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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 6654790" data-attributes="member: 82106">Mechanics are a tool. They serve two purposes essentially. They limit what the players can do, and they enable the players to do things. Then they provide a procedure for the resolution of those things. All mechanics are simply a device that allows the game to be played, they are not a representation of the world. I feel utterly confident that Gygax would have agreed with this statement, and that this has always been the intent of D&D, with possibly 3e being at least partially a move towards a kind of simulationist rules theory. All that 4e ever did was to take this and other implicit or latent aspects of the game and bring them out transparently into the open. The reworking of a Standard into a Minion is simply an exercise of that transparency. It is worth noting however: nowhere in the 4e rules, DM advice, etc is it ever stated as a technique. AFAIK there are no examples of 'minionized' creatures in any MM or adventure. Its not a technique that the designers of the game traded on. There's no official stat blocks for a minionized level 10 orc. In fact the technique, AFAIK, was invented right here on Enworld. It was a pretty obvious concept when you think about it, but any interpretation of 4e's rules as being independent of fiction is merely a choice that a GM might make.All that being said, what's wrong with the technique? The rules serve the game, and the fiction is more central than any given rule. You can use any rules in any way you see fit to project the fictive reality of the game world that the PCs inhabit. Its perfectly fine if a level 10 minion orc goes down with 1 hit point of damage, etc. Its perfectly fine that the orc is represented as a minion of level 10. Its perfectly fine that its AC is different from a regular level 4 orc. Why is this fine? Because none of these concepts exist within the fiction. In the game universe AC, Hit Pints, attack rolls, damage, etc do not exist. You need 6 more pips on the d20 to hit the minion orc than the standard orc? So what?The standard orc was a significant threat to the level 2 Dwarf Fighter Koruzd. With a mighty yell he leapt into battle with his traditional foe. As a fairly skilled warrior he quickly found that the orc was cunning and powerful, able to bat aside many of his blows, and seeming barely scratched by the rest. Worse still the orc battered his way past Koruzd's guard with its first blow, giving him a nasty bleeding gash in the side. Eventually, after the Glorion the Elvish Warlord reminded him of how he would sing of the dwarf's softness in battle if he didn't finish off his foe he was able to muster all his energy and land a mighty blow on the orc.2 years later level 10 koruzd is jumped by 4 orcs as he enters about the 100th cave of the Howling Warrens he's explored today. 2 of them manage to make a minor impression on him with their blows, but his mighty Black Iron Mail stops the blows, leaving no more than a small bruise. Using his years of experience koruzd rolls with the last blow, surprising 2 of his foes and cutting them both down at once with a mighty sweep of his deadly magical axe. Sensing the third orc's attempt to turn and flee while he's otherwise engaged he turns quickly and attempts to cut it down, but the beast has already slipped out of axe reach. Suddenly a pair of icy rays flash out into the darkness, cutting down the 2 remaining orcs, just as a number of shouts and the sound of blows informs Koruzd that his 4 orcs were only a minor distraction... I see nothing about this fiction, which would be fully supported by 4e's rules that is disturbing or indicates a need for a rules revision. You could play out the same fights in 5e, though I suspect there's a bit more bookkeeping involved in running the orcs. It should still play about the same.</blockquote>

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