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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 4864401" data-attributes="member: 3820">I understand. The difference doesn't bother me much. Generally speaking, the question of role and minion comes to mind only once combat becomes really a question. For instance, I still haven't decided what role to make the villain of a current campaign arc, although I know he's some sort of winter-sorcerer type. Maybe he'll be a controller, maybe an artillery; probably elite. Doesn't matter yet. Which would make sense. And presumably some rules would work very well with one and terribly for another; minions are a stand-out, of course, but there are probably other rules that work well for worldbuilding but less so for table-contact play. (Anything that says "an adventure wouldn't be likely here, as it seems the rules would indicate it was already taken care of/wouldn't come to pass," maybe.)I think it was more the question of whether or not preferring a world that exists outside the PCs tends to incline one toward, say, minion use. I think that your preference for a logical world beyond the table isn't really the criterion. It has more to do with questions like "does the 1 HP rule of a minion apply throughout the creature's lifespan, or only when the character gets into a major dramatic event?" Minion rules, as you note, don't simulate biological reality for monsters. They tend to be expressions of larger universal "laws" such as the idea that at lower levels a single ogre is a terror, but as you become more and more of a mythological figure, you can hew ogres in half with one shot. Right. And I'll admit that not everything really needs to get to be a minion; I wouldn't make giants minions (even if they tended to get one-shotted in 1e if you had the right magic items). But those are specific applications, and in general I love the rule. It's like a skill challenge; I wouldn't run any of them out of the book as formal as all that, as they're too limiting, but a define-as-you-go skill challenge is delicious. One of the things I like about minions and skill challenges is that they're a chance to mechanically tinker with pacing. Same for solos and elites, though in the other way. I like that the game has specific rules subsets that allow you to speed up or slow down the action while keeping the players involved. It's a very different approach than D&D has traditionally used, but I find it works great if that's your interest.Sure, but it's not really much of a recurring problem. My personal bugbear is rules that work great once or twice, then become more of a problem as they happen every session. Minions are kind of the inverse of that: they can cause tactical trouble the first time, but provide a smoother experience the more they see play.Such is my interest as well!</blockquote>

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