Minions: What Bugs You?

[FireLance]

After pages of discussion about minions in this thread, I decided to post a poll to tease out what are the most common complaints about minions.

Feel free to explain what you don't like (or what you do like - I'm not picky) about minions, but please keep arguing to a minimum. Thanks.

 

[Sanzuo]

Minions keep moving into our country illegally and steal all our jobs.

 

[Oni]

As far as I'm concerned minions serve their function admirably. If I was really feeling like tweaking something I might lower the value of melee minions, but it's just not that big a deal to me.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm basically OK with minions.

Though they are CRAZY binary, which can result in some weird effects, they're also totally optional, so if I don't want those weird effects, I don't have to use them ever.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

They're a little too easy to kill, and their impact on the battle can be unpredictably trivial.

Still, they're about the best cannon fodder I've seen from an RPG, and overall I wouldn't say I had an issue.

 

[malraux]

I think area auto-damage is a significant minion weakness. That said, I'm unsure how it could be corrected and still keep things simple.

However, I do think version 1.0 of minions are kinda uninteresting. You do need something else to make them cool. However, the minions I've seen recently have more or less answered that objection for me.

 

[Stalker0]

My issue isn't with the minion rules its the monster design that uses them.

I have no problems with minions dying by the bucket load at high levels. But just as its expected for a epic level character to kick the bucket and come back swinging, I want high level minions to die but still be important to the combat.

I think MM II really helped with this. There are more minions auras, doing damage when they die, healing others when they die, etc. Although teh boost in minion damage wasn't bad either


EDIT: Thinking about it more, I have a beef with the 4 minions = 1 monster rule. It doesn't change as you get higher in levels, even though minions definitely become weaker. If at epic 1 monster = 6 minions or 7 or even 8 than that helps balance out the books.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

I think area auto-damage is a significant minion weakness. That said, I'm unsure how it could be corrected and still keep things simple.

The solution is this:

Minions get a saving throw in response to auto-damage. If they succeed, they live.

 

[Holy Bovine]

ALthough I'm not crazy about any automatic damage automatically killing a minion I find that many Dms do not use minions very well (myself included). They really should be the guys giving flanking or 'aid another' actions to you main hitters. Possibly the worse use of minions I heard of was from a WotC adventure that featured an 11th level party fighting 15 or so minions. That fight almost lasted 0.3 of a round!

Anyways I have seen minions used to great effect by providing a Brute or Soldier a reliable +2 or +4 to hit bonus and range attacking minions perform superbly.

 

[Holy Bovine]

My issue isn't with the minion rules its the monster design that uses them.

I have no problems with minions dying by the bucket load at high levels. But just as its expected for a epic level character to kick the bucket and come back swinging, I want high level minions to die but still be important to the combat.

I think MM II really helped with this. There are more minions auras, doing damage when they die, healing others when they die, etc. Although teh boost in minion damage wasn't bad either


EDIT: Thinking about it more, I have a beef with the 4 minions = 1 monster rule. It doesn't change as you get higher in levels, even though minions definitely become weaker. If at epic 1 monster = 6 minions or 7 or even 8 than that helps balance out the books.

Actually Stalker0 it was your write up on Anti-Grind a few weeks back that lead me to re-examine how I used minions. I have your post printed out and is part of my DM binder now - great advice!