Minions - do you tell players who are minions and who are not in-game?

Do you show players who are minions at the gametable?


I think it takes some of the fun out of having minions in the game if they're obvious. Sure, they're supposed to be cardboard cutouts — but they've got to be cutouts that look like real monsters.

Curiously, I think it takes fun out of the having minions if you obfuscate them - I want people to recklessly charge down to slash down several at once, swagger when appropriate, etc.

Like Feng Shui or 7th Sea mooks, I want to tell the players 'Okay, now tell me how you look awesome here. These guys are made to die for your benefit.'
 

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I allow players to figure it out, so the level of perceived danger is always heightened.
He's doing it right (i.e.: like I do it), sorta.

If it's a foe type that the PCs haven't seen before, they don't know who is what. If it's a foe type they've fought before -- particularly a foe type they've fought recently in game time -- I flat out tell the players. The PCs will remember stuff that players might forget between sessions.

Cheers, -- N
 


I don't tell them but, through description, I'm hoping they realize who's who. It may become somewhat obvious after the first round and the ease of smashing some of the monsters.
 

On a practical level, it's almost impossible for me not to tell my players. We don't have many miniatures and tends to dice for enemies and the same color or sides per die indicates which monster so I can keep track. I have the most d6s, so the minions are almost always 6 sided.
 

Curiously, I think it takes fun out of the having minions if you obfuscate them - I want people to recklessly charge down to slash down several at once, swagger when appropriate, etc.

It's a balance, of course, and it would depend on the group. If everyone can know the enemies are cardboard but still play like they're they awesome ones, that seems good. There's a point where too much technical information from the DM pulls at the players' suspension of disbelief, though, and that seems to come pretty early for (at least some of the more literal-minded of) our group.
 


Our DM uses grey plastic zombie figs (from the Zombies! game) for minions. Doesn't matter what they are, so, yeah, we always know the minions.

Given 4e's 'above board' style, I'd probably let my players know who the minions are, too.
 

Forked from Mearl's recent interview -

I allow players to figure it out, so the level of perceived danger is always heightened. Although showing people who minions are and aren't will allow them to use their powers more wisely, I disagree with this sort of metagame handholding at the table.

Sometimes, shoddily-armed foes are minions, and sometimes they aren't. I like keeping the game interesting, and letting the description allow players to determine who may or may not be minions. Sometimes the "important" NPC is truly a minion (like a well-liked and popular hero who's not quite up to the calibre of the players) and sometimes he isn't.

Does it really matter? We don't tell anyone who the minions are. The player figures it out on their own by how quickly the monster dies. Our wizard usually hits a group with at least one AoE attack or more. Minions are usually cleared out in a round or two having done nothing to impede the party.

We've started giving minions more hit points so they last a little longer and possibly are more useful to their allies. Almost any Aoe Kills minions quickly.

It just doesn't matter if you tell the party who the minions are. Not even sure why this is being brought up. As I've stated in other threads, past 3rd level the wizard can drop AoE right on top of the fighter or other party members eliminating minions if they close with the the party. And if they haven't closed with the party, the wizard just drops AoE from behind.

Minions are worthless little baloons easily popped and providing little to no challenge.
 

I don't tell them who the minions are, but it's pretty easy to figure out. Either the minion will hit and not roll damage or a player will hit and kill one. After that it's a matter of looking at the creatures on the mat and figuring out which are the same types. We've only had one session, so I have yet to bury a real monster (perhaps even a solo) inside a large group of minions.

This is how my DM handles it, he does not tell us up front which are minions, but he does use the same minis or markers for minions. Once we take one down in one shot then we know which are minions and adjust accordingly. I like the previously mentioned M&M idea, however i think we will use reese's pieces :)
 

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