No turning for clerics? (A question, not a rumor.)

[Kid Charlemagne]

My vague memory of turning in the pre-3E days was that it was less all or nothing - it seemed to have more of a curve to the power (easier to dust low-level undead, harder to dust powerful ones) and I'd liek to see that. More of a range of effects, and with fewer drawbacks - lots of times there's a debate over whether the cleric should turn the undead, since if they flee, they might not be able to be easily found and destroyed, for example, causing the cleric to be reluctant to use their signature power.

 

[Li Shenron]

I admit that Turn Undead could have a better mechanic, but I'm quite irritated by people who suggest to just throw away anything that doesn't work perfectly... or turn everything into "cause damage" :\

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

As long as every god in existence doesn't bestow the ability to turn/rebuke undead on his followers, I'll be happy. I'm pretty sure Kord's got better things to worry about than how many zombies are around, and even if he is concerned, I imagine his suggested course of action involves hitting them with a sharp object more so than waggling a symbol in the air and breaking out the sparklers.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

As long as every god in existence doesn't bestow the ability to turn/rebuke undead on his followers, I'll be happy. I'm pretty sure Kord's got better things to worry about than how many zombies are around, and even if he is concerned, I imagine his suggested course of action involves hitting them with a sharp object more so than waggling a symbol in the air and breaking out the sparklers.

Right. I'd like to see Channeling Positive or Negative Energy, depending on the god worshiped and the alignment of the cleric. From there, a cleric could pick up specific abilities keyed to channeling, whether it be turning undead, empowering weapons, sickening living creatures, etc.

 

[BASHMAN]

How about a positive energy aura-- as long as Undead are within it, they take dice of damage/round. The ammount/size of dice will vary by the cleric's level, and add CHA bonus to the damage

Level 1 d6
Level 4 d8
Level 7 d10
Level 10 2d6
Level 13 2d8
Level 16 3d6
Level 19 3d8
Level 22 4d6
Level 25 4d8
Level 28 5d6

So a level 28 cleric with +4 CHA does 5d6+4 dmg to all undead within x radius per round. Alternatively, instead of increasing damage, levels might increase the radius, duration, uses per day, etc.

 

[erf_beto]

I really hope they make one big pool of divine power and force turn undead, spontaneous cures, domain magic, remove curses, smite evil, and other clerical/paladin powers to draw from that same pool. Every deity would have a list of available powers, like talent trees or domains or something...
customization, flavor and mechanics, all in one...

 

[Driddle]

There's never been a better time to not change the cleric than now. So they probably will.

 

[jasin]

Well if the Spined Devil is any indication, HD no longer exist for 4e monsters, which means they must have come up with some other alternative for how turning interacts with undead.

Level?

 

[D.Shaffer]

I'd rather they just go with straight out Damage+Will Save for turning, myself. I never understood why, after introducing a Will save, they never made it the basis of turning to begin with.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I'd be happy to see turning disappear for ever, but I've got an open mind about the solutions they come up with. They may come up with something that I love!