Another awesome scenario made feasible by minions

[Branduil]

Finally, the old sneak-into-the-castle-to-find-the-hidden-plans/treasure/prisoner etc. can actually work without either always ending in combat, because the NPC guards are too strong and you can't silence them in one blow, or always be boring because they're low-level mooks that pose no threat.

 

[kmdietri]

I have to agree, this is one of the first things I thought of as I was reading the minion excerpt.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Add the skill challenges and you can really do sneaky guerilla operations. But once you've go the plans somebody has to raise the alarm. Or there will not be an action-packed getaway.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

"Many, many Bothan minions died to bring us these plans!"

And you can also do "Assault on Precinct 13" scenarios easier, too!
PCs hold up, facing mass waves of monsters...without having to worry over hit points etc.
*dwarf fighter loads a pump shotgun with an evil smile*

 

[Irda Ranger]

I swear, I don't know why people think Minions are such a revolution in D&D gameplay. They're just CR 1/4 monsters with a scaled up AC and BAB to be 50/50 to-hit regardless of the PC's level. Was everyone else using CR 12 monsters as Fortress sentries just because the PCs were 12th level?

This is why I hated 3.x after less than a year ....

 

[SteveC]

I swear, I don't know why people think Minions are such a revolution in D&D gameplay. They're just CR 1/4 monsters with a scaled up AC and BAB to be 50/50 to-hit regardless of the PC's level. Was everyone else using CR 12 monsters as Fortress sentries just because the PCs were 12th level?

This is why I hated 3.x after less than a year ....

I would say that's an easy one to answer: the minion is in all ways a challenge to the group except for the fact that it has one hit point. Use low CR monsters in 3X and you have the worst of all possible worlds: they likely have enough hit points to not be instantly killed when they should be, and they also can't do anything against the group at all. Effectively when you're running a low CR sentry in 3X you have nothing more than a glorified shrieker. All they exist to do is make noise and keep the PCs from sneaking in.

So that, at least makes sense to me ... much as it does in Feng Shui or other "mook" games.

--Steve

 

[Scribble]

I swear, I don't know why people think Minions are such a revolution in D&D gameplay. They're just CR 1/4 monsters with a scaled up AC and BAB to be 50/50 to-hit regardless of the PC's level. Was everyone else using CR 12 monsters as Fortress sentries just because the PCs were 12th level?

This is why I hated 3.x after less than a year ....

I think what has people excited is somethign that minions actually seem to be a result of.

I think in 4e they've (finally) realized that monsters shouldn't just have monsterness determining their power. They should have race/class just like the PCs.

This makes doing stuff like "minion" easier, and work within the rules without applying a bunch of patches.

Sure, you could do minions in 3e, probably by using a template. But can you really build a template that fits all monsters equally?

Since minion is a monstrer class, you can take that class and apply it to the proper set of monster race modifiers. Just like taking anything else and applying a character class to it.

 

[Celebrim]

Because none of us have ever snuck into a castle, lair, or dungeon...

Shesh.

Seriously, the main obstacle to stealth plans is the guy with Dex 10 in clinking heavy plate. Exactly what is in the castle is much less of an issue, because the whole point is not to get into a fight.

For example, I've had situations where I needed to sneak into the good guys castle and it was therefore a mission requirement that no one gets killed.

I can see making the arguement that everyone being a skill monkey helps design stealth missions, but I don't see what minions have to do with it.

 

[pukunui]

"Many, many Bothan minions died to bring us these plans!"

And you can also do "Assault on Precinct 13" scenarios easier, too!
PCs hold up, facing mass waves of monsters...without having to worry over hit points etc.
*dwarf fighter loads a pump shotgun with an evil smile*

This makes me think of the "28 Days Later"-style zombie infestation campaign that a guy over on the WotC boards recounted in his famous "Lessons From DMing with my GF" thread. He had the PCs meet in a tavern, as you do, and then started the zombie attack. The PCs were holed up in the upper floor of the tavern for weeks, iirc, before they were able to make a break for it and slowly went from building to building until they made it to an abandoned but still well-stocked armory and then from building to building until they made it to some abandoned temple where they spent the winter holed up in safety, etc etc. Was very cool and it's something I've been wanting to try myself. The fact that 4e has a variety of zombies, some of which are 1hp minions, will make this sort of adventure much more doable as well. I also like how zombies go down on a critical hit.

 

[Lacyon]

I swear, I don't know why people think Minions are such a revolution in D&D gameplay.

The same reason that switching from THAC0 and descending AC to Attack Bonus and ascending AC was.

The concept is ludicrously simple. It's still a frikkin' good idea to implement.