The flip side of the insta-kill discussion... What good are mooks?

[Pants]

Hey, hey 8 beggars automatically constitutes a mob which can automatically grapple any foe! Fear the mooks! (a cookie to the first person who gets this reference).

Honestly, I think mooks are a great way of showing how far the PC's have come. They may have feared those orcs or those level 1 warriors at a point in their career, but now they are just wheat before the scythe.

Every once in a while, I'll send some low-levels against the PC's, just to boost their egos a bit, especially after a really tough encounter.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

IMC, when the party gets attacked by some mooks who pose no challenge I just skip ahead and say the mooks were killed/defeated. It saves a lot of time. It also prevents blood-thirsty players from side-tracking just to take on some mooks.

 

[mr_outsidevoice]

mook use and love

Mooks allow bad guys to see the capabilities of the parties. Yes, i as DM know what they can do and what tactics they default to, people they meet and fight don't have an internet or message boards to share that data.

Mooks allow flanking attacks and thus sneak attacks on players.

My big fights tend to come in waves and mooks in the first couple of waves does distract and allows hecnmen and bosses to get their power-suites up.

It also lets me give the Ranger a chance to use his favored enemy bonuses even at higher levels.

Also, don't forget as they increase in levels, what was once Big Bads can be mooks.

Ogres suck at 1st level, but when the party is 12th, 10-15 can drain some resources, might hurt one or two PCs, but are more of a distratioin than anything else. Especially w/ a fireball happy wizard/sorcerer.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

WOW... there wasn't a post to this since February 10th and now all of a sudden it rears it's ugly head.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Mooks might suffer from "certain death" syndrome, but they DO absorb resources. While it would get dull if done too often, the party might have to defeat not one group of mooks to get to the BBEG, not two, not three, but say, twenty? With no opportunity to rest uninturrupted? They can slowly wear the PCs out. The BBEG could have a literal army of followers - not just a few handfuls. Say, ten thousand or so? Even high-level PCs will balk at fighting THAT many mooks. Sometimes high-levels PCs have to use brains over brawns, just like low-level PCs.

 

[Henry]

In Feng Shui, what is the purpose of Mooks? To let the PC's artistically show off their superior combat skills.

In D&D, it's got a similar purpose. In D&D, it's not always, but it sometimes feels good as a player to flaunt what it took you dozens or hundreds of RPG sessions to earn - that powerful character who's done it and seen it all, and lived to tell the tale.

Sometimes in a game, in addition to "mook fights" I will have an encounter that recognizes the PC's superior skills - it could be a hero-worshipper, it could be a foe who does a double-take and recapitulation when he sees just how it is he faces, or even the group of goblins in the wilderness travelling toward the PC's, take one look, and make a 90-degree turn and head the other way. It brings a smile to the table sometimes, and gives the players a reward beyond tangible ones.

 

[Kweezil]

Hey, hey 8 beggars automatically constitutes a mob which can automatically grapple any foe! Fear the mooks! (a cookie to the first person who gets this reference).

What ungodly amalgam of the rules has BA created?! That was a particularly good strip

Back on topic, I've always been fond of mooks in SW, D&D, and just about any other high-adventure game. There's a certain visceral pleasure in hurling wave after wave of expendable minions at the PCs, and the PCs always like the chance to show off their neat tricks. On the other hand, I like the not-quite mooks, S'mon's Stormtrooper Mooks, where they can be a threat if the PCs are foolish, unlucky or dumb.

 

[Umbran]

However, if you combine mooks and more resilient foes in one encounter, and don't give the players OOC knowledge about the difference betweeen the two, they have their purpose.

Oh, mooks have more prupose than that. You see, mooks get in the way. Mooks cause delays. When the party needs to get from point A to point B *now*, mooks become a terrain hazard. Mooks keep party members from cooperating and coordinating (ex: when your fighter is up against the BBEG, you can't have the rogue flank when there's a sea of mooks in the way).

So, all in all, mooks are not an end unto themselves as an encounter. But mooks can make many encounters more difficult or interesting. Mooks are gaming ketchup.

 

[MerakSpielman]

And don't forget the Aid action... Imagine being surrounded by mooks. No problem, right? But then 7 of them Aid the other one into getting a additional +14 on his attack roll... For mooks, one of them hitting is better than all of them missing.

 

[Kormydigar]

Hey, hey 8 beggars automatically constitutes a mob which can automatically grapple any foe! Fear the mooks! (a cookie to the first person who gets this reference).

Honestly, I think mooks are a great way of showing how far the PC's have come. They may have feared those orcs or those level 1 warriors at a point in their career, but now they are just wheat before the scythe.

Every once in a while, I'll send some low-levels against the PC's, just to boost their egos a bit, especially after a really tough encounter.

Hoody Hoo!! I'm gonna make sure I have 8 beggars with me at all times, this rawks!!! KODT I believe. I'll take choc. chip Yeah mooks are fun once in awhile just so the adventurers can feel truly badass.