Duration of command undead

[drnuncheon]

Just want to make sure I'm playing this right...

I had an NPC roll quite well on a rebuke check the other night, such that a couple of the skeletons fell under his control.

1) A 2nd level cleric gets a 'command' result on 6 skeletons. He can only command two at a time by the rules. What happens to the other four? Are they rebuked?

2) If the two skeletons he is commanding are destroyed, can he go back and take command of two more without another turning check? Would he be able to do that after the rebuke effect wears off?

3) How long does the command result last? (Since the flip-side result is 'destroy', and that's pretty permanent, I figured this was as well, but...)

4) If he stops taking a standard action each round to control the skeletons, are they freed from his command or do they just not do anything?

Thanks! If you've got actual rules citations rather than just opinions, then page numbers would be most appreciated.

J
...it occurs to me that I ddn't check DotF...is this dealt with at all in there?

 

[Magus_Jerel]

1. yes

2. no , and no by extention of no to the first part.

3. Until the cleric relinquishes the control - as far as I can tell. Rebuking lasts as long as turning.

4. They do whatever they were last tasked to do,

Thus - the command of "kill" as a standard action will be followed until the undead finish off all living creatures in the vicinity - which could include the evil cleric.

The commands of "kill this individual" or "kill this band of adventurers" is IMHO too sophisticated for animated undead to get.

 

[Menexenus]

I was looking for the answers to *exactly* these questions. (Thanks for asking them, drnuncheon, and thanks for responding, Magus_Jerel.) However, I wasn't clear how "official" the responder's answers were. (Is this just the way Magus_Jerel plays it, or is there an FAQ statement that answers these questions?)

So, will someone else either confirm or deny the answers that Magus_Jerel gave to the OPs questions. (I'm most interested in questions #1 and 2.) And, if anyone knows an official source that answers these questions definitively, please cite it.

Thanks!