Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lucian_Swift 12-29-07, 01:14 AM	My DM is putting a hinderance on my cleric's turning ability. He is saying that my cleric can not turn undead if an undead of higher HD is in front of the lower HD undead. Example- my cleric can turn up to 8 HD. There's a 9 HD vampire in the front line behind the vampire there are skeletons and zombies. He is saying that because I didn't have a high enough roll to affect the 9 HD vampire that, the vampire shields the rest of the skeletons and zombies, which would remain uneffected. Cleric Vampire (s) (s) (z) (z) (s) (z) (z) (s) (z) (s) (z) I don't buy in to this and I've explained to him that turning is a burst so how can you determin a starting point. His answer was the starting point is the undead that is closest to you in the direction that you are facing. Can anyone support one side over the other?? Lucian Swift
calronmoonflower 12-29-07, 01:40 AM	Unlike most effects that are in a burst turning can skip foes. From the SRD TURN OR REBUKE UNDEAD Good clerics and paladins and some neutral clerics can channel positive energy, which can halt, drive off (rout), or destroy undead. Evil clerics and some neutral clerics can channel negative energy, which can halt, awe (rebuke), control (command), or bolster undead. Regardless of the effect, the general term for the activity is “turning.” When attempting to exercise their divine control over these creatures, characters make turning checks. Turning Checks 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. Times per Day: You may attempt to turn undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. You can increase this number by taking the Extra Turning feat. 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. 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 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.
Lathi 12-30-07, 02:46 AM	Turning can, indeed, skip foes. Though the highlighted section isn't why (it only applies to undead that have already been turned - which the vampire wasn't). However, the answer is in there: On a given turning attempt, you can turn no undead creature whose Hit Dice exceed the result on this table. The vampire has one more HD than the max you can turn. So you can't even try to turn him. But, that's ok because: 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. The vampire isn't a turnable undead in this instance, so he's taken out of the equation completely. You instead start with either one of the skeletons or the zombie right behind him, whichever is closer.