Dozens of Minions, Bad Idea?

[Joshua Randall]

Conclusion: Zombie Rotters can be used as currency in some D&D cities.

LOL!

But that actually sparks some interesting adventure, or at least location, ideas. Like the PCs arrive in a city ruled by necromancers, try to buy stuff, and find out "your shiny metal discs are worthless here."

Resilient: When a zombie minion takes damage, it is knocked down instead of destroyed on the roll of a or .

With respect, this defeats one of the main purposes of a minion, which is that they go down in one hit with no additional dice rolling required.

If you want things that survive a hit, you should be using low-level monsters, not minions.

 

[Jeph]

With respect, this defeats one of the main purposes of a minion, which is that they go down in one hit with no additional dice rolling required.

If you want things that survive a hit, you should be using low-level monsters, not minions.

It has precedent -- look at the Halfling Stout. Also, as it is, there's nothing in the game between a minion (1 hit kill) and a standard monster (4 hit kill); nothing wrong with filling the void a bit.

Personally, I think a fight against a hoard of resiliant zombie minions could be rather creepy cool.

 

[Sanzuo]

I assumed it was the To Hit and Damage that made the Zombie Rotter a 3rd level minion.

Goblin Cutter: (Level 1 Minion) 25 xp.
Initiative +3.
Speed 6
+5 melee Attack, 4 damage (5 w/ Combat Advantage)
Defenses are; AC 16, Fort 12, Ref 14, Will 11
Also they have that neat Goblin Tactics thing where they get an immediate shift if an opponent misses with a melee attack. Also they have pretty decent stealth skill.
-
Kobold Minion: (Level 1 Minion) 25 xp.
Initiative +3.
Speed 6
+5 melee attack, 4 damage.
AND
+5 ranged attack, 4 damage.
Defenses are; AC 15, Fort 11, Ref 13, Will 11.
They can shift as a minor at-will action. Also good at stealth
-
Zombie Rotter: (Level 3 Minion) 38 xp.
Initiative -2.
Speed 4
Immune to disease and poison.
+6 melee attack, 5 damage.
Defenses are: AC 13, Fort 13, Ref 9, Will 10.
No special abilities, really.
Dumb, no tactics except charge.

Yea, Zombie Rotters are totally wizard fodder. I can't see the slightly higher attack and damage justify them being any more dangerous than intelligent enemies like Goblins and Kobolds who know how to flank, ambush, retreat, etc.

 

[Mengu]

With respect, this defeats one of the main purposes of a minion, which is that they go down in one hit with no additional dice rolling required.

If you want things that survive a hit, you should be using low-level monsters, not minions.

Using low level monsters would mean tracking hit points, which I wouldn't want to do for two dozen zombies. A roll of a d6 to determine if a minion dies or not is much easier than tracking hit points. It's a pseudo saving throw mechanic.

The reason to give minions only one HP is that they are not supposed to be the highlight of a battle. They are there simply to be a speed bump and die. When designing an encounter that revolves around defeating a horde of zombie minions, I think it's alright to bend the rule a bit to serve that purpose, and make it a more climactic fight.

 

[Cadfan]

It depends on the party. At low levels, this might work well. At high levels, there's the potential for problems. Consider a particular level 11 party: The wizard immediately drops a huge AoE effect on the bad guys. The cleric (radiant PP) fires off a close burst 8 that does 3d8+X radiant, with extra effects on undead. The dragonborn fighter breathes flame. And the rogue... twiddles his thumbs, maybe, because the encounter is already over.

If your party is likely to chop through minions like butter with area of effect attacks, consider having the zombies ambush them from all directions at close range.

 

[Sanzuo]

Holy crap, I almost forgot. Skeletons are frigging scary.

Decrepit Skeleton (Level 1 Minion) 25 xp.
Initiative +3
Speed 6
Immune: Disease, poison.
+6 melee Attack, 4 damage
AND
+6 ranged Attack, 3 damage
Defenses are AC 16, Fort 13, Ref 14, Will 13.

Compare to Zombie Rotter, as a level 1 player what would you rather fight?

The Zombie Rotter of course! Tend to bunch up in groups, easier to take down and worth way more xp.

 

[hamishspence]

if you've not got Treasure of Talon Pass, here is pack zombie:

Pack Zombie: Level 2 Minion XP 31 each
Medium natural animate(undead)

Initiative +3 Senses Perception +0, darkvision
HP 1 (a missed attack never damages a minion)
AC 14; Fortitude 14, Reflex 10, Will 11
Immune disease, poison
Speed 4
Slam (standard; at-will)
+7 vs AC; 4 damage.
Pack attack
A pack zombie gains a +2 bonus to its attack roll if it is adjacent to
at least one other pack zombie.
Lurching Sacrifice (immediate interrupt, encounter)
This power triggers automatically when a nonminion ally adjacent
to a pack zombie is hit by a melee attack. The pack zombie is
destroyed, and the damage dealt to the ally is reduced by 5.
Alignment Unaligned Languages -
Str 14 (+3) Dex 6 (-1) Wis 8 (+0)
Con 10 (+1) Int 1 (-4) Cha 3 (-3)

This is as close to original format as I can manage.

 

[Sanzuo]

Lurching Sacrifice (immediate interrupt, encounter)
This power triggers automatically when a nonminion ally adjacent
to a pack zombie is hit by a melee attack. The pack zombie is
destroyed, and the damage dealt to the ally is reduced by 5.

Hahahaha! I like how they bothered to make it an encounter power. They might as well make it an at-will or a daily. It doesn't matter since it'll be the last power the zombie ever uses.

 

[Mengu]

Hahahaha! I like how they bothered to make it an encounter power. They might as well make it an at-will or a daily. It doesn't matter since it'll be the last power the zombie ever uses.

Not necessarily. Since it's an exception based system, they could easily create a Pack Zombie Priest, who has a rule that says a Pack Zombie is not destroyed when it uses Lurching Sacrifice. So when facing a Pack Zombie Priest, you would be thankful for Lurching Sacrifice being an encounter power instead of an at-will.

 

[smallkiwi]

For some reason i find that absolutely hilarious