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<blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5996946" data-attributes="member: 3192">Turn Undead (show the power of holy/unholy) is almost or as important as divine spell casting for the cleric class. Divine spells aren't really spells at all, but miracles performed with the power of the deity the cleric follows. Turn Undead is the archetypal &quot;good&quot; (or &quot;evil&quot;) manifestation of that deity's power channeled through the cleric. It improves with the cleric's level which is a representation of the cleric's learning of the mystical rites, rituals, and practices of that belief. It's a measure of adherence to these, their knowledge, and most importantly the wise depths of seeing. In mechanical terms, Turn Undead really deserves to be an at-will ability for the cleric as, like combat or magic for fighters or wizards, channeling forth the power of one's deity is a key ability for performing and getting XP in the class. Increasing power with level shouldn't be too difficult either.The catch is how to make this ability powerful and a real choice without making certain encounters, combat or otherwise, pushovers for the cleric. I'd say 50/50 for the ratio of the level of the cleric to the level of a corresponding creature (or challenge) makes sense, just like combat. Items, powers, or other abilities that increase potency or number affected by Turn Undead should be considered as +1 or higher weapons. It's a big bonus, so permanently blessed holy symbols aren't cheap to come by and there's only one ark of the covenant. For the playtest, my players didn't care for Turn Undead under the first iteration of the power, especially as what they considered a weak 1st level spell. I think it's better off considered a power at-will (call it minor if necessary) that's just as important as Detect Alignment is for paladins.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="howandwhy99, post: 5996946, member: 3192"] [U]Turn Undead[/U] (show the power of holy/unholy) is almost or as important as divine spell casting for the cleric class. Divine spells aren't really spells at all, but miracles performed with the power of the deity the cleric follows. Turn Undead is the archetypal "good" (or "evil") manifestation of that deity's power channeled through the cleric. It improves with the cleric's level which is a representation of the cleric's learning of the mystical rites, rituals, and practices of that belief. It's a measure of adherence to these, their knowledge, and most importantly the wise depths of seeing. In mechanical terms, Turn Undead really deserves to be an at-will ability for the cleric as, like combat or magic for fighters or wizards, channeling forth the power of one's deity is a key ability for performing and getting XP in the class. Increasing power with level shouldn't be too difficult either. The catch is how to make this ability powerful and a real choice without making certain encounters, combat or otherwise, pushovers for the cleric. I'd say 50/50 for the ratio of the level of the cleric to the level of a corresponding creature (or challenge) makes sense, just like combat. Items, powers, or other abilities that increase potency or number affected by Turn Undead should be considered as +1 or higher weapons. It's a big bonus, so permanently blessed holy symbols aren't cheap to come by and there's only one ark of the covenant. For the playtest, my players didn't care for Turn Undead under the first iteration of the power, especially as what they considered a weak 1st level spell. I think it's better off considered a power at-will (call it minor if necessary) that's just as important as Detect Alignment is for paladins. [/QUOTE]

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