Alternative Turning Rules

[Old_school_overlord]

I don't really like the standard turning rules, and have heard alot of people use a damage dealing variant instead - I haven't seen any specifics on this though, so heres what I've cobbled together;

30 ft cone
1d6 Damage per Cleric level (or Paladin level -2)
Will Half: DC = 10 + 1/2 Cleric Level + Cha Modifier

Turn Resistance provides a bonus to the save and an Evasion stlye
no damage instead of half.

Does this seem reasonable? I'm concerned damage is a bit high and renders mass undead useless even at low levels.

So far the first encounter with undead was a spectre which fairly quickly got zapped by the paladin & cleric

 

[Shin Okada]

I don't really like the standard turning rules, and have heard alot of people use a damage dealing variant instead - I haven't seen any specifics on this though,

Complete Divine has the alternative rule for turning undead and people are talking about it. I am afraid of that describing entire rule (though very simple) here is inappropriate as that is not a part of open license product. That is a good book and I recommend to get a copy of it.

 

[evilbob]

As I've posted before: I blather on a lot about what I do in this thread. Skip to the end for best results.

Complete Divine/other books introduce a damage mechanic, which is the basis for my post above. It's not the best, but it's a start.

 

[Maleketh]

I use the rule variant suggested in the Rules Compendium: rather than fleeing, a turned undead creature suffers a -4 penalty on attack rolls, saves, skill checks, and ability checks for 10 rounds. The DM doesn't have to worry about his cool undead encounter being blown by a good turn check, and the party doesn't have to worry about hunting down that last skeleton that ran off.

Incidentally, this rule was also suggested for other effects that cause creatures to flee - if a PC is affected by fear, for example, his player doesn't have to sit around doing nothing while his character takes off.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

I don't really like the standard turning rules, and have heard alot of people use a damage dealing variant instead - I haven't seen any specifics on this though, so here's what I've cobbled together;

30 ft cone
1d6 Damage per Cleric level (or Paladin level -2)
Will Half: DC = 10 + 1/2 Cleric Level + Cha Modifier

Turn Resistance provides a bonus to the save and an Evasion stlye
no damage instead of half.

Does this seem reasonable? I'm concerned damage is a bit high and renders mass undead useless even at low levels.

So far the first encounter with undead was a spectre which fairly quickly got zapped by the paladin & cleric

This is fairly close to what the Complete Divine describes. I too recommend getting the book, as I love this rule (although I'd go with pdf if you're planning on switching to 4e). Some players like the "turn = flee/cower" idea, so included a simple save-based turn variant in my Tome of House Rules and Variants.

 

[Abraxas]

This is what I use

Turning undead is a standard action that deals 1d6 damage/cleric level to all undead within 30’ of the cleric. Will save DC 10 + (1/2 Cleric level + Charisma modifier) for half damage.

Undead with turn resistance gain a bonus to the save equal to their turn resistance and reduce number of dice that the cleric would normally roll. For example, when turning a vampire with turn resistance 4 the cleric rolls 4d6 fewer dice of damage and the vampire gains a +4 to save.

When used against incorporeal creatures there is no 50% miss chance.