What are Minions anyway?

[Xorn]

Conscripts were not taught the finer points of combat. They were given padded or leather armor, handed a spear or a dull short sword, and told, "Stand here till we wave this flag, then go over there and kill the enemy."

The minion is shown how to effectively hold the weapon, even how to attack with it effectively. That's it. The commanders hope is that the conscript will kill at least one enemy before he's kills. Further direction will come on the battlefield, from real warriors, trained in tactics and capable defenders. If the conscripts can just keep the enemy occupied well enough to let your elite troops operate, they are doing most of their job.

It's quite easy to teach someone to make lethal attacks with a weapon, without spending years turning them into a seasoned, veteran fighter. Minions make perfect sense, to me!

 

[Baka no Hentai]

That would work logically, but it would drastically reduce the usefulness of minions. Still its (imo) better than the other alternative.

Im basically going with the idea that we all start out as minions, and those with the most skill, natural ability, or plain old luck will go on to be something more.

If thats not how things are setup, then it will be one of my first 4E Houserules. Though I could be swayed for something like Archer minions that could be well trained with a bow, but that have very little skill in hand to hand combat. I suppose in that case I could just make level 1 Human Archers with higher than normal attack bonuses.

 

[Baka no Hentai]

Conscripts were not taught the finer points of combat. They were given padded or leather armor, handed a spear or a dull short sword, and told, "Stand here till we wave this flag, then go over there and kill the enemy."

The minion is shown how to effectively hold the weapon, even how to attack with it effectively. That's it. The commanders hope is that the conscript will kill at least one enemy before he's kills. Further direction will come on the battlefield, from real warriors, trained in tactics and capable defenders. If the conscripts can just keep the enemy occupied well enough to let your elite troops operate, they are doing most of their job.

It's quite easy to teach someone to make lethal attacks with a weapon, without spending years turning them into a seasoned, veteran fighter. Minions make perfect sense, to me!

This is along my lines of thinking, that in fact the majority of an army is made up of minions. They're basically the frontlines that you send into the meat-grinder. Those that learn how to survive long enough will eventually rise up in the ranks and be given the command of squads, etc.

In fact a group of mostly level 1 Fighters would probably be considered an elite unit that would be placed where they can do the most damage to the enemy.

 

[Ourph]

Do minions die in one hit, or are they "taken out of combat" in one hit?
Wounded. Holding in their intestines, etc.

I would suggest that this is one of the things it's perfectly acceptable to leave up to DM adjudication.

 

[Darkthorne]

I like the flip a coin/roll a die issue for figuring out if a minion is dead/maimed or doing his impersonation of lasagna. Also in regards to minion hp (BIG assumption here) Could is be 1 hp per level? kobolds level 1 so 1 hit would kill them, vamprie spawn level 10, 10 hp so possible a miss with a spell special attack won't drop them readily but would seriously put a hurt on them.

 

[Professor Phobos]

I would suggest that this is one of the things it's perfectly acceptable to leave up to DM adjudication.

Feng Shui left it up to the PCs, as I recall, since it makes little difference to combat and it allows them to be merciful, save some for interrogation, etc.

"Minion" isn't about power level, it's about dramatic heft. If you grab a minion, make the DM think of a name, and keep it around for a while trying to redeem it to your cause, then boom, it'll suddenly be Redeemed Enemy Dude and if television has taught me anything, he'll be much more potent in a fight.

 

[Wormwood]

"Minion" isn't about power level, it's about dramatic heft.

Best summary I've seen so far.

 

[Starbuck_II]

I like the flip a coin/roll a die issue for figuring out if a minion is dead/maimed or doing his impersonation of lasagna. Also in regards to minion hp (BIG assumption here) Could is be 1 hp per level? kobolds level 1 so 1 hit would kill them, vamprie spawn level 10, 10 hp so possible a miss with a spell special attack won't drop them readily but would seriously put a hurt on them.

Vampire Spawn are Lv 6 with 10 hps. Your theory doesn't hold sorry.

I still believe it is 1/2 Lv + 1/2 Con Score. Easy to replicate and make bigger (with rising Con/Level)

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Vampire Spawn are Lv 6 with 10 hps. Your theory doesn't hold sorry.

I still believe it is 1/2 Lv + 1/2 Con Score. Easy to replicate and make bigger (with rising Con/Level)

They certainly do have 10 hps in at least one playtest version, I'm sure. Things change fast. I just wouldn't assume all of the stats you've seen are final.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Someone has to be Porkins.

Nah, Porkins wasn't a minion; he had a name. Minions don't get names. They do have to wear red shirts, though.