Please rate Quicken Turning

[smetzger]

Quicken Turning [Special]
You can turn or rebuke undead with a moment's thought.
Prerequisites: Ability to turn or rebuke undead, Charisma 13+,Extra Turning.
Benefit:You can turn or rebuke undead as a free action,but with a -4 penalty on both your turning check and turning damage roll. You may still only make one turning attempt per round. You may use this feat only when you actually attempt to turn or rebuke undead. You may not use it when you power a divine feat.


p.s. Lets stay on subject, remember this is the D&D Rules forum, not the House Rules forum.

 

[Li Shenron]

Not very useful, IMHO. The limit that you cannot turn undead anyway more than 1/round is very bad, and not in line with Quicken Spell (note that it says you're limited to 1 turning attempt per round, not 1 quickened turning per round). I think one of the best uses of Quicken Turning could have been, in case of failure with the normal turning, just try a quicken as your last resource to turn before it's too late (i.e. next round), or vice-versa first try the quickened and then if you haven't been lucky go for the full-power turning. It could almost double your chances (you're still using an extra attempt/day).

Instead, with this limit, at most you can still move+attack (or run) if you succeed, but with -4 in both rolls it's quite difficult to make it, and if you do the undead may be fleeing already, so what's the point? Not much.

You can't use it to quicken a divine feat, and from a design point of view this is a good way to prevent munchkinism, but it's another limit. Extra Turning is not a very useful requirement, unless you have a heavily undead-based campaign or you are currently collecting many divine feats.

In synthesis, it's a very good idea, but for some reasons the author seemed to make it sure to tune it down, afraid to make it overpowered (a feeling I had about several things in DotF ).

 

[Nail]

Smetzger: you'll never finish before 3.5e.......

I rated this "average".

It's cool to be able to turn and still get anything else done you'd like too.

It's uncool that it takes another feat just to qualify, and that the -4 is to the check and the turning damage.

I'm pretty sure this feat is only useful for clearing out the mooks before charging the Big Bad Guy.

BTW, combined with the Sun Domain and Heighten Turning, it might not be so bad.......

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I gave it a 4.

For a feat that gives a useful but somewhat minor ability, this feat has an obnoxious number of limitations and prereqs.

I can see that this could be useful in conjunction with Empower Turning for some serious mook clearing. But in the end, that is 2 or 3 precious feats for dealing with measly mooks.

In an undead heavy campaign I suppose it could be useful to use the free action and pray for some lucky die rolls. It is a reasonable tactic but not likely to be successful enough to get excited about.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I gave it a 5. Extra Turning is not a bad feat in its own right--especially if you're going to be using quickened turnings.

By mid-levels, the penalties are insignificant unless the PC is trying to turn a single powerful undead creature. The kind of creatures that come in hordes will probably be turned even if he rolls very poorly.

The feat also enables the cleric to turn undead and cast a spell in the first round and subsequent rounds which really increases his effectiveness.

It's not a great feat and its limitations can hurt but it's at least average.

 

[Archer]

This isn't a feat I'd mind getting for free as part of a prestige class package unlike some of the other divine feats that would never see use if every character got them tacked on as 1st level base class abilities.

This feat is exactly useful for clearing out the mooks while you drink your haste potion or cast your opening spell. Wights, spectres and shadows are a real distraction when you are trying to focus on another foe even at high levels. You can keep blasting away with your turning while doing all your other stuff until all the undead are gone. It can be almost as good as the epic feat positive aura. You can use this plus a quickened spell, a standard action spell and a partial action spell.

(I voted 4, not 10, I don't want people to think I am crazy)

 

[Kae'Yoss]

4 - Below average. Though it can be useful, spending a feat on it is only worthwhile in a undead-heavy campaign.

 

[Golandrinel]

Sorry smetzger I gave it a 2.

The whole concept of turning, IMO, relates to those old films where the damsel in distress holds up her crucifix infront of the vampire ... ie, you have to show your holy symbol ... no free action I'm afraid!

 

[smetzger]

3.52 after 27 votes

---------------------------------------------
10. None

9. None

8. Large and in Charge

7. Expert Tactician, Divine Might

6. Superior Expertise, Improved Sunder, Knock-Down, Shield Expert, Divine Shield, Improved Shield Bash(6.38,50,40174)

5. Close Quarters Fighting, Hold The Line, Pain Touch

4. Blindsight 5-foot radius, Fists of Iron, Death Blow, Lightning Fists, Mantis Leap, Monkey Grip, Power Lunge, Rapid Reload, Sharp Shooting, Zen Archery, Empower Turning(4.18,56,38151), Divine Vigor(4.61,57,37849)

3. Feign Weakness, Extra Stunning Attacks, Dual Strike, Circle Kick, Eyes in the Back of Your Head, Off-Hand Parry, Pin Shield, Prone Attack, Remain Conscious, Divine Cleansing, Divine Vengeance, Heighten Turning(3.95,41,39213)

2. Eagle Claw Attack, Improved Overrun, Dirty Fighting, Snatch Arrows

1. Divine Resisitance

 

[Gaiden]

Elder-Basalisk,

I want to emphasize just how effective a quickened turning can be at mid to high levels when the cleric wants to cast a spell.

Most undead are CR 7 or below with the vast majority of undead being skeletons, zombies, ghouls, shadows, and wights with a few wraiths and specters. I would presume ghosts, liches, and vampires are going to be relatively rare and usually as the BBEG. The hordes comprise the lower CR undead. (There are of course the other undead like the shadow creatures, allips, revenants, etc. but it seems that the former are the norm and these the exceptions at least from my experience.)

That being said, once you achieve mid levels, even when the undead have turning resistance or are bolstered, typically you will be able to turn them with a decent percent chance of success. With a substantial charisma bonus, you should have no problems, even with the -4 penalty.

I may be biased playing in RttToEE, but from what I can see, the ability to cast a spell and turn at the same time (especially in a party absent an arcane magic user - a.k.a. no haste) is huge. Tactics usually remain fairly constant in my group with my cleric casting recitation, summon monster IV (lantern archon), at the beginning of combat. When there are undead present, these vital buffs are always delayed (I use the lantern archon purely for the mobile magic circle and have it cast aid on people for the remainder of its duration). Having seen a fair share of undead, I look forward to 9th level where I will be taking this feat to start doing more in a given amount of time.

I gave it an 8.