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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 5095423" data-attributes="member: 2011">"Minion" is a role. It's totally a game mechanic, no different than Leader, Brute, AC, Will, Level, Alignment, Hit Points, Speed, etc.From a RAW perspective, the Monster Knowledge Check does not hand out roles, just like it does not hand out defenses and some other monster knowledge. The DMs who hand this out are not really following RAW.So there is nothing wrong with players discovering information not included within a Monster Knowledge Check over the course of the encounter. It's "metagamey" to hand game mechanic information out for free at the start of the encounter.Is it ok to tell your players "This is a Brute" or "This is an Elite" or "This foe looks like it has tough skin, it probably has a high AC but a low Reflex" right away? I don't think it is. How is that different than saying "This is a Minion" (and note: saying it indirectly by describing inferior armor and weapons is just a copout, you might as well save time and just say it)? You are explicitly telling the players the number of hit points and the approximate amount of damage the foe does without the foe even swinging a weapon yet.Note: There are 8 minions out of ~328 that have the word Minion in their name. 3 which have the word Decrepit. 10 that have Thug (course, there are 5 standard monsters with the word Thug in their name). So there are a tiny percentage where some designer thought it was a good idea to shout it out right away (course, if your players do not read up on monsters, they still might not know a Thug is probably a minion). 90% or so of Minions do not have such clues in their names.</blockquote>

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