Minions are:

[Fieari]

I'm a little worried about high level minions and how they interact with lower level foes. On the other hand, assuming level appropriate battles, I have no trouble at all, and think the idea is awesome. I'd have thus preferred the idea of giving them hp, but only enough so that almost all level appropriate attacks kill in one hit. That way, it'd be easier to use higher level minions as lower level standards, elites, or even bosses.

But I'm more than willing to give them a try RAW. We'll see how it works out.

 

[AZRogue]

As long as minions are used at an appropriate level there shouldn't be any problem. PCs shouldn't ever encounter a minion that isn't level appropriate. No very high level minions running around the PCs when they are low level. Just minions roughly the same level the PCs are (give or take, of course), no matter what level the PCs happen to be.

Really, the nicest thing about them is that they are easy to kill (like low-level mobs in other editions) BUT they are a very significant threat. You can't ignore them. Minions WILL hit the PCs and the PCs won't ignore them.

 

[GreyOne]

4th edition seems to channel Savage Worlds.

 

[Jack Colby]

I'm fine with minions in 4E. I think they are fixing a problem that I never had, and would prefer just giving them low HP, etc. (weaklings beating the odds can be fun, even when it's a bad guy runt winning vs. a stronger PC), but I don't mind them having 1 HP either. I'm going to use them as written.

 

[Dormain1]

This is one feature of 4E I would have loved to have had when 3E came out

They are just cannon fodder but can hurt you if you don't watch out

plus I would have loved to see the look on a wizards face when his maximised fireball went bang and half the minons look at him as if to say

"Is that the best you have"

sure the other minons are crispy fried but they only had 1 hp so what

plus could you imaging supreme cleave

bring on the mobs

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

This is one feature of 4E I would have loved to have had when 3E came out

Amen. I ran the opening section of Red Hand of Doom for my players this weekend and was constantly thinking "These should be minions. These should be minions." Generic hobgoblin troops consistently proved to be nothing more than a time-waster, hitting PCs only on a roll of about 17+, which is to say hardly ever. Because they constituted basically no threat, they were inevitably the last enemies alive, and on more than one occasion I declared them dead before their HP reached zero simply because the players were obviously getting bored.

Minions would go a long way towards making the adventure more exciting.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Ditto on "Banned from the game is closest to 'I won't use it'"

Big fights against a bunch of red shirts isn't fun, exciting, or epic. It's filler.

 

[hong]

Ditto on "Banned from the game is closest to 'I won't use it'"

Big fights against a bunch of red shirts isn't fun, exciting, or epic. It's filler.

Clearly you're not doing it right.

 

[pweent]

Clearly you're not doing it right.

And the reason you're not doing it right is that you're not using minions!

Seriously, the existence of minions (and solos - we'll see how elites work out) is currently one of my two favorite additions I've seen in 4e so far. The Age of Worms campaign has a battle against a lizardfolk siege party in which the party is outnumbered by a factor of 10 or so. It is notorious amongst those who have run the campaign as a complete cakewalk, despite being written up as being clearly an extremely dangerous challenge for PCs. The chance of any of them hitting the PCs is negligible. And it is the very epitome of the problem minions are designed to solve.

And yes, taking on a small army by yourself? In 3e, that's either suicide or a timewaster and filler. With minions, though, it can be epic.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Buh?

"Please state your opinion."

"This is my opinion."

"YOUR OPINION IS WRONG."

Seriously?