Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 darkjedi26 Feb 02, 2010 14:32:14	I had an idea for an adventure and was wondering if anyone had ran anything like it before.  I got the idea when plaing COD: Modern Warfare. The first level of the game, your team is inflitration a big tanker ship to retrieve some data. So my idea was a fast paced encounter where the PCs will basically invade a large galley ship and have to work their way to some goal and then escape. So, instead of having it be a series of enconters, a way i thought to keep it fast paced (and not killer on their resources) would be just to have lots of minions. So I'd draw out a a few levels of this ship ahead of time and have X number of minions placed around the ship. From entrance to exit would be 1 encounter. Basically, kil the minions in your way and keep moving forward. Any thoughts on this idea?
#2 meshon Feb 02, 2010 14:42:36	Since most minions tend to be pretty bland, you might want to consider adding something more to the fight to keep it from being one big slog. Different kinds of minions might take care of this. A few ranged attackers, some stealthy ones, etc. I think the minions from the newer books are designed better in this regard. You could also make it clear that the PCs need to keep moving to avoid being overwhelmed, as the inhabitants of the galley will probably organize against the threat if they have enough time. Another question you should make sure you have answered is why the characters need to escape. If the enemies are all minions the characters could potentially kill them all and take over the ship. Maybe the ship is going to dock in a hostile area or meet up with another ship full of more powerful enemies, so the characters will have a time limit. It sounds like it could be fun, but the main thing I think would be to make sure that there is variety in the journey through the ship and that there is something to keep the pressure on the PCs. Enjoy! cheers, Meshon
#3 mellored Feb 02, 2010 14:50:15	Seems pretty good, though you might want to toss in the occasional guard (normal), or something. Also minions from the MM2 arn't as bland as MM1 minions, they do niftier things.
#4 darkjedi26 Feb 02, 2010 15:00:29	Seems pretty good, though you might want to toss in the occasional guard (normal), or something. Also minions from the MM2 arn't as bland as MM1 minions, they do niftier things. Good ideas. I had thought to change up the type of minions. HAve some artillery behind crates, lurkers, solders, etc... I hadn't thought of the sense of urgency. I suppose if i dont have one the PCs could just kill everything on the ship and take it over. Maybe I'll have the PCs have to attack the ship on the ocean and once they are halfway through, have an explosion blow a hole in the ship so it starts sinking. Or i could have the ship at doc, but have an alarm go off and alert them that they only have 3 minutes to make it off or something. Good idea. mellored: I had considered adding an occasional guard so they don't get to comfy. I have also seen the super minion idea tossed around these boards, I may try that as well.
#5 iserith Feb 02, 2010 18:17:41	I've run fights and played in fights that included a lot of minions and I have to say all of them were unmitigated disasters. It sounds like a good idea at the outset, but in practice it becomes an exercise in dice-rolling. In addition, if you get a couple of good controllers and soon all of your minions are rounded up like cows at a slaughterhouse to be grinded down like so much hamburger meat. Unlike hamburger meat, however, the encounters always left a bad taste in my mouth. Having said that, others may have had entirely different experiences and, as a longtime DM, it's hard to let go of a cool cinematic idea. So if you're going to try to pull it off, I agree that a sense of urgency will be pivotal to making this work. The ship sinking makes for an excellent backdrop as well. Ditto on the different kinds of minions. I would also include a lot of hazards, traps, or skill challenges to add another layer to what could otherwise be a fairly mundane encounter. Rooms that flood with water, exploding ordinance, fires (and thus smoke) breaking out in certain compartments, containing the elemental that runs the ship's engine before it escapes, etc. This would give the PCs other things to do while slaughtering minions. Further, the minions should act with good tactics and move around a lot using the map to their advantage, cutting off PCs from the rest of the group by sealing doors or hallways, or appearing behind the party lines through crawlspaces, pipes, or maybe even by blasting walls open to get close to vulnerable characters. I think your best bet is to really think about how this would play out in a movie and aim to duplicate some of those scenes and effects using the mechanics plus plenty of flavor.
#6 Wick Feb 02, 2010 21:24:03	I have done this sort of thing a couple of times but I always use the minions in teams and a few teams of non minions. The minions have to really have a strategy combined with terrain that suits their strategy. Otherwise yes it just turns into sheep to the slaughter and not much fun.
#7 Wick Feb 02, 2010 21:25:02	I have done this sort of thing a couple of times but I always use the minions in teams and a few teams of non minions. The minions have to really have a strategy combined with terrain that suits their strategy. Otherwise yes it just turns into sheep to the slaughter and not much fun.
#8 meshon Feb 03, 2010 9:16:34	In addition, if you get a couple of good controllers and soon all of your minions are rounded up like cows at a slaughterhouse to be grinded down like so much hamburger meat. Unlike hamburger meat, however, the encounters always left a bad taste in my mouth. Awesome. Meat. Taste. Wow. Nice mastery of the form! cheers, Meshon