magnusmalkus
First Post
I have a buncha cultists who worship some disgusting nether horror. The main bulk of their evil flock are clerics. Some of these clerics have a turning ability I've home-brewed called 'Nauseating Turn', but after giving it its initial run, I think it's a bit overpowered.
It uses the same mechanic as Turn Undead, except that it only affects living, corporeal, non-construct targets (*I have not fully thought out these target conditions, i may need to add more. But for the purposes of the cultists current opposition, those target conditions will do).
Within 60', the cleric rolls to see the maximum HD opponent s/he can affect (consult table). Then s/he rolls to see how many actual HD s/he affects (d26+clr lvl + Cha modifier). The effect is that the victims now suffer under the condition of 'Nauseated'. No saving throws.
Standard turning lasts for up to 1 minute, so long as the turner does not get within 10' of the turned opponent. I thought that was too overpowering so I made it so that the Nauseated condition would last for 1d4 rounds, requiring the cleric to concentrate on maintaining the turn.
The encounter involved a buncha summoned monsters from the 1st level summoning chart, 1 Nauseating cleric, and some heavy muscle in the form of a two level 4 fighters. The party consisted of five level 2 PC's.
The cleric with the nauseating turn ALONE owned them. It totally debilitated them. His cleric level + cha modifier ALONE nearly covered the total HD of the party. When you are nauseated, your only option is to move. During the course of the combat, he 'turned' them twice. The fighters and summoned minions chopped them up pretty bad. In the end, 2 dropped to negatives before the remaining 2 raised the white flag. It seemed like it never occurred to them to run away. I gave them two obvious chances.
Was the ability overpowered? Was the NPC too high a level for the PC's to cope? What resources could the PC's possibly bring to bear against such an effect?
On the other hand, the PC's never did spread out so they couldn't all be targeted... they were all just kinda bummed that their ability to act was taken away that they just decided to stand there and wait it out (taking a beating in the process).
After the combat, I asked why they didn't want to run away. They explained that they felt their characters were expendable. They felt it was the kind of game where their PC's should succeed or die.
This is the second gaming session we've run for this adventure. I did give them the impression it was a 'one-shot' adventure but told them they could carry over their PC's to the next adventure if they were of an appropriate level for it.
Thoughts?
It uses the same mechanic as Turn Undead, except that it only affects living, corporeal, non-construct targets (*I have not fully thought out these target conditions, i may need to add more. But for the purposes of the cultists current opposition, those target conditions will do).
Within 60', the cleric rolls to see the maximum HD opponent s/he can affect (consult table). Then s/he rolls to see how many actual HD s/he affects (d26+clr lvl + Cha modifier). The effect is that the victims now suffer under the condition of 'Nauseated'. No saving throws.
Standard turning lasts for up to 1 minute, so long as the turner does not get within 10' of the turned opponent. I thought that was too overpowering so I made it so that the Nauseated condition would last for 1d4 rounds, requiring the cleric to concentrate on maintaining the turn.
The encounter involved a buncha summoned monsters from the 1st level summoning chart, 1 Nauseating cleric, and some heavy muscle in the form of a two level 4 fighters. The party consisted of five level 2 PC's.
The cleric with the nauseating turn ALONE owned them. It totally debilitated them. His cleric level + cha modifier ALONE nearly covered the total HD of the party. When you are nauseated, your only option is to move. During the course of the combat, he 'turned' them twice. The fighters and summoned minions chopped them up pretty bad. In the end, 2 dropped to negatives before the remaining 2 raised the white flag. It seemed like it never occurred to them to run away. I gave them two obvious chances.
Was the ability overpowered? Was the NPC too high a level for the PC's to cope? What resources could the PC's possibly bring to bear against such an effect?
On the other hand, the PC's never did spread out so they couldn't all be targeted... they were all just kinda bummed that their ability to act was taken away that they just decided to stand there and wait it out (taking a beating in the process).
After the combat, I asked why they didn't want to run away. They explained that they felt their characters were expendable. They felt it was the kind of game where their PC's should succeed or die.
This is the second gaming session we've run for this adventure. I did give them the impression it was a 'one-shot' adventure but told them they could carry over their PC's to the next adventure if they were of an appropriate level for it.
Thoughts?
