We all know that use and abuse of action economy can spell life or death for PCs, expecially if mosters can get more out of an action than PCs. This is the reason that
mages are so much more powerful than warrirors, but it is also one reason (of many) that druids are so powerful from even level 1. Druids literally get twice as many actions as everyone else. Half of those actions are as good or better than any level 1 fighter, and the other half are druid spells and medium BAB-inspired combat.
Which brings me to my point: having minions is
awesome. An unfortunate side effect of having a level-appropriate minion, though, is that they grant you twice as many level-appropriate actions per round. And you can't have level-inappropriate minions or--below a certain point--you may as well not have them at all
What are some ways that minions become viable but balanced?I can only think of a few I've seen:
-The master is not capable of doing much on his own (the direction of most necromancers)
-the caster must invest actions for his minions to do things (this is either direct control--action per action--or investing partial actions into minions' whole actions, like a move action from the master)
-the minion cannot take full actions
-the minion can take level-appropriate beatings, but not dish them out
-the minion fully expendable and easily, quickly replaceable (and usually not level-appropriate as a result but by sheer volume)
What are ways that minions are worked into various game systems effectively in your experience?
EDIT: Maybe Druid-animal companion is a bad example.
Okay, think shaper psion and his astral construct. Is that relationship fairly balanced? Why or why not? Is that something to strive for? Is it too much or not enough?