Paladin's Turn checks

Ashy · Apr 27, 2005

Ok, I've read the rules about a gazillon times and I am still confused about exactly how it works. I got the first step (basically the first step is to see how many Hit Die of undead are affected) but after that I get confused. Can anyone assist? Thanks!

Pinotage · Apr 27, 2005

Ashy said:
Ok, I've read the rules about a gazillon times and I am still confused about exactly how it works. I got the first step (basically the first step is to see how many Hit Die of undead are affected) but after that I get confused. Can anyone assist? Thanks!

Well, a paladin turns undead as a cleric three levels lower than his paladin level. So a Paladin 10 turns undead as a 7th level cleric. A turning check is required to determine the highest HD creature that can be affected by a turn. So a Paladin 10 can, on any given occasion, affect creatures with a maximum of 3 HD to a maximum of 11 HD, depending on a roll.

Once you've got your maximum HD for turning, you can roll turning damage. This is equivalent to 2d6 plus your level plus your charisma modifier. This gives you the total HD of creatures you can turn, with no single creature able to have more HD than the maximum HD you determined with the Turning check.

e.g. a Paladin 8 wants to turn two ghasts and three 2 HD zombies. He rolls 1 on his turning check, adds his +2 charisma modifier and gets a 3. So the highest HD he can turn is his level - 3. Since he can turn as a cleric 5, that means 2 HD. Which means that since the ghasts have 4 HD he cannot turn them at all. If he'd rolled higher, he could've turned them as well.

For turning damage he rolls 3 and 4 for 7 HD, plus 5 for his level, plus 2 for his charisma, giving a 14 total. That's the total number of HD he can turn. He turns the zombies (destroys them in fact since he has more than twice their HD - 5 vs 2) but cannot turn the ghasts due to his low turning check. With his check he could've turned 7 2 HD zombies, but since there are only 3, he can only turn those. Next round he rolls a 10 on his turning check, meaning he can turn creatures up to 5 HD. He rolls 14 again on his turning damage and turns both ghasts (a total of 8 HD of his rolled 14 HD). The ghasts flee from him.

Pinotage

Pinotage

Thanee · Apr 27, 2005

Turn Undead (Su): When a paladin reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to turn undead. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. She turns undead as a cleric of three levels lower would.

Example: 6th level Paladin with Charisma 16 (+3). Turns as a 3rd level Cleric.

Turning undead is a supernatural ability that a character can perform as a standard action. It does not provoke attacks of opportunity. You must present your holy symbol to turn undead. Turning is considered an attack.

So, the Paladin uses a standard action to Turn Undead, by presenting the holy symbol.

Turning Check: The first thing you do is roll a turning check to see how powerful an undead creature you can turn. This is a Charisma check (1d20 + your Charisma modifier). Table: Turning Undead gives you the Hit Dice of the most powerful undead you can affect, relative to your level. On a given turning attempt, you can turn no undead creature whose Hit Dice exceed the result on this table.

Turning Check: Roll 1d20 + Charisma modifier (+3). Look up the table and check what HD can be affected at most.

You roll an 11. 11+3=14. 14 means undead with at most "Cleric's level +1" HD can be affected.

Effective Cleric level is 3rd (see above), so undead with at most 4 HD (including Turn Resistance) can be affected.

Turning Damage: If your roll on Table: Turning Undead is high enough to let you turn at least some of the undead within 60 feet, roll 2d6 + your cleric level + your Charisma modifier for turning damage. That’s how many total Hit Dice of undead you can turn.

If your Charisma score is average or low, it’s possible to roll fewer Hit Dice of undead turned than indicated on Table: Turning Undead.

You may skip over already turned undead that are still within range, so that you do not waste your turning capacity on them.

Turning Damage: Roll 2d6 + Cleric level (3rd) + Charisma modifier (+3). The result is the number of HD actually affected.

You roll an 8. 8+3+3=14. 14 HD of undead can be affected in total.

Remember, no undead with more than 4 HD can be affected, because of the result above.

Range: You turn the closest turnable undead first, and you can’t turn undead that are more than 60 feet away or that have total cover relative to you. You don’t need line of sight to a target, but you do need line of effect.

So, starting with the closest undead with 4 or less HD, that has not been turned already, you turn them and add up their HD, until you reach 14, which is the maximum you can affect with this turn attempt.

Effect and Duration of Turning: Turned undead flee from you by the best and fastest means available to them. They flee for 10 rounds (1 minute). If they cannot flee, they cower (giving any attack rolls against them a +2 bonus). If you approach within 10 feet of them, however, they overcome being turned and act normally. (You can stand within 10 feet without breaking the turning effect—you just can’t approach them.) You can attack them with ranged attacks (from at least 10 feet away), and others can attack them in any fashion, without breaking the turning effect.