Summon Undead Problem Solved?

[Voodoo]

Has the vagueness of Summon Undead I-IV been sorted out?

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Yes. There is errata for it somewhere. IIRC, there is a HD cap based on caster level.

 

[Laman Stahros]

Yes. There is errata for it somewhere. IIRC, there is a HD cap based on caster level.

Player's Guide to Faerun errata file on WotC's website.

 

[Thanee]

The HD cap is caster level +1.

It's still a powerful spell, and the good thing is, that it scales with level, so it's still reasonably good at higher levels. But, I believe, it's fair enough with the errata. My sorceress is currently using Summon Undead V via Greater Shadow Conjuration at 14th level, and it doesn't feel overpowered in play, even though she can summon four quite nasty huge dire bear skeletons with it.

[SBLOCK]Advanced Dire Bear Skeleton
Huge Undead (Shadow Creature)

Hit Dice: 17d12 (110 x 60% = 66 hp)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 12 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +3 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+30
Attack: Claw +20 melee (2d6+14)
Full Attack: 2 claws +20 melee (2d6+14) and bite +15 melee (3d8+7)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to cold, undead traits
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +10
Abilities: Str 39, Dex 13, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills: -
Feats: Improved Initiative
Alignment: Neutral Evil[/SBLOCK]

Bye
Thanee

 

[Corlon]

Go for the hydras, they always seemed the best to me

 

[Voodoo]

Thanks for clearing that up, (it would have been helpful if they had also put it in the Libris Mortis eratta, bah)

So what are good, common, 4HD creatures?

 

[Cheiromancer]

Has the erratta prohibited templates from being used? Or exotic creatures?

If not, then paragon wartrolls would seem to be adequate.

 

[Voodoo]

Whilst the template doesnt specifically prohibit templated creatures I suspect my DM will (as would I)

I suspect exotic creatues are fine as long as your character is familiar with them.

If i were to try to pull out a paragon templated creature forr my 3rd level character I suspect i'd get slapped.

 

[Cheiromancer]

The Summon Undead spells originated in 3.0, and IMHO they should use the 3.0 zombies and skeletons, which were not templates, but just monsters of various sizes.

The 3.0 SRD is here: http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd.html

I attach an rtf that has the stats for skeletons and zombies of the various sizes.

 

[Silveras]

Whilst the template doesnt specifically prohibit templated creatures I suspect my DM will (as would I)

I suspect exotic creatues are fine as long as your character is familiar with them.

If i were to try to pull out a paragon templated creature forr my 3rd level character I suspect i'd get slapped.

Generally, I would expect that Summon Undead should follow the same basic rules as Summon Monster: the creature summoned is a standard-issue member of its kind with the appopriate Template (Skeleton, Zombie, or others if the DM allows) applied.

I would NOT allow "Advanced" versions of anything, and I am likely to disallow unusual Templates.