NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="theNater" data-source="post: 4221805" data-attributes="member: 62560">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.</blockquote>

Verification