Inspired by the many commercials, books and toys my little Peach shows me every time she sees them. This is a way to have a funny referential servant creature in your games that will be a shared joke but still be functional and fitting to either a castle or dungeon setting.
Minion *
Minions were thought to be a golem-like creature from another dimension (sometimes called Deesneey) brought to the mortal plane a long time ago as a type of servant. When they have strong leaders from the summoning group and are treated well - they serve extraordinarily efficiently, otherwise they just return to their home plane.
Unlike many other creatures Minions don't really evolve as a group, they exist to follow simple directions and then be left alone to complete their task. However just because the creature doesn't evolve individuals do change, adapting to service a need when it is recognized. They learn special features (listed below) to better survive in their location, in fact there are few creatures better or quicker at adaption.
They appear as small sized yellow skinned humanoids with small legs and arms. They are in fact a solid blob form, meaning they have no blood or true shape and are immune to bleeding effects. Minions live to a set age, then dissipate. Different tribes have different top-ages but most are between 50-75 years. They often wear a basic uniform of their team or unit with little variation. Most times Minion teams are brought together to perform a service such as maintaining a prison or bridge. They take jobs that are most in need and learn the function. As long as they are treated well, have companionship with their own kin and have enough to eat - they continue to serve. They form extremely tight-knit communities in remote areas, servicing their own needs without interacting with others. Many times Minions are found in remote locations, they are maintaining a site that has long been forgotten about, by long dead masters but their basic orders are still being followed.
The standard routine is when they are summoned between 1-6 Minions come into the mortal plane by the first level Summon Minion Spell. If conditions enable, within a week, they summon another 1-4 Minions themselves. The process continues repeatedly until there is enough Minions to service their functions, they are at capacity for their food or space supply, they are either mistreated, suffer loses from the environment or other threats. Barring these negative conditions, Minions continue to summon their own kind until at capacity or there are 100 Minions, they then stop and maintain for a year. After the year point, their top capacity increases by 50% every year, barring no other problems. Minions who are mistreated or starved, just vanish and this usually leads to the entire Minion team leaving service.
As a general rule, Minions fit in and conform to the processes around them. They are not cruel but they seem to ignore these actions if they are not done to their own kind. Many evil masters have tried to summon these simple servants to take care of the non-military aspects of running an empire but the overwhelming majority of times they fail well before the year point, and lose all of the summoned minions.
Minion CR 1
N (tend to LN)
Humanoid (Mountains & Desert)
Init +2
Senses- Darkvision 30 ft.
DEFENSE
AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 10
hp 3 (1d8-1)
Fort +1, Ref +1, Will -1
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee: Bow -1 (1d6), Flail or Mace -2 (1d6)
STATISTICS
Str 7 Dex 12 Con 8 Int 8 Wis 9 Cha 8
Attack -2; CMB -2; CMD 9
Feat: Share Skill Knowledge
Base Skills: Climb, Disable Device, Any 1 Knowledge (Nature, Magic, Plane, Engineering), Perception, Use Magic Device +2
Typical Feat Choices: Agile Maneuvers, Alertness, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Point-Blank Shot, Weapon Finesse
Languages: Minion-kin and pick one of Goblin, Dwarven or Common
NEW FEAT
Share Skill Knowledge: If able to spend three uninterrupted hours watching another minions perform a specific skill action, they gain +3 to their skill level. Minions can only benefit from this once a month - if they go through the watching ritual again, they lose the bonus and do not re-gain it to a new skill. If they do not go through the performance ritual every month, they lose the skill bonus.
LISTED FEATURES:
1 HD: Limited Telepathy, Co-Operate, Share health, Small Size
2 HD: Gain 1 advanced Feature; +4 skill points; Gain Feat, Summon Other Minion
3 HD: Gain +3 attribute points; +4 skill points; Immune to Alignment affecting spells or effects
4 HD: Gain +3 attribute points; Gain 2 advanced Features; +4 skill points; Gain Feat
5 HD: Immune to Charm Spells; +4 skill points, Minion Telepathy (50 ft)
6 HD: Gain +3 attribute points; +4 skill points; Gain Feat
7 HD: Gain +3 attribute points; Gain 3 advanced Features; +4 skill points
8 HD Immune to Illusion Spells; +4 skill points; Gain Feat, Minion Telepathy, Greater (500 ft)
9 HD Grow to Medium Size; Gain +6 attribute points (no more than 2 in any specific ability score); +10 skill points; Gain 4 advanced features
+1 HD Gain level in character class (Bard, Monk, Psion, Ranger, Rogue & Fighter are preferred classes)
Minions do not need to advance up this listed level chart. They can gain non-Minion levels at any time, however, if they ever gain non-Minion HD they are unable to further advance in these natural class levels again.
BASIC FEATURES:
1st Level: Limited Telepathy: Minions have a basic empathy with each other, picking up on the raw emotions of other minions within 100 ft.
1st Level: Share health: Minions can share their hit points through touch. They do this to minimize injuries. They can do this to non-Minions but only if the Minions know and trust them.
