Minions are:

[Plane Sailing]

Pretty clear vibe so far

 

[CleverNickName]

I wouldn't have said that "banned from my game" is a true assessment of my feelings on the subject, but it was the closest answer. If given the option, I would have voted for the "I see no need for them in my games, therefore I will not be using them" option.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Minions = good thing.

It got so irritating dealing with tons o' monsters that should have died easier than they did.

 

[Iceman75]

except

that would mean a level 1 wizard could kill 9 level 30 mobs with an at-will. Initially i was upset, but am glad they avoided that.

A first level character should never see that encounter and if he/she loses init then they are dog meat. Also you are assuming an unrealistic grouping. and ... and ... etc. I'm not saying that they are without flaws but they will be used with an evil grin or two by myself.

 

[Spinachcat]

This (almost) exact minion rule was in Waste World back in the late-1990s. I have used it and it works extremely well and can be very dangerous to PCs if used properly. Minions are great ablative buffers for a serious artillery tossing enemy.

In Waste World, a common enemy are the various mutant bugs. Throwing 10 minion bugs, all with high defenses and minor melee at the heroes while the one Psi-Bug was throwing real nasty stunning brain blasts at PCs was much fun.

I hope the DMG has rules how to turn any creature into a minion and not just the minions they give you in the MM. I want minion dragons...

 

[Dice4Hire]

that would mean a level 1 wizard could kill 9 level 30 mobs with an at-will. Initially i was upset, but am glad they avoided that.

I hope the wizard levels instantly, so he will survive the boss right behind them. That level 30 boss might be harder to handle.

Seriously, if the DM does this, they deserve what they get.

I voted great, as I can see them being very fun to play, though I do worry a bit about the Minion equal 1/4 of a normal monster. I would have said less, and I think in Paragon and Epic tiers, the minions could be too much free xp.

 

[Warbringer]

I hope the DMG has rules how to turn any creature into a minion and not just the minions they give you in the MM. I want minion dragons...

You mean beyond reduce hps to 1hp, award 25% of standard xp?

 

[Grazzt]

I wouldn't have said that "banned from my game" is a true assessment of my feelings on the subject, but it was the closest answer. If given the option, I would have voted for the "I see no need for them in my games, therefore I will not be using them" option.

Same here. Not gonna spoon feed monsters to my PCs just to make them feel "cool" or heroic. They should be able to do that without resorting to minions (seemed to work just fine in all previous editions of AD&D/D&D).

 

[Kordeth]

Same here. Not gonna spoon feed monsters to my PCs just to make them feel "cool" or heroic. They should be able to do that without resorting to minions (seemed to work just fine in all previous editions of AD&D/D&D).

It's not spoon-feeding. If anything, trying something like this in older editions (i.e. throwing a massive orc horde at mid-level PCs) was spoon-feeding, because the orcs were ridiculously easy to hit and had virtually no chance of doing any appreciable damage to the PCs. A minion dies quicker, but it's just as hard to hit as a monster of comparable level and puts out a respectable bit of damage. Speaking as someone who has played quite a few 4E test games, I'm quite confident in the assertion that 4 minions are roughly equivalent to one monster. Getting ambushed by a pack of kobold minions hurts as a 1st-level PC. There's no spoon-feeding going on.

 

[FireLance]

You mean beyond reduce hps to 1hp, award 25% of standard xp?

You'd probably also need to convert the damage to a single number and remove encounter and recharge abilities, to be in line with the standard minions.

Me, I don't mind having them as an option, but I probably will not make use of them in the games I run. If I want to pit the PCs against larger numbers of inferior opponents, I'll probably use my self-created Demi Minions*.

* To convert a Minion to a Demi Minion, give it (Level + 1) * 4 + half Constitution score hit points, remove the note that it takes no damage on a miss, and double the XP award. 2 Minions = 1 Demi Minion and 2 Demi Minions = 1 standard monster.