Minions - tell the PCs?

[nerdcore]

2 quick tips that i use in my games.

a.) if you are inquired if a monster is a minion or not, have the pc's make an insight check, and tell them the answer.

b.) make mixed groups, like kobolds regulars and orcs minions, that will probably surprise the pc's

 

[Infiniti2000]

Well you're very very exceptional then. Few other people have the ability to read minds and tell what is in a person's muscle memory by looking at them.

Until Bruce Lee has taken down half a dozen minions he looks hardly more impressive than any of the guys who have shirts on.

I'm with NilesB. I think anyone with a smidgen of training can tell as soon as the fight starts who else has a smidgen of training. So, if I saw someone especially Bruce Lee's capability, I would know it by simply looking at him, and certainly as soon as I saw him get ready to fight. It absolutely wouldn't be "until the fight is practically over." I mean, really, you see Bruce Lee kill a dozen mooks and you still don't know? Even the lamest, untrained combatants would figure it out earlier than "practically over."

Regardless, keep in mind the most important point here. It isn't just that minions are weaker. They're so weak that they don't even follow the same mechanics as ANYONE else. So, there's no real-life comparison to be made that's completely valid. Actually, maybe there is. Can you tell the difference between a real-life boxer just standing there and a life-size cardboard cutout of one? That's the better analogy to minions and non-minions.

In any case, the game is more about having fun and not about tricking the players into wasting abilities, unless of course that is how you have fun and then more power to you.

 

[Nebulous]

Nah, i don't normally tell them. When a monster is incinerated or beheaded instantly, they know. When it doesn't drop right away, they know it's tougher. Sometimes, if they ask, i'll tell them a particular monster looks bigger and meaner than the ones around it, even if just by a margin.

 

[Jack99]

I never tell them them anything about which monsters are minions. And it doesn't show until the player's hit either, since my minions do real damage. I can manage that extra roll, and frankly, it makes them more at par with the exp they give.

 

[Tale]

I personally like to think of minions as the Redshirts of D&D. You (the audience/player) know that they are minions. The characters only know what is described.

Technically, the characters must know who the redshirts are. If the bad guys didn't know the redshirts were unimportant and meant for him to kill to stress a point, he'd just as likely kill Kirk instead!