1st Level: Co-Operate: Gain +1 to a skill check for every five additional Minions that have the same skill ranking. Twenty-Four Minions with +7 in crafting for example would gain +7, then another three +1, so in total +10 to the skill check.
2nd Level: Advanced Feature. Roll below on the advanced feature listing to determine their learned ability. (20% of tribes share the same features)
5th level: Minion Telepathy: Minions at this level gain full telepathy with all other Minions within 50 ft radius. as long as one minion with this ability is in the radius, all other Minions share the same mental-link
2nd level: Summon Other Minion: As communal creatures, Minions do not feel comfortable alone. As long as they have the basics needs, a Minion is able to summon others of his kind. They are fine in a community of between 6-10 Minions. Once they are at this point, they do not summon more of their own kind unless it is needed to perform basic functions to their specific location.
3rd Level: Immune to Alignment Affecting Spells: Gain +5 to avoid alignment affecting spells if alone, and another +1 for every three additional minions in a 50 ft radius,
5th Level: Immune to Charm: Immunity to charm person spell. They gain +5 on charm related spell saving throws. For every three additional minions in a 100 ft radius, they gain another +1 on saving throws related to charms spells
8th Level: Immune to Illusions: Gain +5 on illusion spell saving throws. For every five other minions in a 300 ft radius, they another +1 on saving throws related to Illusions
Advanced Features (Roll d100)
1 Choose any Feature from Number 90 or lower
2 Gain +2 on any Ability Score
3 Gain +2 on any Saving Throw
4 Ability Damage and Drain (Ex or Su)
5 All-Around Vision (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
5-6 Amorphous (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
7-8 Amphibious (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
9-10 Attach (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name plus +4 to maintain Grapple
11-12 Blindsense (Ex)
Blindsense at 30 ft.
13-14 Blindsight (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
15-16 Burrow (Ex)
Gain Burrow movement at 20 ft
17-18 Climb
Gain +15 to their climb skill
19-20 Compression (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
21-22 Stench (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
23-24 Curse (Su)
Victims must make a D12+ D-Minions Charisma Score Bonus or suffer a -3 to physical skill checks for 48 hours
25-26 Disease (Ex or Su)
Disease - Itching (Ex) Scratch—injury; save Fort DC 15, onset 1d2 hours, effect 3 Con damage, cure 2 consecutive saves
27-28 Distraction (Ex)
Distraction (DC 15) or nauseated for 1-2 rounds
29-30 Earth Glide (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name, can use the ability 3 times / day
31-32 Sound Mimicry (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
33-34 Fear (Su or Sp)
As Fear Ray, Will save (DC 12 + racial HD + creature's Cha modifier) 3/day
35-36 Ferocity (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
37-38 Flight (Ex or Su)
Can sprout wings twice a day @ 30 ft. (average)
39-40 Fortification (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
41-42 Freeze (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
43-44 Frightful Presence (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
47-48 Greensight (Su)
Same as Trait of same name
49-50 Heat (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
51-52 Hold Breath (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
53-54 Immunity (Ex or Su)
Immune to one type: acid, charm, cold, fire, illusion, paralysis (roll d6)
55-56 Incorporeal (Ex)
Can become incorporeal for up to five rounds - twice a day
57-58 Keen Scent (Ex)
Gain the scent ability
59-60 Lifesense (Su)
Same as Trait of same name
61-62 Low-Light Vision (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
63-64 Natural Attacks
Gain a natural claw attack (1d6) as a natural attack
65-66 No Breath (Ex)
They gain breath through their skin at will
67-68 Paralysis (Ex or Su)
Touch effect 3/ day, Will save (DC 12 + racial HD + creature's Cha modifier)
69-70 Plant Traits (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
71-72 Poison (Ex or Su)
Contact Poison (Fort DC 15 - onset 1d2 hours, effect 3 Con damage, cure 2 consecutive saves)
73-74 Pounce (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
75-76 Resistance (Ex) Roll: 10 resistance in one of 1-2 Air, 3-4 Earth, 5-6 Electrical, 7-8 Fire or 9-10 Water
77-78 See in Darkness (Su)
Same as Trait of same name
79-80 Spell Resistance (Ex)
Gain SR 15
81-82 Telepathy (Su)
Gain Telpathy 100 ft, Unlike the creatures base version of this affect, can work with non Minion creatures
83-84 Summon (Sp)
Able to summon a specific local small creature 3 times a day.
85-86 Tremorsense (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
87-88 Web (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
89-90 Water Breathing (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
91-92 Unnatural Aura (Su)
Same as Trait of same name
93 Breath Weapon (Su)
Choose (Fire, Cold, Electricity, Stone) DC 15, 3d6 dmg; 3 / day
94 Change Shape (Su)
Change into one creature same as spell effect of same name 2/day
95 Damage Reduction (Su)
Gain +10 Dmg Reduction
96 Construct Traits (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
97 Regeneration (Ex)
Regenerate 2 hp / rnd
98 Summon
Summon Monster Level 4 - Able to cast 2/day
99 Burn (Ex)
Same as Trait of same name
100 Greater Flight
Sprout wings at will. Speed 50 ft. (average)
* This idea is borrowed from a very popular movie franchise - no copyright infringement is intended*