[M&M 3rd Ed] Minions & Afflictions

[JeenLeen]

From my understanding of how mooks/henchmen/minions work, one of the ideas is that, when a minion is hit, you don't have to roll a die. Instead of rolling Toughness or a save, assume they suffer a level 4 failure (so for Toughness KO, and for most Afflictions, something that is as good as KO.)

First, is this true?

Second, assuming the above is true, it seems to me that any Affliction auto-KOs (essentially) a minion. Afflictions innately have some range to them (right?) and don't require a to-hit roll. Therefore, you automatically hit the minion and the minion automatically suffers a level 4 failure.
Is that correct?

I know M&M is easily broken and part of playing it is not making broken powers or using broken combos. The above came up due to my PL 12 guy having a rank 1 mind control power, mainly to help interrogate prisoners. The DM ruled that the minion still rolls to see if he fails the save. If he fails enough to be controlled or compelled, he is; but if he just gets a level 1 failure (normally fascinated), he instead falls down unconscious, because he's a minion. But he can save and not suffer any ill.

I accept that as a houserule, but I'm wondering much it is a houserule. Do minions auto-fail Afflictions? Does having a Will or Fort save mean anything for a minion?

[Grod_The_Giant]

If a minion fails a resistance check, the minion suffers the worst degree of the effect. So a minion failing a Damage resistance check, for example, is incapacitated, regardless of the degree of failure.
(Emphasis added). The minion still gets a Toughness check, a will save, and so on. Mind you, you can (and often do) run across situations where it is literally impossible for a minion to roll well enough not to get at least one degree of failure, but, well... that's what happens when you throw weak minions at a party. That's what they're for.

As for your GM's ruling... he was right about them getting a save, but he was rule 0'ing the "one degree of failure and he's KO'd" thing. The "right" way of handling an event like that, when Plot would be damaged if the minion talked, would be to hand over a hero point and say "the dude resists so hard he passes out."

[The_Snark]

From my understanding of how mooks/henchmen/minions work, one of the ideas is that, when a minion is hit, you don't have to roll a die. Instead of rolling Toughness or a save, assume they suffer a level 4 failure (so for Toughness KO, and for most Afflictions, something that is as good as KO.)

First, is this true?

Almost. If a minion fails a resistance check, they suffer the worst degree of the effect - but they do get to make that resistance check. (Which actually means damage effects tend to be most effective against minions, since they have a higher DC.)


Second, assuming the above is true, it seems to me that any Affliction auto-KOs (essentially) a minion. Afflictions innately have some range to them (right?) and don't require a to-hit roll. Therefore, you automatically hit the minion and the minion automatically suffers a level 4 failure.
Is that correct?
No. Afflictions are touch range by default, meaning they do not have range and require an attack roll to hit. If you want to give them range you have to pay extra; if you want to give them range and the ability to hit without a roll, that'll cost even more. The traditional perception-ranged Mind Control power is quite expensive.