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You're always free to believe what you want to believe. joe b.

But doesn't the minion mechanic throw a spanner in PC measurements of themselves vs. other creatures? I'd think the minion mechanic decreases the accuracy of group power judgments when facing opponents as opposed to increasing accuracy of that judgment. For example, we PCs brutalize minion...

Which is why many people don't like the minion concept. The narrative about why the Ogre falls in one shot isn't seen as sign of strength on the PC side, it's seen as sign of weakness on the enemy's. Different play styles have somewhat dramatically different takes on the concept. joe b.

If you got the impression that I thought lacking minions breaks 4e combat that wasn't my intent. I don't think lacking minions "breaks" combat, I do think that it makes it harder to create balanced encounters if you don't use them than when you do. Harder, to me, isn't broken, just that it...

It seems like every rule giveth and every rule taketh away sometimes. :) joe b.

I agree. I think that treating certain monsters in such a way (making them minions) is dramatically different than how prior editions treated all monsters. Which goes back to my postulate that 4e is moving in a different direction of style of play than prior editions. I think it's a lot like a...

In the DMG it says destroyed. There is the miss take no damage and there is the option of turning a kill into a knockout. These are the exceptions to the destroyed by taking any amount of damage. joe b.

Depends on what you think appropriate. The rules say you can break them if you think it's appropriate. It doesn't matter if I'm right. What matters, IMO, is if there's a better way of getting the mechanical effects desired out of the minion concept that doesn't alienate a part of the gaming...

Yep. I hadn't thought to use GSN terms as I tend to avoid them, but they do a pretty good job of showing the trouble with minions a portion of the gaming audience has. Indeed. I think it shows the shift away from prior editions that I was talking about. Although one never did stat out the...

I expect GMs to always exert narrative control to the point of mostly ignoring all rules except those that make players question their suspension of disbelief. For some, minions break that suspension because they're handled so dramatically different in the two realms (table and non-table.) I...

If you plan to use the fiction at the table, rules help. When you do a D&D fiction, it's different then when you do a Traveler Fiction, or a Spirit of the Century fiction. The fictions are shaped by the ruleset. As in all things there are gradations of rules extrapolation. My previous post...

No. I'm not saying that. The rules indicate things such as black dragons like swamps. I, therefore put black dragons in swamps. The rules indicate that minions are destroyed when they take any damage. Any existing minion has never suffered damage in their entire life or they would have no life...

I don't think that's the assumption of the game. People have no statistics unless they are expected to interact with the PC in some type of conflict. Also, note from the DMG "A minion is destroyed when it takes any amount of damage." joe b.

I would guess that's because no one's really advocating such. Well, that is not in the way that I believe you're stating. There's more play in role-playing games than what just occurs between the players and the GM. For those who prefer playing in a pretend world that exists independently of...

Thanks to all the judges for their hard work! joe b.

We're got several 4e releases in the pipeline: we're working on Freeport Companion for 4e, we have a race book called Castoffs and Crossbreeds, and we have Nevermore 4e coming along as well. And I should state that when I talk about gaming mechanics and creator goals, I'm usually very...

The need to reduce bookeeping is a desirable goal, but I think that reason is at the lowest end of a list of reasons for minions. The main explicitly listed reason what to provide something the players can carve through like butter without allowing the normal rules to get in the way. IMO, the...

Pg 276 under Automatic Hit. joe b.

I agree, with some reservations. For monsters your concept is true, but the minion effectively reduces one side of the equation to an irrelevant state, greatly changing the durability probability. For example a minion has at minimum of a 5% chance of outright death per attack, which is obviously...

Minions actually don't work the way described above because that kobold minion would still die in one hit from that 1st-level party that just came in through the other door in the room. The minion concept is entirely indefensible outside of a meta-game argument designed to promote increased...