House rule for Undead Lieges

[Herzog]

Hi!

I am thinking of using a house-rule, designed for a specific campaign thread I am planning to run.

The idea is based on the Turning undead rules in 3.5 and an OD&D rule about strong undead controlling armies of minor undead.
It is meant to create large numbers of minor undead that cannot simply be destroyed by your party cleric.

It works as follows:

A strong, intelligent undead cleric can create and control a number of undead. (this is basic rules so far)
He can bolster these undead for a short period of time (still basic) or he can bolster them indefinately(houserule).
Indefinate bostering:
Bolstered undead are treated (when a turn attempt is made) as having the same HD as the undead who commands them.
When the turn attempt succeeds, the bolstered undead are not turned, but freed from the command. Should the turning attempt normally result in a destroyed minor undead (for this purpose, the HD of the minor undead is used), the damage result is instead treated as a direct hp loss affecting the controlling undead ( counting HD destroyed as hp lost)

my question:
what do you think? Is this a balanced rule, does it add to the game, or is it just an addition making the game more complicated?

Opinions please...

Herzog

 

[Corbert]

Personally I would craft it up as a feat. Otherwise you're giving some extra power to your NPC's (unless PCs can get it too), or else just toughening up the bad guys so the PCs don't go through them like a hot knife through butter.

 

[Herzog]

Ok, here's my attempt of making up the houserule as a feat:

Improved Bolster Undead
Requirement: Ability to bolster undead.

Improved bolster undead works the same as bolster undead, with the following exceptions:
1. The bolstered undead remain bolstered indefinately, as long as the undead remain within 1 mile. That is, turning attempts against the bolstered undead are treated against the bolstered level. ( For large numbers of undead controlled by NPC's, treat all bolsters as resulting in a HD number identical to the bolstering cleric's level)
2. Succeeded turn attempts against a bolstered undead do not turn or destroy the undead, but disconnect the bolstering link. A second, normal turning is necessary to turn or destroy the undead.
3. As a direct result of the continues bolstering, a link remains between the bolstering cleric and the undead.
This link as the following nasty side-effect:
When a turn attempt succeeds, a positive energy backlash travels up the link to the bolstering cleric.
Consider the following:
If a NORMAL turning of the undead in question would have resulted in a turned undead, the link is broken and nothing else happens.
If a NORMAL turning of the undead in question would have resulted in a destroyed undead, the link is broken, and positive energy damage equal to the HD destroyed is applied to the bolstering cleric as 1 hp/HD.

Ok, what do you think?

Herzog.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Improved Bolstered Undead

Bolstered undead are treated (when a turn attempt is made) as having the same HD as the undead who commands them.


The above ideas are cool, but this is a feat (I think) of standard power, simpler, and elegant.