D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Command Undead mind games

So, I have a PC necromancer, who's got three Ogre Zombies following him around, two of which he controls through the original animate dead he cast on them, and one through command undead.

Now, as fortune would have it, the group is going to encounter another Necromancer in the near future, and I'm wondering what would happen to those zombies (as mindless undead) if another command undead were cast on them...

I could see two ways as the GM to resolve it: firstly, the zombies could be affected by whichever necromancer last casts command undead on them. Thus the BBEG's spell will override the PC's spell, and the zombie will view the BBEG favorably (for the one that already has a command undead spell in place on it).

Though how would this work for those that are commanded by animate dead? A will save by the zombie would automatically fail; should I make it an opposed caster level check between the two necromancers to see who's control wins out? The other option is to have an opposed caster level check for mindless undead controlled by either method.

Or, both spells could be effective, and the zombie would view both casters as friendly, and respect orders from either, and not attack either. Then the zombie would likely turn into a ping-pong ball as it gets told to attack another PC by the BBEG, then told to stop by the PC Necromancer, then told to attack again by the BBEG, etc...

And, to make matters more complicated, the PC necromancer is traveling with an evil cleric, who could (if the BBEG command undeads one of his ally's zombies) rebuke that zombie. I'm guessing rebuking would override all other forms of control (since command undead only allows making 'suggestions' to the undead that are viewed favorably; it doesn't give them the morale to overcome being awed by the rebuker).

Any suggestions on how to deal with commanding undead that are already commanded?
 
Last edited:

log in or register to remove this ad

First thought is an opposed CHA check to see which command undead is obeyed. Vaguely follows the Charm Person and Command Undead forcing someone to do what they normally wouldn't. I'm sure this is mentioned somewhere, but I would not know where to look (it is not in the CU or CP spell descriptions).

As for the rebuking: friendly cleric can try bolstering the undead (PHB159) or the rebuking can be to negate the foe's attempt. But i agree the rebuking/turning overrides a Command Undead.

Just note that the one commanding the undead must be heard by the undead, so the closer the undead are to your foe using Command Undead the harder it would be for you to be heard. This also makes Silence a good follow up spell (especially if cast on the zombies themselves).
 

First thought is an opposed CHA check to see which command undead is obeyed.
Caster vs. Caster, or Caster vs. Controlled? The charm monster spell has the CHA check for if the controlled critter can throw off the control, but since a Zombie is specifically mindless, it probably wouldn't even try to throw off control, so a Caster vs. Controlled CHA check it would probably always fail. But does a Caster vs. Caster CHA check make sense? I guess it's a sort of opposed Diplomacy situation, to see who can be the most convincing to the mindless creature.

I'm reminded of a Futurama episode with two people trying to convince a monkey to come their way rather than the other...
 
Last edited:

Caster vs. Caster, or Caster vs. Controlled? The charm monster spell has the CHA check for if the controlled critter can throw off the control, but since a Zombie is specifically mindless, it probably wouldn't even try to throw off control, so a Caster vs. Controlled CHA check it would probably always fail. But does a Caster vs. Caster CHA check make sense? I guess it's a sort of opposed Diplomacy situation, to see who can be the most convincing to the mindless creature.

Caster v caster would be the way I'd go: greater mental control/force of personality wins to command the undead. Yes, similar to opposed diplomacy.

BTW, at the risk of giving the DM ideas, the two of you should have a chat about these things, so there are no surprises at the table that take a 30 min rules argument just to have the DM make an of the cuff call.
 


Remove ads

Top