Why do so few good guys have minions?
Sending cannon fodder out to die for no reason is pretty evil, dude.
>>44106901
>>44106882
needs of the many
but yeah, Kirk is pretty Chaotic neutral at best
American Individualism.
>>44106901
Evil, but sometimes necessary, you probably could consider it a neutral act if you let them volunteer and told them it was a suicide mission ahead of time.
>>44106901
They don't have to be expendable. What about a team of researchers or something developing a vaccine to the bbegs super plague? It's always one super genius working alone for the good guys while the villian has a state of the art lab filled with guys.
>>44106939
That's not what a minion is.
>>44106882
Because it's more heroic to be vastly outnumbered, the scrappy underdogs, the lone crusaders.
You only have your friends to help you, and your cat.
>>44106953
thank you immunity cat
>>44106918
Tying in to the expectation that heroism is achieved by a persons actions, and he has not performed a heroic act if he hasn't done it himself.
>>44106953
>not being a charismatic hero
>not being a tactical genius and strategic mastermind
>not rally a large of army of decent people to beat back the hordes of evil in glorious battle
>>44109875
Fair enough, as long as you are still vastly outnumbered
>>44109968
I said large army.
>>44109875
I read this in his voice.
>>44110022
And I said vastly outnumbered.
What's your point, exactly?
The traditional view of a hero is the hero getting shit done himself, not sending other fuckers to do it. When that happens, those other fuckers become the heroes.
>>44110087
you were implying that the hero and their army have to be outnumbered
>>44110124
If you want it to be heroic, then yes.
Though, to be fair, it's also heroic to lead an army against a foe that vastly outguns you, like taking on a great Dragon or some giants.
But come on, you can't have the forces of good and evil be /evenly matched/. It's not a barbarian horde if it's just as large as your army.
>>44106882
It's a sign of our times. We can only count on ourselves and maybe our closest friends and family. Anyone with enough power to have a lot of individuals that they can control is generally seen as "evil" or under the control of "evil" by those outside that organization.
We do not have heroic generals anymore and we have precious few philanthropic community leaders that get the attention that they deserve.
Art imitates life and life imitates art.
>>44110184
the evil army can be smaller but made up of more powerful forces
>>44106918
Doesn´t really have anything to do with America.
Hercules had no minions either, neither had a lot of other ancient heroes
>>44110099
That just means the hero has to lead from the front.
>>44106882
The good guys call them "assistants".
>>44106882
Thats what I'm trying to do in our campaign
First I need to finish building our fort and getting farms or some shit started for I don't have to worry about the logistics of paying and feeding these bums
>>44106882
>>44106901
It's a matter of drama, especially setting up the big boss fight at the climax.
The good guy needs to have the spotlight for as much time as possible. So few minions because if someone's going to do something heroic, it might as well be the character people can already relate to.
The good guy also needs minor victories on the way to eliminating the big bad guy. These could be man-vs-environment, but why not have it be man-vs-man? In which case, it can't be the BBEG who keeps getting beaten, because if so then it diminishes the perceived peril of the big confrontation at the climax.
Plus, giving the BBEG an endless supply of minions increases his perceived danger and power without increasing his personal abilities.
>>44106945
Umm... yes that is exactly what a minion is. Minion: someone who is not powerful or important and who obeys the orders of a powerful leader or boss. As per Merrium-Webster.
A team of researchers in the employ or direct control.command of the hero. Pursuing his goals. In this case research and lab work. and operating under his direction or employ.
Is LoGH a good example of protagonists using minions? One rules as an enlightened autocrat and the other treats himself as equal to everyone else and anguishes over all the lives he has to throw away every battle.
>>44106882
Some do.
There was that dude who organized a bunch of malnourished tribal people into actively resisting the ethnic cleansing attempts of the neighboring and more advanced kingdom.
The dude was smart and taught them how to make iron and steel and tame a blasted volcanic hellscape into something they could live on if not actually thrive.
He built a great tower as a symbol of unity and great thing accomplished when working together. He even offered allegiance and vassalisation rather than a campaign of counter genocide that many on his side were demanding.
Then a couple of hairy pygmies assassinated him.
>>44106882
good guys don't have minions they have friends. who they recklessly endanger out of shortsightedness and folly rather than intentionally endanger out of careful consideration.
>>44115796
I see you've read The Last Ringbearer. Good show.
>>44114439
If they are doing good and thwarting evil does that not make them important and valuable and therefore not minions?
