Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Cyan Wisp 07-25-07, 06:34 AM	Plane of Air... 1) Skellies have wisdom, but could they take the initiative to "imagine" a down direction without intelligence? 2) Could a cleric command them to consider a certain direction to be down? 3) What would happen if a cleric turned them? I guess the RAW say that the skellies need only make Wis checks to fall in various directions, but I would love to hear other's opinions and potential rulings. Cheers! :)
zeratulcraft 07-25-07, 07:16 AM	As for number 3, the skellies would react as normal to turning, they flee directly away from the cleric, if they're slightly above/below his position, they would likely keep the angle and ascend/descend accordingly. The other two I have no clue about.
Mai_ariti 07-25-07, 10:24 AM	1)I think they must be able to. Given that they are mindless, however, why would they bother? They wouldn't care about falling so they would be in no danger if they didn't dertermine a direction. 2) I don't think you can command a creature to take a self distructive action, however, if there is nothing in the way, that isn't self distructive. However, how are you going to do this in one word? 3) As for this, I think zeratulcraft is correct.
Bob the Efreet 07-25-07, 04:34 PM	2) I don't think you can command a creature to take a self distructive action, however, if there is nothing in the way, that isn't self distructive. However, how are you going to do this in one word? I think he meant the command undead class feature, not the command spell.
Cyan Wisp 07-25-07, 05:25 PM	Sorry, yes, I did mean the rebuke/command undead class feature. The scenario is on the Plane of Air, inside a hollow cubic rock. The rock is drifting, so all the skeletons (of dead clerics) have slid to one end over time (or rather, the cube has moved under them while they stayed still). One cleric was sacrificed to open a gate to Acheron and now he haunts the area as a ghost. I wanted to have the ghost cleric command his dead betrayers to fight the party. But without being able to run around the walls, the skellies will be mere dungeon dressing.
Mai_ariti 07-26-07, 11:42 AM	Ah. . .my bad. . . I think that if the Cleric commanded the Skeletons to attack, they have enough Wisdom to do it efficiently. Remember though, the skeletons have no grasp of tatics, so if he wants anything special, he has to give more instructions, but yes, he could command the skeletons to view one direction as down even by saying "go down there." If this hollow rock is big enough, it may have it's own gravity like some of the islands on the plane. Maybe if they get close enough to the wall, they could move along it with the benifits of gravity.
Calmar 07-26-07, 12:11 PM	As far as I see it, typical skeletons know how walking on the 'normal plane' works, because they are made from guys and girls who lived on the material plane. Simply use skeletons of birds, flying folks, like avariel and half-fiends (just imagine how cool a horned skeleton with bat-like skeletal wings would look like :)), or some of the inhabitants who maybe even were humans who moved to the elemental plane of air centuries ago.
ripvanwormer 07-26-07, 12:40 PM	I think a skeleton would just hover in the air, like an inanimate object would. They would hover just as the cubic rock does, or fall at the same rate the rock is falling (same thing).
Cyan Wisp 07-26-07, 04:15 PM	As far as I see it, typical skeletons know how walking on the 'normal plane' works, because they are made from guys and girls who lived on the material plane. Simply use skeletons of birds, flying folks, like avariel and half-fiends (just imagine how cool a horned skeleton with bat-like skeletal wings would look like :)), or some of the inhabitants who maybe even were humans who moved to the elemental plane of air centuries ago. Unfortunately, skeletons with wings cannot use them to fly. Calmar brings up a good point about "who were the dead?", though. These skeletons used to live here as clerics, maybe their skeletons would instinctively know about subjective gravity. Then again, remembering surely assumes intelligence. I think I am going to have to agree with ripvanwormer on this. The skeletons are going to mill about on one face of the cube, potentially only being a nuisance to anyone who enters that space. I will give them crossbows... Thank you for all your replies! :cloud9:
ArcTan 07-27-07, 12:19 AM	Plane of Air... 1) Skellies have wisdom, but could they take the initiative to "imagine" a down direction without intelligence? I don't see how it's any more taxing than "taking the initiative" to walk, without muscles. 2) Could a cleric command them to consider a certain direction to be down? I don't think a Cleric could phrase it in such terms, but a Skeleton told to go in a certain direction or follow/kill somebody would go there by instinct, just like they know how to make their legs work. 3) What would happen if a cleric turned them? Same thing.
ArcTan 07-27-07, 12:20 AM	As far as I see it, typical skeletons know how walking on the 'normal plane' works, because they are made from guys and girls who lived on the material plane. Simply use skeletons of birds, flying folks, like avariel and half-fiends (just imagine how cool a horned skeleton with bat-like skeletal wings would look like :)), or some of the inhabitants who maybe even were humans who moved to the elemental plane of air centuries ago. Mundane flight is nothing like moving around a plane with Subjective Directional Gravity. Anyone who can desire to move in a certain direction can move around a plane with Subjective Directional Gravity. It literally simply responds to intention. If the Skeletons have the Wisdom to do it, they can do it.