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Solving all minion issues (long)
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<blockquote data-quote="Ceraus" data-source="post: 4735132" data-attributes="member: 76818"><p>The other minions issues will require more change, though. They will even require reworking the damage boost we just gave them.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">Give minions HP -</span></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Don't cringe yet! Don't you want minions to have a chance against higher-level players, eliminate the automatic damage inconsistencies and give them the same role and cool powers standard monsters do? While still retaining the minion "feeling" and ease of use?</p><p></p><p>Give this a chance.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">Give minions HP but shared damage</span></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Essentially, they have HP, but which minion takes what damage is not tracked. All damage is substracted from the "same" minion, and when that minion dies, whatever extra damage is sent to the next one. Let's start with a mid-level example.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Say we have a fight: a Fighter and a Wizard against 8 identical minions. Here's the round-by-round player recap:</p><p></p><p>The Fighter misses with Reaping Strike but still deals damage. No kill, though.</p><p>The Wizard hits 2 minions and misses 1 with a weak-damage Scorching Burst, killing 1.</p><p>The Fighter semi-wastes Brute Strike on a minion, killing it with extreme prejudice.</p><p>The Wizard hits 1 minion and misses 4 with a weak-damage Fireball, killing 2.</p><p>The Fighter hits 1 minion with Cleave, killing 2.</p><p>The Wizard misses with Flaming Sphere, but only 1 of the 3 minions adjacent to it is killed on its turn.</p><p></p><p>Strange things have happened: a Scorching Burst hit failed to kill and a Fireball miss did kill. Also, Reaping Strike missed but still had an effect, and Flaming Sphere did not reap through minions like a scythe through wheat.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Let's do the same fight by the numbers.</p><p></p><p>According to the minion stat block, they each have 20 HP. Let's jot that down somewhere.</p><p></p><p>The Fighter attacks with Reaping Strike but misses. Still deals 6 HP damage! The DM substracts 6 from the shared minion HP (now 14), bringing the next minion death closer.</p><p></p><p>The Wizard throws a Scorching Burst, hitting 2 minions but missing a third one. Damage is 11. The DM removes 11 for the first minion (3 HP left, still alive) and 11 for the second (so now -8 HP). That's one minion down. To continue noting minion HP, we bump the current total (-8 HP) by the minion max HP (20 HP), which makes the next minion 12 HP from death.</p><p></p><p>The Fighter unleashes Brute Strike and hits for 36 damage. We consider he's dealt max HP damage to one minion (20), so we get -8 HP. Thus, obviously, that minion dies and we bump things back to 12 HP.</p><p></p><p>The Wizard shoots a Fireball on the Fighter to get the four minions around him. He hits the Fighter but only a single minion. Damage is 19. The hit minion takes full damage, so 12 HP -> -7 HP. Dead, and next one has -7 + 20 = 13 HP. The four other ones are missed but still take 8 damage: 15 HP -> 7 HP -> -1 HP (dead). Then 19 HP -> 11 HP -> 3 HP. Result: two dead minions (one was hit, the other died from half-fireball-damage).</p><p></p><p>Then the Fighter uses Cleave, which hits for 19 damage and glances another minion for 6 damage. 3 HP -> -16 HP (dead). Then 4 HP -> -2 HP (dead). He killed the two minions he wanted. The next minion has 18 HP.</p><p></p><p>Finally, the Wizard drops a Flaming Sphere, missing a minion with the attack. The three minions that start their turn there respectively take 10, 11 and 9 damage: 18 HP -> 8 HP -> -3 HP (dead). Then 17 HP -> 8 HP. Result: one dead minion and a weakened one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ceraus, post: 4735132, member: 76818"] The other minions issues will require more change, though. They will even require reworking the damage boost we just gave them. [B][SIZE="4"]Give minions HP -[/SIZE][/B] Don't cringe yet! Don't you want minions to have a chance against higher-level players, eliminate the automatic damage inconsistencies and give them the same role and cool powers standard monsters do? While still retaining the minion "feeling" and ease of use? Give this a chance. [B][SIZE="4"]Give minions HP but shared damage[/SIZE][/B] Essentially, they have HP, but which minion takes what damage is not tracked. All damage is substracted from the "same" minion, and when that minion dies, whatever extra damage is sent to the next one. Let's start with a mid-level example. Say we have a fight: a Fighter and a Wizard against 8 identical minions. Here's the round-by-round player recap: The Fighter misses with Reaping Strike but still deals damage. No kill, though. The Wizard hits 2 minions and misses 1 with a weak-damage Scorching Burst, killing 1. The Fighter semi-wastes Brute Strike on a minion, killing it with extreme prejudice. The Wizard hits 1 minion and misses 4 with a weak-damage Fireball, killing 2. The Fighter hits 1 minion with Cleave, killing 2. The Wizard misses with Flaming Sphere, but only 1 of the 3 minions adjacent to it is killed on its turn. Strange things have happened: a Scorching Burst hit failed to kill and a Fireball miss did kill. Also, Reaping Strike missed but still had an effect, and Flaming Sphere did not reap through minions like a scythe through wheat. Let's do the same fight by the numbers. According to the minion stat block, they each have 20 HP. Let's jot that down somewhere. The Fighter attacks with Reaping Strike but misses. Still deals 6 HP damage! The DM substracts 6 from the shared minion HP (now 14), bringing the next minion death closer. The Wizard throws a Scorching Burst, hitting 2 minions but missing a third one. Damage is 11. The DM removes 11 for the first minion (3 HP left, still alive) and 11 for the second (so now -8 HP). That's one minion down. To continue noting minion HP, we bump the current total (-8 HP) by the minion max HP (20 HP), which makes the next minion 12 HP from death. The Fighter unleashes Brute Strike and hits for 36 damage. We consider he's dealt max HP damage to one minion (20), so we get -8 HP. Thus, obviously, that minion dies and we bump things back to 12 HP. The Wizard shoots a Fireball on the Fighter to get the four minions around him. He hits the Fighter but only a single minion. Damage is 19. The hit minion takes full damage, so 12 HP -> -7 HP. Dead, and next one has -7 + 20 = 13 HP. The four other ones are missed but still take 8 damage: 15 HP -> 7 HP -> -1 HP (dead). Then 19 HP -> 11 HP -> 3 HP. Result: two dead minions (one was hit, the other died from half-fireball-damage). Then the Fighter uses Cleave, which hits for 19 damage and glances another minion for 6 damage. 3 HP -> -16 HP (dead). Then 4 HP -> -2 HP (dead). He killed the two minions he wanted. The next minion has 18 HP. Finally, the Wizard drops a Flaming Sphere, missing a minion with the attack. The three minions that start their turn there respectively take 10, 11 and 9 damage: 18 HP -> 8 HP -> -3 HP (dead). Then 17 HP -> 8 HP. Result: one dead minion and a weakened one. [/QUOTE]
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