become nuclear weapons
TwoSix
The Year of the TwoSix
My house rule is slightly different (I think, I haven't read Draw Steel!) in that killing all the minions requires both a successful attack on each minion and the depletion of the entire communal pool.
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