Post/Author/DateTime	Post
tricky_bob 09-22-07, 09:11 AM	Ok so I'm a 20th level Cleric and I cast Animate Dead on some dragon bones and end up with an Gargantuan Skeletal ancient Black dragon. It has an Int score of - (nothing). I give it some orders like guard the entrance of this cave, if anything other than I tries to enter, kill it. Along comes a level 3 wizard and casts Command Undead on the dragon and tells it to go away, what happens?
heffroncm 09-22-07, 10:45 AM	It goes away. Mindless undead have no save against Command Undead. Remember, you don't have a Gargantuan Skeletal Dragon, you have a Gargantuan Skeleton. It's mindless, and has all the limitations of mindless undead. It could have 5,000 HD, a level 3 Wizard can still tell it to go away. This is why there are higher level spells, such as Create Undead and Greater Create Undead, which make undead with an intelligence score.
Sildatorak 09-22-07, 10:47 AM	Alternatively, you could invest a little in a ring of counterspells and load it with command undead.
Some_call_me_Tim 09-22-07, 10:54 AM	Ok so I'm a 20th level Cleric and I cast Animate Dead on some dragon bones and end up with an Gargantuan Skeletal ancient Black dragon.I've you're just trying to be tricky, Bob, then the question can stop here as it can't happen. Ancient Black Dragons are Huge not Gargantuan. You only found "some" bones you need a complete skeleton. An ancient Black Dragon has too many hit dice to turn into a skeleton. It has an Int score of - (nothing). I give it some orders like guard the entrance of this cave, if anything other than I tries to enter, kill it. Along comes a level 3 wizard and casts Command Undead on the dragon and tells it to go away, what happens?The skeleton ambles away as that was the last thing it was told to do. It was successfully commanded. Now, you probably say I will simply command it to ignore all other orders. It's unintelligent and under magical control so it can't rationalize the difference between conflicting orders--it just does what its told. Now, you do retain control over it so when you return and find your wandering guardian you can tell him what to do again.
tricky_bob 09-22-07, 01:25 PM	I've you're just trying to be tricky, Bob, then the question can stop here as it can't happen. Ancient Black Dragons are Huge not Gargantuan. You only found "some" bones you need a complete skeleton. An ancient Black Dragon has too many hit dice to turn into a skeleton. Ok, its a Red dragon. Its from Shadowdale: The scouring of the land. Its in one of the encounters and was made via just some of the bones by Esvele Greycloak. Its an encounter level 11 and is designed for 4 level 9 PC's. It has 34 HD (255 hit points) It is said to "understand its creators orders" and has the following Stats: Str 39, Dex 10, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 24 So, what you're saying is if, IF the cleric has Control Undead prepared it's going to be an easy encounter, otherwise its going to be tough, right?
Some_call_me_Tim 09-22-07, 02:20 PM	So, what you're saying is if, IF the cleric has Control Undead prepared it's going to be an easy encounter, otherwise its going to be tough, right?Pretty much. Even a simple 1st-level hide from undead would let them walk right past the thing like it was a fossilized T-Rex in a museum. Methinks this is one of the "Easy if handled properly" encounters. Let's see overcoming a CR 11 creature for four 9th-level characters... ...1350 xp each, BOOYAH, baby! :dancin:
tricky_bob 09-22-07, 03:14 PM	Pretty much. Even a simple 1st-level hide from undead would let them walk right past the thing like it was a fossilized T-Rex in a museum. Methinks this is one of the "Easy if handled properly" encounters. Let's see overcoming a CR 11 creature for four 9th-level characters... ...1350 xp each, BOOYAH, baby! :dancin: Aarr, but the Cleric opted of the Spontaneous caster varient in UA, hehe :D