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Message: <blockquote data-quote="unan oranis" data-source="post: 5090435" data-attributes="member: 65462">Minion revelation is part of encounter design.When dm'ing first time players, I'll point out which monsters are minions and what a minion is.Sometimes I'll want minions that are "fronting", pretending to be tough.  Or regular monsters trying to hide in the crowd, or look like minions.  Now my players might be caught off guard, or maybe I will be the one who gets surprised by how they tackle the problem.Perhaps the minions are dangerous, but since they're playing the part of faceless mook they go down in one hit (ala sentinals vs x-men).  The point of this style is to amp up how powerful the pc's appear.Sometimes only one of the villains will be a minion, and a rather unique one.  Why does the duke of borderlandia have to be buff?  He may even appear to be a cut above his cohorts, or actually be the bbeg!In a typical combat, when shredder shows up and tells his foot soldiers to attack, my experienced players guess - and they're right every time. However, if one were to ever specifically ask which-witch-were-which, I'd either tell them or perhaps demand a knowledge check.I'd possibly do the same for monster role, or even stats and/or details on how a power works.A lot of people in real life would know about a harpies song, or a medusa gaze, and how to overcome them from our own myths of yore.In a world where monsters were constantly running around I'm sure their strengths/weaknesses could be known, at least possibly.  Skills aren't an exception - phalanxes, parthian archer tactics, mounted charges etc are just a few of well known, distinct skill sets that one could "remember" while in combat.All the rest of you arguing that there is only one way to do it are missing an opportunity I think.Overall I'd say the pc's would be able to size up their opponents as at least minion or non-minion.Chalk it up to basic competence.</blockquote>

Verification