Dumb Turning question

[Winternight]

Turning as i understand it starts from the cleric?

What happens if the first undead next to the cleirc is higher than the maximum hit dice? As far I understand it nothing happens right ?
W.

 

[Malicene]

no, check area of effect, then if more than 1 undead in it, start with the less HD undead and go up ....

just to be sure :
first roll : max hd creature turn by cleric (cleric level + or - 4)
second roll : number of HD affected by turning

 

[fba827]

As I understand it - it would pass over the undead that are too high to be affected. Why?
The the turning damage is how many HD can be affected.

If an undead is too high to be affected, it does not "eat up" the turning damage HD and therefore the turning attempt would continue on until it gets to an undead that it _could_ affect (because it is less than the max HD that can be affected) but does not have enough turning damage remaining to actually turn it.

(all other criteria for turning still being met like not being covered, etc.)

 

[Winternight]

Maybe not so dumb question after all.
As stated:
Range: You turn the closest turnable undead first.
Turning damage: ... you may not have the power to turn a single undead.
As i understand it the big guy in the front shields the others.


but on next page:
third paragraph:
you MAY SKIP over already turned undead, that you do not waste your turning energy.

does that mean I can choose which to turn?

first roll : max hd creature turn by cleric (cleric level + or - 4)
second roll : number of HD affected by turning

Sure but thanx

Seriously I am sure we mix up send and third rules here. Nowhere I found turn the less powerfull undeads first. (but then I always tend to read only stuff that's in favor for me)

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

First chech HD, then check distance.

For example, if you could turn 3 HD of undead, and there were a 10HD-lich next to, a 1HD skeleton behind the lich, a 2HD zombie behind the skeleton and another 1HD skeleton behind the zombie, the 2 skeletons would be turned, and the lich and zombie would stay put, IMO.

Maitre D

 

[Winternight]

First chech HD, then check distance.

For example, if you could turn 3 HD of undead, and there were a 10HD-lich next to, a 1HD skeleton behind the lich, a 2HD zombie behind the skeleton and another 1HD skeleton behind the zombie, the 2 skeletons would be turned, and the lich and zombie would stay put, IMO.

Maitre D

That means if you could turn 10 hit dice in your example (and 10 maximum) you would first turn the skeleton, then not have enough energy left for the lich but turn the other three?

But still, i don't find any : "turn the lowest hit dice first". Not in 3rd.
I need that to know because i need to know where to place my lich. In front of the legion or behind them.


BTW there is no 10 HD-lich ;-)

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

aHA

I was wrong.

SRD:

A combatant turns the closest turnable undead first, and the combatant can't turn undead that are more than 60 feet away or that have total cover relative to a combatant.

and

A combatant may skip over already turned undead that are still within range

In the example, you'd turn the 1st skeleton and the zombie. The lich would remain unaffected, and wouldn't impair your ability to turn the undead that are standing behind them.

Say the undead are stuck somehow, and on your next round, you turn them again, still getting a turning damage of 3HD, the lich would remain unaffected, you'll skip over the 1st skeleton and the zombie (who are already turned) and you'll turn the 2nd skeleton.

I'm sorry about the confusion brought by my 1st answer. I should really check the rules before i start blowing smoke out of my *woops*

Maitre D

 

[fba827]

But still, i don't find any : "turn the lowest hit dice first". Not in 3rd.

The reason the skeletons (in the example) get turned and not the lich is not because the lowest gets turned first.

But rather the lich is higher than the turnable HD (based on the first roll). Thus, it is not affected by the turning damage and moves on to the next one (in order of closest to furthest).

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Also, you cannot pick and choose which undead to turn. Consider a cleric. In front of him is a 10HD vampire, and behind that, two more 6HD vampires. The cleric winds up being able to turn up to 10HD creatures, to a total of 12HD damage. He cannot choose to pass over the 10HD vampire and zap both of the 6HD vampires.

What happens? He turns the 10HD vampire because it's closer and turnable, and the extra two HD of turning damage are wasted, there not being enough to turn either 6HD vampire.

Basically: You turn undead from the closest to the furthest, out to a max distance of 60 ft, and ignore any undead that cannot be turned, or have already been turned. Only actually successfully turning undead uses up total turning HD for the attempt.