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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AuraSeer" data-source="post: 2321478" data-attributes="member: 1331">Note that the spell's power is based on hit dice, not on CR. For that reason it's less effective against dumb, strong monsters, because they have lots of hit dice for their level. Heck, even some skeletons and zombies can ignore the spell. A wyvern zombie has 14 hit dice, making it immune to a minimum-level holy word, and also difficult to turn. Plus it's only CR 4, so you could use a dozen of them at once and still expect the PCs to win. If your party is higher than level 14, try gray render zombies; they have 20 HD and are CR 6.  The zombies are just an example, of course. Anything with lots of hit dice and a relatively low CR will do.   That will tend to be the case regardless of whether you keep holy word. Creatures with low hit dice are easy meat for all kinds of area spells, from fireball right on up.This one spell really isn't as bad as you think, if you run it correctly. Remember that it's based on hit dice, not CR; remember that SR always applies; and remember that it's totally useless at creatures who stay out of range.</blockquote>