I’ve been DMing a small group of new players. They’ve been literally “hit or miss” with combat. I know at least one is getting frustrated with combat because he can’t roll to save his life. I’m planning on throwing a swarm of small creatures at them next session. goblins, spiders, whatever. just small easily killed, easily hit creatures. Thing is I don’t want to do ‘initiative’ per se as I’m considering having a ton of these things. Anyone have any pointers?
You could put them all on the same turn in initiative order give them 1hp. AFAIU this is basically what 4th edition minions were.
This stack exchange question sort of describes 4e minions.
A slightly better variant on 1hp is giving them regular HP but they die when taking any damage, that way sleep doesn’t knock out like 20 dudes.
Also save spells deal no damage on a success.
The 4e minion with this exact adjustment you describe is precisely how our our table handles it.
My players love it when I throw swarms at them - an epic pile of miniatures on the table, carving a swathe through your enemies… it’s great power fantasy stuff, and a nice way of emphasising how powerful leveled characters are.