Minions are alien visitors from another kind of game

[Clavis]

Personally, I think 1st edition got the whole minion/mook thing right. Fighters could attack monsters with 1hd or less as many times as the Fighter's level. It perfectly simulated literary/cinematic fights against mooks, gave the fighter an interesting ability that no other class had, and was simple to implement. High level fighters showed their heroism in the ability to single handedly take on squads of soldiers.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

So, Saruman was a minion?

Actually yeah, I as a DM could very well declare Saruman a Minion for the context of that incidence.

 

[AZRogue]

Personally, I think 1st edition got the whole minion/mook thing right. Fighters could attack monsters with 1hd or less as many times as the Fighter's level. It perfectly simulated literary/cinematic fights against mooks, gave the fighter an interesting ability that no other class had, and was simple to implement. High level fighters showed their heroism in the ability to single handedly take on squads of soldiers.

It was a good rule, but the problem was those 1HD creatures posed no threat to the fighter. With the new Minion rules, you get the fragile monsters of the 1E rule plus the added benefit that they can hit and actually hurt their targets.

If you get surrounded by minions things can go bad very quickly.

 

[theNater]

Actually it's this very glass-ninja aspect of the monster which is part of my problem with the concept. A natural 20 will always kill it. So you can have 21st level Demon Minions fall to a rank of 0th level human archers (assuming the Demons aren't protected from the arrows by a Wall of Wind or some similar reason). Was Smaug a Minion?

It's been my contention that Minions are "out of step" with the rest of the game. Within the context of the game only: what the heck are they? Try to answer that question without using the words "narrative" or "story" or "player's having fun." Those are important considerations under certain circumstances, but it is my contention that games should serve those needs without compromising the elegance of their internal structure and consistency.* The answer should be solely from the perspective of an agent (whether PC or monster, it doesn't matter) within the system. It should address why they have the same BAB, AC and dmg as similarly leveled monsters, but die in one hit rather than 3-5.

I've got a theory on what the minion is in the context of the game:

The minion is a normal person.

The PCs and the monsters with more than one hit point are the abberations. They are the favored by destiny, who are lucky enough that blows never seem to fully land on them, and tough enough to keep fighting while wounded to the point that cause most creatures to lose conciousness. Minions are not so favored, so a well-placed sword thrust finds its mark and causes death in moments.

When the mighty demons(mostly 21st level minion demons) charge a wall manned by hundreds of human archers(first level minions themselves), some of them will be felled by arrows before they reach the walls. This is as it should be. However, the demons will lose fewer minions to the arrows than the orcs, who lose fewer minions than the kobolds. This is also as it should be. Of course, the demonic battle leaders(the various non-minions) will be practically unwounded by those arrows, while the orcish leaders may find themselves mildly to moderately injured, and several of the kobold leaders will never reach the walls. This all fits in a reasonable way into the "army charges the archers" scenario.

As for how the orc minions got to be so dangerous despite being so fragile, I have 3 theories to cover that.

Theory 1: Orcs are that dangerous by default. Just as a dragon needs only limited practice to strike accurately with it's claws, orcs are innately skilled with battleaxes. The orcish warriors are a stronger subspecies of orc, which is why they fight as level 9 creatures while the weaker drudge subspecies fight as level 4 creatures. Under this theory, asking how an orc warrior got to be level 9 is like asking how a hill giant got to be level 13; he hasn't been out adventuring since he was a level 1 giant, being level 13 is the natural state for an adult hill giant. The orc warrior got to be level 9 by being born an orc warrior and growing to adulthood.

Theory 2: Orc minions gain levels just like everybody else. They got to be the level they are by participating in fights and living(and being on the winning side). Say, for example, that large monsters occasionally raid orc communities. The orcish strategy is to have all of the minions charge in waves(after all, only so many minions can engage an enemy at a time) while the skirmishers pelt it with axes. Sufficient numbers will see the orcs victorious, though likely at great cost. However, some of the minions are bound to survive due to the occasional poor attack roll on the part of the attacking creature. Any surviving first level minions get some experience for the combat, and if this happens often enough a few of them will level up. If the higher level orcs get a position in the later waves(as a reward for their veteran status), this increases their chances considerably in later battles, and those few who get consistently lucky will eventually hit 4th, at which point they are awarded the title of drudge, and permitted to join the raiding parties that the outside world sees.

Theory 3: Orcs are all prenatally enchanted with by an eye of Grummsh or other orcish caster. This enchantment imbues them with a degree of strength and ferocity unseen in other races, and even orc children are immensely dangerous because of this. Note that this theory can explain the presence of orcish minions even in an otherwise minionless world, as the reduced durability can be a side-effect of the enchantment, with frequency based on how common minions should be.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Neither can the four, if the PCs move diagonally.

Plus, they still provoke Opportunity Attacks from 2 different minions by moving between them. And minions aren't like low level monsters in 3.5, they have bonuses to hit that can in fact hit you and do some real damage. Might be best to just stop in front of them and finish off the minions this round and next and then move past then in a couple of rounds.

 

[SSquirrel]

* A group of 20 or so Minions flooding at the party at once.

Of course, we have to be careful and not metagame too badly at the table. "Hmm, we have 20 orcs running right for us and we're all only 2nd level. AOE Encounter ability, all hits. 2 left....MINIONS! I KNEW IT!"

 

[AZRogue]

Of course, we have to be careful and not metagame too badly at the table. "Hmm, we have 20 orcs running right for us and we're all only 2nd level. AOE Encounter ability, all hits. 2 left....MINIONS! I KNEW IT!"

That's very true. I imagine that I'll only be using minions during those encounters where I want, tactically, a few numbers on the monsters' side. Maybe a bit more with creatures I consider "swarmers" like kobolds, zombies, and goblins. Hell, the normal ratio of monsters to PCs is still large enough to satisfy for most situations.

 

[ForbidenMaster]

Of course, we have to be careful and not metagame too badly at the table. "Hmm, we have 20 orcs running right for us and we're all only 2nd level. AOE Encounter ability, all hits. 2 left....MINIONS! I KNEW IT!"

Which is why there shouldnt ever be just minions.

If 20 guys come at you and 18 dies from your AOE then its obvious. But if 16 guys come at you and only 10 die you are still going to have a problem on your hands.

Level 21 Encounter (XP 19,750)

* 1 war devil (level 22 brute)
* 1 ice devil (level 20 soldier)
* 2 bone devils (level 17 controller)
* 12 legion devil legionnaires (level 21 minion)

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20080414a