Appendix B_ Minions, Swarms, and Giants - The Homebrewery

Appendix B: Minions, Swarms, and Giants Minions Minions are creatures made to be run in large numbers. They require little bookkeeping or dice rolling and die easily, but can still pose a significant threat to adventuring parties. They are meant to be used at levels where killing a creature of that type with a single blow feels appropriate to the narrative context. These rules are based on those in MCDM's Flee, Mortals!, which you can find in greater detail here. Minion Trait. A creature with the minion trait drops to 0 hit points if it takes any damage from an attack or as the result of a failed saving throw. If a minion takes damage from any other source, it is killed if the damage exceeds its maximum hit points, and takes no damage otherwise. Minion Initiative. Minions of the same type take their turns together on a shared initiative. Group Attacks. Up to five minions that share a turn may each contribute their actions to a Group Attack against the same target, making a single attack roll and adding +1 for each minion contributing to the attack beyond the first. On a hit, the group attack's damage is multiplied by the number of attackers contributing to it. Damage. Minion attacks deal flat damage, rather than rolling, and deal no additional damage on a critical hit. Overkill Attacks. Powerful attacks can sometimes kill more than one minion with a single blow. A melee attack that deals more damage than a minion target's maximum hit points may apply the damage in excess of that minion's hit points to another minion with the same stat block within the attack's reach. If this damage is still in excess of the second minion's maximum hit points, the attacker may apply the remaining damage to another, and so on. Ranged attacks work the same, except that each additional target must be behind the previous target in a line extending from the attacker. Challenge Ratings and XP. Five minions are meant to count as a single regular enemy of the same nominal CR for the purposes of balancing combat. Minion CR Hit Points Damage 1/2 7-8 1 1 9-10 2 2 11-12 3 3 13-14 4 4 15-16 5 5 17-18 6 6 19-20 7 7 21-22 8 8 23-24 9 9 25-26 10 10 27-28 11 11 29-30 12 12 31-32 13 13 33-34 14 Swarms Swarms are large groups of densely crowded creatures that behave as a single entity in combat. Swarm Movement. Swarms can move through and occupy the spaces of other creatures without impediment, and can move through any space small enough for a single member of the swarm without squeezing. Swarm Attacks. Attacks of swarms usually target only creatures in the swarm's space, and degrade as the swarm loses hit points, representing fewer members of the swarm remaining to make the attack. Damage Resistances. Swarms resist damage from attacks of all kinds, representing the greater effectiveness of effects that target an area against groups, as opposed to those that target an individual member of the group. Forced Movement and Swarms. Swarms can be pushed, pulled, or otherwise forced to move by any mundane effect that could affect a member of that swarm, or by any magical effect that could affect more than one member of that swarm. Giants and Resistance to Attacks Made Without Advantage Creatures that are size Huge or larger often have resistance or even immunity to attacks made without advantage, representing the difficulty that human-scale creatures have in striking their vital points without concerted effort and teamwork to create openings to do so. Climbing on Creatures. A creature may spend half its movement to attempt to climb onto any creature within 5 feet that is at least two size categories larger than it, making a Strength (Athletics) check and becoming Attached to the target on a success. If not otherwise specified, the DC for this check is equal to the target's Passive Athletics. Gaining Advantage. It is expected that players will find ways to gain advantage against creatures with these damage resistances, rather than simply having all of their attacks resisted. Often their stat blocks will specify one or more ways to gain advantage against them, but DMs and players are encouraged to improvise more. When using these enemies, it is recommended that DMs be generous when granting advantage, particularly for player actions that use the environment or teamwork. Attacks from Inside. Attacks made from inside a creature typically bypass this damage resistance or immunity. Battles Between Giants. At DM discretion, creatures that are within one size category of the target they are attacking (typically other monsters or magically enlarged PCs) may ignore this damage resistance or immunity, as it is meant to represent interactions with ordinary PC-sized creatures.