Command Undead vs. Turning

[Lizard]

This came up in a recent game and resulted in a lot of rules lawyering.

Wight is a willing servant (for plot reasons) of a necromancer/sorceress.

Cleric (PC) turns wight.
Before wight can wun...er...run...sorceress casts 'Command Undead', saying "Stay and fight!"

Which wins?

Does the sorceress need to make a charisma check each round the turning effect is active (10 rounds)?

Does the command undead vanish if the undead runs out of the initial spell range, or does that only apply to the casting range?

 

[frankthedm]

Turn wins. The wight will obey the sorceress, but it is too busy running away for the duration of the turn.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Agreed with Frank.

Does the command undead vanish if the undead runs out of the initial spell range, or does that only apply to the casting range?

That only applies to the casting range. Though there is an argument that would restrict the effect within that range for the duration of the spell, I don't believe that argument is valid.

 

[Christian]

A better choice for the evil cleric would have been to bolster the wight before the PC cleric had a chance to turn it--that's what that option is there for ...

 

[Lizard]

A better choice for the evil cleric would have been to bolster the wight before the PC cleric had a chance to turn it--that's what that option is there for ...

Which would work if she had had any cleric levels.

 

[Darklone]

Typical D&D case: the best necromancer is the evil cleric.

 

[Lifesupport]

Turn trumps everything

A better choice for the evil cleric would have been to bolster the wight before the PC cleric had a chance to turn it--that's what that option is there for ...

I would have thought that Turn Undead would pretty much trump anything. It is an inherent strength of the cleric and a corresponding weakness of the Undead.

The Command Undead just gives you the ability to tell the undead what to do, somewhat like a suggestion.

Suggest Undead does not really have the same ring as Command Undead.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ironically, if the PC was a very strong evil cleric and gained control over the undead, the spell would give the sorceress back control over it, whilst a lesser cleric that only managed to get the undead to cower in awe would be fine (she'd control it, but it wouldn't be able to fight). Do I have that right? It's just funny if correct, the better turn option is worse in that case.

 

[ElectricDragon]

But the sorceress would still lose (suggestive) control after the spell expired, when control would revert back to the evil cleric.

Another question: Would the wight count against the evil cleric's number of undead commanded while under the suggestive control of the sorceress?

Ciao
Dave

 

[Lizard]

Typical D&D case: the best necromancer is the evil cleric.

Shrug. Didn't fit into the storyline I was building. For plot reasons, the villainess involved needed to have been able to gain powers without any apparent formal training, and that just spells 'sorceror' to me. Doesn't really matter now, that session is over, but just in case it arises again...