swarm of minions attack!

[PeelSeel2]

A battle against 24 minions would be easy to DM, even if you rolled random damage for all minions and took into account crits, etc. to make it interesting. It would bog down less than say, three grapples going on simultaneously in 3.x with four different buffs.

 

[abeattie]

The guy who killed 6 of them with the fire blast at once is far more of a target that the oaf who only cut down two kobolds.

Right ... but they're still kobolds. They breed like rats -- but they're dumb as a post in combat. That's the whole trick isn't it?

 

[Rex Blunder]

Depends if they're Tuckered out or not.

 

[arscott]

That won't work as well in 4e. In 3e, scaling made aid another an attractive option for mooks (Which had low attack bonus but adequate damage)

In 4e, minions have an attack bonus that's actually good enough to hit the PCs--It's their damage that sucks.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Right ... but they're still kobolds. They breed like rats -- but they're dumb as a post in combat. That's the whole trick isn't it?

Kobolds are cagy in combat. They have to be since they're such wusses. I thought that was the whole point of them using traps in combat.

 

[VannATLC]

Wee..

My 4e Group has..

A Teifling Paladin of Gruumsh
A Dwarf Fighter.
A Dragonborn Cleric of Bahumat
A Human Mage with aspirations to Godhood.
An Eladrin Rogue (Recently Retired Assassin)
And two characters who are not yet sure.

So.. I'm going to have 7 players. Possibly 8. This leads me to be thankful for minions.

On of the first major encounters will be against 20 Minions, 1 Controller, 1 Leader and 2 Brutes (All level 1)

I've been play testing it, and it looks like fun.

 

[Delgar]

Anyone want to run a minion encounter with 24 of these bad boys? (I stated them up a while ago)

Zombie Minion Level 1 Minion
Medium Undead XP 25
Initiative +0 Senses Perception +0
HP A minion dies when hit by an attack that deals damage.
AC 12; Fortitude 13, Reflex 10, Will 10;
Speed 6
m Slam (standard; at-will) • Weapon .
+3 vs. AC; 3 damage.
Combat Advantage
If the zombie minion hits and opponent that he has combat advantage to, the opponent is knocked prone.
Mob Attack
The zombie minion gains +1 bonus to attack rolls per zombie ally adjacent to the target.
Alignment Any Languages None.
Skills Endurance +8.
Str 14 (+2) Dex 10 (+0) Wis 10 (+0).
Con 16 (+3) Int 3 (-3) Cha 10 (+0).
Equipment None

 

[Vaeron]

Something a friend and I were discussing... I know that in 4e the encounters are designed to be larger. A level 1 encounter might be against a group of 24 zombie or kobold minions, correct?

My friend wondered, would the DM have to potentially make 24 attack rolls (at least in the first round before the minions start falling)? Not that there's anything wrong with that per se, just that I know 4e combats are also supposed to be easier to manage and go along faster, and 24 to hit rolls in a round seems... not fast. Is there some trick or shortcut in the rules to mitigate this?

Just because you *can* do a thing, doesn't mean you *should.*