Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Laszlo Koller 03-21-04, 07:57 PM	OK so if we review the spell's "Targets" from the SRD, we can see that it states: Targets: One or more corpses touched Then if we read the "Material Component" section, we realize that a spellcaster needs to stuff a black onyx gem into the mouth of each dead guy he/she wants to animate. So how many could a spellcaster possibly animate in a round? My thinking tells me 1 and the duration of "Instantaneous" seems to re-enforce this idea. So how is a spellcaster ever supposed to animate more than one dead guy per casting? Am I missing something?
Seeker95 03-21-04, 10:41 PM	You are limited to a number of HD of undead equal to your level times 4. You can put the onyx into as many mouths as you have pieces of onyx... before you cast the spell. The instantaneous duration means that the spell does not "end". It has nothing to do with the casting time of one standard action. You can touch up to 6 people in a round. Does that help?
Laszlo Koller 03-27-04, 08:34 PM	Perfect. Thank you.
bjorntfh 03-27-04, 09:08 PM	Does that mean that you can only animate 6 skeletons with each casting, regardless of caster level? I'd say you can animate as many corpses as the max per casting, provided you organize them first. The 6/round usually applies to touching friends in combat who are moving. If you just have to tap a body as you walk by you can probably hit more with each casting.
Laszlo Koller 03-27-04, 09:14 PM	A follow-up question... then if a spellcaster is supposed to put the onyx into the corpses mouthes before casting the spell, how many corpses could a spellcaster "prep" in a round? For example during combat, a spellcaster wants to animate some bodies to help in the current battle... using this logic, how many corpses could this particular spellcaster animate in a round?
sparkster4242 03-28-04, 01:17 AM	SRD 3.0: The character can touch one friend (or the character can touch his or her self) as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action personally, i would rule that no more than 6 touches could be made in a single round. Even then, you would have to cast the spell, hold the charge until the next round, and then start touching. and yes, the corpses would need to be prepped beforehand. The 'instantaneous' duration means the spell cant be dispelled later on. also, it doesnt trigger Detect Magic. mmm, offhand i would say stuffing a gem into a dead-guy's mouth is a move-equivalent action. 2 per round would be the limit there.
bjorntfh 03-28-04, 04:05 PM	IMC doing it in combat would be 2/round max because of the difficulty of preping the corpses. If you've got the time to line them up (say on shelves? Maybe stack them already preped?) I'd put no limit on it besides max you can animate. Note that the 6/round applies to mobile UPRIGHT things. If you stack them so you can simply touch 5 or 6 by lifting your arm then you can touch that many more targets.
Arthur_Pendragon 03-28-04, 04:17 PM	Originally posted by Seeker95 You are limited to a number of HD of undead equal to your level times 4. Assuming your a 10th level caster for a moment (HD = 10 x 4 = 40) Does that mean you can only control 40 HD worth of undead period? Or just with each casting of this spell (meaning you could cast it several times and control more than 40 HD worth of skeletons)?
Seeker95 03-28-04, 09:42 PM	Originally posted by Arthur_Pendragon Assuming your a 10th level caster for a moment (HD = 10 x 4 = 40) Does that mean you can only control 40 HD worth of undead period?Yes. If you go over this limit, you have to release some of the undead from your control.
bjorntfh 03-29-04, 09:55 AM	Note that the spell General of Undeath (from Magic of Faerun, 8th level wizard spell) adds 10xlevel worth of HD to max controlled undead and lasts 1 day/level. Heck, extend it and cast it once or twice a month and you've got no problems about controlling them.
Edymnion 03-29-04, 10:05 AM	I'd say he can raise as many per casting as he wants, within reason. He could put the onyx in their mouths, pile them up in a heap, and have their arms outstreteched. He then just grabs all their fingers or lays down across their arms. There, you're touching at least a dozen of them. Now do it a couple more times for your legs to touch more, and do that. Line them up and just walk down the line brushing your hands across them like dragging a stick across a picket fence. Aka, I believe the "corpses touched" is only ment to say that you have to have the bodies there within your grasp to prevent you from raising an entire cemetary at once, or raising a body on the other side of a chasm, not as a limit on how many you can actually raise per round.
bjorntfh 03-29-04, 10:24 AM	I concur. The touching should merely apply to within reach. In combat I'd limit it if you're just trying to raise random corpses lying in a disorganized mess all over the field but outside of combat there's no reason to limit the number beyond the max the spell can cover.
ninja1 03-29-04, 04:09 PM	Count me in with the "within reach" croud. If you have the time to properly prepare, I think you can take full advantage of the limits listed in the spell. (visions of bodies stacked like cordwood come to mind) :devil: But I will also agree that kind of preparation takes time, in the middle of combat there has to be limits on what counts as an action (full/move/standard/etc..). Originally posted by bjorntfh Note that the spell General of Undeath (from Magic of Faerun, 8th level wizard spell) adds 10xlevel worth of HD to max controlled undead and lasts 1 day/level. I always thought that spell just augmented the clerics allotment of command provided via rebuke?