porthos
Community Supporter
Here are the two bits of information that are tweaking my mind.
1. I'm running a "Mysteries of the Moonsea" campaign.
[POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD]
In it, a 6th level Cleric is supposed to be commanding four wights ("Trouble In Pain" section with Jonah Strake, pgs 26-29). Wights are 4HD creatures. He has not created these wights himself, mind you, so we're dealing with the Cleric "Command Undead" ability, not Animate Dead or Create Undead spells.
2. Regarding commanding undead (pg. 159), the PHB says:
"At any one time, the cleric may command any number of undead whose total Hit Dice do not exceed his level."
Whose total hit dice? Of each individual undead, with no one undead having more than 6HD? Or is it the total number of hit dice for all the undead he is seeking to control?
Can a 6th level Cleric control a TOTAL of 6HD worth of undead, like six 1HD skeletons? Or can a 6th level Cleric control an infinite number of, say, 2HD zombies?
I would lean towards the first option, especially considering the next part of the description:
"He may voluntarily relinquish command on any commanded undead creature or creatures in order to command new ones."
Makes sense if you have a limited number of total hit dice you can control that you might need to swap them out from time to time.
But the the Moonsea scenario makes me think otherwise b/c there's no way the Cleric (even though he's in a desecrated temple) could "Command" all 16HD worth of wights based on that interpretation of the PHB rules.
So what's the right answer? Obviously the PHB rules are the higher authority, but is the Moonsea text providing context to better understand the PHB rule?
I apologize if this has been addressed before. I searched the forums, but didn't find anything.
1. I'm running a "Mysteries of the Moonsea" campaign.
[POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD]
In it, a 6th level Cleric is supposed to be commanding four wights ("Trouble In Pain" section with Jonah Strake, pgs 26-29). Wights are 4HD creatures. He has not created these wights himself, mind you, so we're dealing with the Cleric "Command Undead" ability, not Animate Dead or Create Undead spells.
2. Regarding commanding undead (pg. 159), the PHB says:
"At any one time, the cleric may command any number of undead whose total Hit Dice do not exceed his level."
Whose total hit dice? Of each individual undead, with no one undead having more than 6HD? Or is it the total number of hit dice for all the undead he is seeking to control?
Can a 6th level Cleric control a TOTAL of 6HD worth of undead, like six 1HD skeletons? Or can a 6th level Cleric control an infinite number of, say, 2HD zombies?
I would lean towards the first option, especially considering the next part of the description:
"He may voluntarily relinquish command on any commanded undead creature or creatures in order to command new ones."
Makes sense if you have a limited number of total hit dice you can control that you might need to swap them out from time to time.
But the the Moonsea scenario makes me think otherwise b/c there's no way the Cleric (even though he's in a desecrated temple) could "Command" all 16HD worth of wights based on that interpretation of the PHB rules.
So what's the right answer? Obviously the PHB rules are the higher authority, but is the Moonsea text providing context to better understand the PHB rule?
I apologize if this has been addressed before. I searched the forums, but didn't find anything.