Search results

Let me make a serious post to atone for my earlier attempt at humor: I think this whole argument concerning minions boils down to how certain people look at the rules. Some people look at the rules and are only concerned with the game that will result from them. Others look for the rules to...

Yeah, but I didn't mean any harm. :) I just read the pages that were added since I last posted this morning (3 of them!) and can't think of anything to say that hasn't been said several times by many people. Unable to make a point that I think will push the conversation forward I revert to...

Due to concerns raised in this thread I created an entire Orc tribe the other night consisting only of minions. I checked back on them this evening and, when I opened my notebook, I found them all still alive. Further studies will be needed, of course, but this initial test bodes well.

There's an answer? Hell, that's half the battle right there. :) That makes me very happy, even if Mearls lacks enough empathy to reply! I don't doubt it. Hmm. No, sorry, that does NOT make me feel any better. If anything, knowing that you have half a shelf of 4E stuff already just transfers...

That's so improbable that I can't even imagine it happening without a DM out on a mission to make things work poorly. Like one of those infomercials where the guy shouts "are you tired of trying to use those old, confusing, freezer bags" and the camera shows some numbskull wrestling with a...

So, mearls, while you're here ...... Does the Succubus actually Charm someone with her Kiss ability, or do they only block her from attacks while adjacent to her and are fully able to run screaming from her otherwise? Please? :innocent:

I agree, and that's too bad. Baldur's Gate, Planescape, and Icewind Dale were some of my favorite games of all time. Instant classics, IMO. Though I never tried TOEE. Maybe I should order that from Amazon and check it out. This thread makes me want to play some of my older games! :)

I don't consider myself a narrativist player or DM. I think I'm just a mix, really. I know that Rolemaster/MERP is my second favorite RPG, followed lately by d20 Modern and Cyberpunk, so I think I'm probably a mix of whatever "-isms" we're using nowadays. So, in that light, I see Minion rules...

In regards to Minions dying from "misses" from fireballs, I agree that there can be a disconnect in certain situations. I think, however, that the situation will reveal what the outcome should be. The context of the encounter will tell me whether I want those Minions to appear badly burned from...

One thing that I think 4E does, and does very well from what we've seen, is worry about what the RESULTS are on the players' side of the table WITHOUT worrying so much about how those results are reached. Which is great, since I've never had a player go through my notes after a game. They only...

Minions solve the problem of having many multiple weak monsters (mooks) attacking the PCs. Before this could be done by throwing multiple low-level monsters at them that posed no threat. Now, a DM can throw multiple minions that DO represent a threat, especially together, while still retaining...

Dude! You never grew up watching Kung Fu Theater?!? That stuff shaped my childhood, back in the late 70's and 80's, as much as fantasy and sci-fi ever did. :)

The minion doesn't have to be believable to the DM, only to the PCs. Since they aren't looking "under the hood" they have no idea that some of the monsters they're facing will die with one blow. Haven't you ever, as a DM, adjusted your monsters' hitpoints on the fly, after an encounter started...

There's always been story. It's what happens when the DM's world and NPCs collide with the PC's free will. It's not a "story" in the sense that you have a defined ending, but a story in the elements a DM brings to the table: an antagonist(s), interesting situations, and pressure (there's much...

The thing is, how would you ever know which monsters were monsters that you were able to kill and which were minions? The PCs don't know that the Minion dies in just one hit. He only knows that some of the monsters he fought he was able to crush and a few others were made of sterner stuff. PCs...

I think this is the perfect example of the other side of the spectrum. Where your group thought of what you did as vaguely cheating, my group and I would consider it standard gaming as usual. But I'm also a DM who takes no pleasure from setting up a campaign world and "cascading" the effects of...

That's exactly right. Having 1 hit point is a representation of how easy it is for a *PC* to kill them. It is not meant to be a representation of the creatures actual hit points (life points? we need a better term, or I do at least). 4E tells us that a PC can kill a Minion in one hit. And it...

If Rituals supply the means of adding divination and long-range teleportation to the game they will have fulfilled their purpose. I think they will be the tool used for those magical spells that don't fit easily into combat. And that's about it. I will be very surprised if they do anything more...

Every hole has lava at the bottom. But it's not a trick. ;)

I think this is exactly right, thankfully. I don't see a need for anything more. The standard rule for resolving actions that the PCs aren't involved in should be: roll dice, make a doodle on a piece of scrap paper so the PCs think you're doing something, then describe the result that you want...