How do you run PC minions and pets in your games?

question
#10

I agree in most scenarios necromancy is considered “evil” for obvious reasons but each game setting is unique and there could be some wiggle room to allow it.

Maybe the necromancer is royalty and can summon ancient fallen soldiers to rise up and defend the crown.

Maybe the necromancer works for a bank and those who die still must pay their debt and they open a big ledger and read off a debter’s name and summon them forth and upon dying again their debt is forgiven. (I summon Andy Withers who owes a debt of 52000 coin for his student loans)

The party could all be undead who were raised by another necromancer and this is just common

Simply the party could make up of individuals who lack the morals of using necromancy.

#11

another way you could run the necromancer issue is to allow it to choose either summoning 1 special undead with unique actions it can perform, so it only has a single companion, or if they choose to summon multiple undead they use the mob mechanic. that way they have some utility and choice.

special undead i have used are different skeletons with powers based on how they died/ were executed.

  • the hanged skeleton may have a noose to strangle folks with,
  • the burned on the stake skeleton may have fire attacks,
  • a skeleton shot on a firing wall might have a bow or a fire arm for ranged attacks,
  • an impaled skeleton may have a spear with NEAR reach jutting out of its head
  • a skeleton broken on the wheel could have a charge attack (move and attack, if successful push target back)
    etc.

i have already made tokens for these undead as well. they can be found here Inktober greetings! One vtt asset per day
Day7, Day 8, and Day 13 have the above mentioned “skelemen” as i like to call them

#12

Oh, I’m all for necromancer’s I just want a creative way that the Player portrays it. And that it works in the game world, not the video game answer of “who cares?”

The lack of caring that one has to have to not be bothered by rotted remains walking around…doesn’t fit most of my settings is all.

#13

Love the special undead based on how they died. Freaking awesome.

Milestone Reward: Zombie Hulk: Sacrifice X+ undead minions to create 1 zombie hulk. Its STR and HEARTS are based on the number of undead sacrificed this way. Its ARMOR is 10

#14

also, you could go the frankenstein route and let them “Mix’n’Match” body parts that act as loot, giving different bonuses… i will attach the Giant Crab Claw, and the minotaur legs… and what the heck, lets sprinkle on some manticore wings for good measure. then he could start collecting milestone rewards from enemies you throw at them :slight_smile:

#15

dude yes, and maybe the Frankenstein can only be healed by using corpses to patch it up.

(shameless plug) reminds me of the Grafters Conclave magic patron post

#16

yes, that is dope as hell, i like that a lot. see you were already there with the mechanics. that is fantastic. maybe every time the Frankenstein’s Monster (heretofore referred to as the flesh golem for brevity) is killed one of the parts gets mangled beyond repair, and a suitable replacement must be found. basically the flesh golem loses one of its special abilities until something else can get harvested. like you said, the flesh golem can only be healed by using corpses, so it would stand to reason that the parts themselves dont really get healed, rather, just replaced… it is the flesh version of a mecha lol… hey, you could use those mechanics for robots too! just swap out the meat for metal components

#17

the CHUNCKs mechanic seems like a good fit for the flesh golem. When dealt damage a random body part takes the damage unless specified and special chunks can protect other chunks.

Tentacle: 1 Heart - Deals WEAPON effort. All grapple based actions are NEVER hard
Troll Skin: 1 Heart - redirects all chunk damage to this chunk instead.

#18

that is perfect… i love the idea of using CHUNKS…oooh, troll skin just sends shivers down my spine! also, this helps distract from wanting a huge army of zombies. though if they want that, its cool too. i just might ask them why having so many allies is so important to them to try to get at the root cause. that always helps me to tailor LOOT and milestones toward their over all end goal

#19

Agreed, my current group has a necromancer who wants the whole zombie horde feel to it.

currently letting her raise 1 heart zombies from corpses she finds at the cost of 1 max hit point to herself. So if she has 1 heart then the max zombies she can raise is 9 living her at 1 hit point which is scary lol…she usually has 3 or 4 zombies at a time. Lots of good ideas in this conversation to rework her minions in the form of the next milestone.

#20

that seems like a descent way to do it too. though i am a big fan of the horde moving as one token method, i feel like it would keep the battlefield cleaner and easier to follow along with what is going on. or the single super zombie companion like we were just discussing lol. one of my goals i set for myself as a GM is to try to clean up the clutter a bit, so i do see the merit in the way you are running it, just for my own mind i know i couldnt keep track of all those little guys.

#21

Its been a hassle managing the individual zombies which sparked the creation of this post seeking help. The horde token is so going to be a thing

#22

I wanna abandon d20 checks for attacks altogether to allow players to damage enemies in a hack’n’slash game!! :smiley:

#23

Yep no way I’d allow individual zombies.
With 6 players already, additional player controlled characters is over the top.

I agree with the above, I would make them a horde token, that if beside a player provides a buff. Or can make an attack instead of the controlling character.

I’d also be making zombies 1hp minions. So they can’t be making them damage sponges.

Otherwise doesn’t help with pets but I’d look into how to include spell burn

#24

I come from Savage Worlds. In Savage Worlds, players control their PC’s, their minions and their allies. It works great for the players, and it works great for BIG fights. Minions become important (one HP enemies), as do enemies that require gang-ups and high damage thresholds. It does require a lot of planning! I don’t think there’s a good reason to not allow the PC’s and their minions to both go on their turn, other than time (which is a valid consideration.)

#25

Really I think the objection here is that the dm is asking for help. Meaning they aren’t comfortable with how it’s going.

If it was 4 pcs maybe, but 6 pcs + plus what another 3-6 minions/companions that are fully controllable. That really is a lot to handle and for the players only playing themselves that is a lot of downtime.

Fully controllable minions especially if in control of multiples is just really asking for the Spotlight to be on them and that isn’t fair nor fun for the rest of the people at the table.

Edit: at least that is my take.

#26

minions i work in the same way as loot personally, its an item (i.e. a dogs collar allows you to command the dog w/o taking an action) otherwise commanding your allies/minions requires the characters action. the animate dead spell says the animated guys act on your turn in magic pg 44 but it comes down to your table and your needs, do what you feel is right for your group and what will work with your group

for me in big combats like that to keep the game moving with so many player characters the solution is to just put a timer on player turns during combat (like 2-5 mins to decide what they’re doing, not for dice rolls / results)

#27

Fair points all. Another way to handle it would be to divide the minions equally between the players! That way no-one is hogging the spotlight, and all turns are more equal in length. That would really depend on how cooperative the group is and how share-y the minion master is, though.

#28

sifwolfart1
sifwolfart1.jpg800x800 259 KB

Another more extreme route could be to let another player BE the animal companion of someone.

treated as another player with 6 stat points, milestones, etc.

The wolf from dark souls comes to mind.

Could still benefit from loot with weapon in mouth and other loot could be reskinned as collars, headdresses, etc.

Maybe even a satchel to bring consumable items to other players like a potion.

Could choose to even have the animal not speak and instead relay their feelings through body language or their humanoid companion could have a telepathic link.

#29

Not really a companion any more than any other player would be.

Fun for a while, but not long term.