Destruction Of The Undead


log in or register to remove this ad

LiquidSabre, the source for this variant is Complete Divine, not UA.

Strahd, not every variant is useful for every playstyle. That's why variants exist. If you get your gaming jollies by playing evil characters who command/rebuke undead, then yeah, this ain't for you. I have no problem with that. In our games we play the heroes, so this is a nice variant for us. As both a DM and a player, I could care less that this system eliminates command/rebuke undead. A villainous cleric who can easily heal his undead minions, however, is a great threat for a group of heroic adventurers.
 

Both options here are good ideas. Since I perfer characters to make attack rolls I would make it a "Turning attack" at 1/2 cleric level + CHR modifier + misc. and give each undead "Turning Class" (something like 11 + HD + WIS mod (CHR Mod) + turn resistance. In any case I believe I will try some variation of what is listed here.
 

bladesong said:
Both options here are good ideas. Since I perfer characters to make attack rolls I would make it a "Turning attack" at 1/2 cleric level + CHR modifier + misc. and give each undead "Turning Class" (something like 11 + HD + WIS mod (CHR Mod) + turn resistance. In any case I believe I will try some variation of what is listed here.

Let us know how they work out!
 

Our group had a brief discussion on this topic during our last session. It will probably be a few weeks before we actually try it, however. One thought was that it be a cone effect in the direction that the cleric presents his holy symbol rather than a burst. There will be details posted here when we actually try something.
 

I looked at this variant for my game until I remembered that the Shaman (Green Ronin's Shaman's Handbook) uses Rebuke Spirits to control spirits. It looks like a nice variant if it it weren't for that little detail, then I would have gone for the turning does damage style of play.
 

Unfortunately, adopting this completely overshadows and nullifies the Hunter of the Dead's major ability - which is only a 20' burst now in 3.5. If you don't have a HotD in your game, of course, that hardly matters.
 

Good point Piratecat. I hadn't realized they nerfed down the HotD ability. So, if you want to use this variant, and you the HotD, you should expand the HotD range. Back out to the 100' it was in 3.0? Or is that too big a radius?
 

Piratecat said:
Unfortunately, adopting this completely overshadows and nullifies the Hunter of the Dead's major ability - which is only a 20' burst now in 3.5. If you don't have a HotD in your game, of course, that hardly matters.
True. If anyone in my campaign ever made noise about wanting to play a HotD, I would probably revise positive energy burst to make it worthwhile within the system. Perhaps I'd make it a maximized turn attempt at 20' instead of what's listed in the text. HotD levels would add to cleric/paladin levels with regard to the save DC, and the HotD would be allowed to apply turn undead feats to positive energy burst. That would put the HotD back on top as the premier undead arse-kicker.
 

Let me chip in with my own version of turn undead (although both versions presented before seem pretty good as well, I feel like tossing in more ideas can only benefit the discussion):

TURN/REBUKE UNDEAD
Turn and rebuke undead abilities work differently than described in the core rulebooks. Changes to the abilities are summarized below:

Turning undead is a supernatural ability that a character can perform as a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity and is considered an attack. To turn, a cleric presents his holy symbol and creates a 60 ft. cone of positive energy that affects only creatures of the undead type. All undead within the cone must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + 1/2 cleric’s level + cleric’s Charisma modifier) or be turned. Turned undead flee or cower (which grants a +2 bonus on attack rolls against them) for 10 rounds. Undead that have half as many hit dice as the cleric has levels are destroyed instead. An undead creature adds its Charisma bonus (if any) to the saving throw.

A single turning attempt cannot affect more than twice the cleric’s level HD worth of undead creatures, to a minimum of one undead creature (regardless of its HD). If multiple undead creatures are present within the affected area, weaker undead creatures are always turned first.

If an undead creature has turning resistance, it applies the bonus to its Fortitude save and counts as if it had more hit dice for the purpose of determining whether it is turned or destroyed.

Rebuking undead is similar to turning, but the creatures always cower instead of fleeing, and those that fail their save on a natural 1 and those that have half as many hit dice as the cleric has levels are commanded instead.

An evil cleric can dispel a good cleric’s turning attempt by winning an opposed check (1d20 + cleric’s level + cleric’s Cha modifier), and vice versa.

TURNING OTHER CREATURES
Some domains allow the cleric to make turning attempts that affect other types of creatures (such as lycanthropes, reptiles, or elemental subtype creatures). Those attempts always count against the cleric’s available number of turn undead attempts per day, and have the same DC as turn undead.

For example, a cleric of Selûne with access to the Moon domain may turn evil lycanthropes in addition to being able to turn undead. If that cleric has an average Charisma score (10-11), he may use his turning ability three times per day, divided between turning undead and turning evil lycanthropes as desired.

GLORY DOMAIN
Granted Power: You gain Ability Focus (Turn Undead) as a bonus feat.

SUN DOMAIN
Granted Power: You can make a greater turning attempt once per day. Any affected undead creatures are destroyed if their hit die total is lower than your cleric level.

IMPROVED TURNING
This feat is no longer available. Take Ability Focus (turn undead) instead.
 
Last edited:

Remove ads

Top