How to spotlight minions vs a Solo in Daggerheart

Minions are supposed to drop. A Solo is supposed to take the scene. I used to spotlight them the same way, one swing each, and the minions felt like tiny bosses, and the Solo felt like a slow Standard. The Fear pile hated me for it.

Minions die on the hit, and then some

A Minion has 1 HP and no damage thresholds. Any damage defeats it. The Minion (X) feature means that for every X damage in that hit, another Minion in range the attack would have hit also drops. They are easy to dispatch and dangerous in numbers. Battle Points treat a group equal to the party as 1 point.

When you spotlight minions, spotlight the group as a problem, not each body as a turn. One GM move can be the cluster stepping Close and cutting. Extra adversaries still cost extra Fear, so do not empty the bowl to make six nameless watch officers each take a swing.

They hit the landing. Three warehouse hands with clubs. Someone rolls a messy attack and drops two because the damage crossed X. That is the feature working. Do not rescue the second hand with a speech.

A Solo takes the scene, and maybe more than once

A Solo is built to stand against the whole party. They cost 5 Battle Points. Many of them are Relentless, which means you can spotlight them more than once on your turn, and you still spend Fear as usual each time. A major scene with a Solo or Leader is the 4 to 8 Fear band, not the 0 to 1 band.

When you spotlight a Solo, they do one thing: move Close and attack, or use an action, or clear a condition, or sprint, or whatever the fiction demands. Then the spotlight can come back to the PCs, unless Relentless says you get another bite, and you pay for it.

Do not surround them with minions you then run like extra Solos. If you add bodies, pay the Fear, and let the minions die fast so the Solo can be the problem.

Golden opportunity is not a second Solo

If they ignore the hands to swing at the officer on the gangplank, that is a golden opportunity. You can spotlight a minion for cheap fiction, or you can spend Fear to interrupt. You do not owe every body a full stat-block turn.

What I would print tonight

For the first fight, write Minion group or Solo at the top of the card, and the Fear you are willing to spend. If it is minions, remind yourself they drop on any damage. If it is a Solo, remind yourself they can be Relentless, and the rest of the landing is scenery until you pay for it.