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Wohay! A new chance for trying to sharpen the arguments I have tried to hone the last 20 years :D How much of D&D is the spell lists? I went over OD&D spell list that is on the OD&D spell list and found 23 spells that strike me as quite circumstantial to be possible to use effectively in...

I think this points to my issue. What is it D&D does? You seemed to posit that is a long string of "engaging" battles? I am not fond of that mode of D&D. There are other ways to play D&D I like a lot better.

4ed seem to support henchmen better than 3ed, as there are rules for simplified NPCs. (I don't think there is a leadership feat in core though). I think the advice is more the same as for all WotC D&Ds: The complexity added with babysitting lower tier characters are rarely worth the benefit.

My point was that I fail to see what restrictions you would put on D&D ness in this context that wouldn't clearly specify the level of achievabiliy of mechanical symmetry. That is either D&D is defined in such a way that mechanical symmetry is impossible, in which the mechanical symmetry part...

I seriously do not see the trilemma here. In particular, how do you envision abandoning/achieving mechanical symmetry while preserving being D&D? I would think mechanics were quite defining for whether it could be considered D&D. And making things diegetic appear easily done in theory by...

Just wanted to point out is that this is because D&D adopts a linear(/quadratic) rather than exponential power curve. This puts the 10th level + monsters out of reach for ever being mowed down by a 20th level party. Several idle games on pc adopts an exponential power progression, and here...

I have a much easier solution. Houserule nat 20 don't autohit for friendly npcs, and keep playing a fully functional game. A minion or two might go down thanks to the henchmen, but that is what minions/henchmen are for! I do not like artificial restrictions in my ttrpgs.

Agreed. I think the minion concept is good, but the one hp implementation has some issues. As I mentioned earlier I think Draw Steel has found a nice approach that I believe provides the core value of minion while avoiding the 1 hp issues.

Fair. Looking at MM1 now, and there are certanly more suspects there, like the Grimlock follower, Abysal Ghoul Myrmidon, Angel of Valor, Ogre, Tryglodyte and Orc warrior. However more minions folow the pattern of being weaker versions of similarly leveled creatures. This might make it seem like...

This is not matching up with evidence. I went trough monster vault and only noticed 2 instances of minions of significant higher level that their non minion counterpart: Bough Dryad and Cave spiders. These both make sense to meet in groups I guess. It is certanly not a design they are going for...

Changing rule paradigm, I can sort of get abord with. Changing stat block for the same creature however should be completely unnecessary, and IMO bad design in a D&D context. The reason is that changing down stat block is basically doing the same as pre 3 and 4ed adventures were infameous for...

I think I have been toying around with the ideas you sketch out here, and have failed to find a good way of doing so. From my understanding your proposal is to use differing rules framework for handling the same creature. The problem I have found is weirdness happening in transitions. Let us...

Ah, I don't think the other role modifiers are likely to be diegetic. Just the "You are just a minion, and hence beneath me", and "Those are the overlords elite enforcers".

I would say the monster's status as minion/normal/elite should absolutely be diegetic. In fantasy characters tend to not have any problem to single out just who poses a real threat even in a sea of similar looking goons.

Well, you can argue that minions in it self make little sense. My point is that Bob the ogre doesn't transition from one state to another. The kitten somehow hitting AC23 would indeed take out the ogre that is balanced to be an aproperiate challenge for a group of 11 level characters when...

This is the second time I have seen this claim. Do you have source? Monster Vault do not have minion ogres. Monster Manual has minion ogres, but these are fully different stat blocks than the non-minion ogres. The "level" is basically an indication for when the monster is considered...

I do not think a VTT is neccessary, but game aids beyond sheets of paper likely is. Condition markers are mentioned in the rulebook, and I think these are going to be critical. Alternatively a dry erase solution could work. Tokens or dry erase battlemat for player made terrain/walls/effects...

Remember that kit is weapons and armor. In draw steel the melee weapon part is just melee damage, melee range, and feature. The ranged part is for any ranged weapons in the kit (damage, range, feature). You have both types of weapon in Daggerheart, and they also have damage (3 numbers - die...

Don't be deceived about "movement and grid". That might sound like boring spreadsheet stuff, but it actually is essential for the cinematography. There are lots of abilities that moves people around, but this is not (only) for tactical placement. The forced movement rules turns your foes into...

I would actually contest it might be opposite. The daggerheart combat mechanics seem to me straight out baroque when compared with draw steel. In daggerheart we have lots of dices of all types, 4 currencies to balance and a weapons table that almost make T&T blush. The out of combat "mechanics"...