Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Coolossus2123 Aug 16, 2015 3:27:30	Channel Divinity: Turn Undead As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. lt also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.   I apologize if these have already been answered before, but I have a few questions about how Turn Undead works. It seems to me that while it's intent is that the undead that fail their saving throws spend their turn using as much movement as they can moving out of the 30 ft radius of the cleric until they get out of it, and are only able to use their action for the Dash action, unless theres nowhere to move, and then they can use Dodge. But it also seems the wording implies that it functions where the undead are stuck in place, as they need to be within 30 feet of the cleric to be affected, and if they fail their saves they are unable to use movement as "it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you". Which one is correct? I believe it's the first one and it should say "it can't willingly move towards the cleric within a space 30 feet of the cleric", or something a little less clunky.. Hmm. If it is the first one, do the affected undead keep using all of their movement to move as far away as they can, even once they're out of the 30 feet radius until the duration ends? I also remember some other confusion surrounding this, but I can't remember exactly what the rest was, is there anything else I'm missing?
#2 OoftaMeg Aug 16, 2015 8:45:08	The wording of turn undead is a bit confusing, and one of the things I had hoped they would correct.  There hasn't been any official clarification that I know of.   But the way I run it and the general consensus is that the undead must move away from the cleric and cannot move towards them.  I would also say that they keep moving away for the duration.
#3 Slagger_the_Chuul Aug 16, 2015 9:32:19	Considering possible alternatives, they could be talking about moving to a space within 30 feet of you as its overall destination (presumably just during each turn), rather than just as a point along the way.  If, for example, you backed an undead into a corner and then turned it, it might be able to pass through closer spaces in order to reach a more distant space as long as that destination space was outside of the 30-ft. radius (but if no such space is within its movement range even while dashing, it's stuck and has to use the Dodge action).  I cannot say if that's RAI, but it would be a reading of it that would make sense.   As for continuing to move, there doesn't appear to be anything restricting the turned movement to just the initial 30 ft radius, so a turned undead should continue trying to move further away for the full 1 minute, no matter how much space is already between it and the cleric.
#4 Coolossus2123 Aug 16, 2015 14:19:03	Thanks! Yeah, it's weird they worded it like that though, but that cleared it up for me pretty well.
#5 Danny_Montanny Aug 16, 2015 17:58:30	Easiest thing to remember: Will their Dash action put them farther than 30 ft away? If yes, they Dash. If not, they Dodge.
#6 WorBlade Aug 17, 2015 15:16:02	It wants to retreat from you. In a more open area that could be in several directions. It would not "cut the corner" of your 30 ft radius to get to someplace else if it can retreat without moving into the turning radius. I would rule that if an undead was turned from two different clerics on opposite sides with overlapping radius, then it would act as if trapped in a corner and simple dodge without moving.
#7 Slagger_the_Chuul Aug 18, 2015 0:07:02	WorBlade wrote:
#8 Rya.Reisender Aug 18, 2015 3:28:55	Would that situation occur at all? At least by using dash action every undead should be able to move out of that 30ft area even if it started right next to the Cleric, no?   If it's completely stuck because it's in a corner and PCs are blocking its escape path, well then it obviously uses Dodge.
#9 Slagger_the_Chuul Aug 18, 2015 10:45:06	Rya.Reisender wrote:
#10 Rya.Reisender Aug 18, 2015 10:21:55	Ah I see, but I read and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you
#11 Slagger_the_Chuul Aug 18, 2015 10:42:52	Rya.Reisender wrote:
#12 Rya.Reisender Aug 18, 2015 11:19:05	"When it doubt roll for it"?
#13 Greenstone.Walker Aug 18, 2015 15:53:48	Rya.Reisender wrote:
#14 WorBlade Aug 18, 2015 16:05:41	There is arguing over rules as written and what I would actually do DMing. The turn intent is obviously to drive the undead away. That would make me assume it would not want to come any closer to teh source of pain/fright.whatever the turning effect is. Unintelligent undead would try to go as directly away from the turn source as they can, even if that means backing into a corner or dead end. I would likely rule that an intelligent undead would try to decide which path lead to the best escape. If that means running closer to the cleric before getting farther away then that would seem reasonable to me. An intelligent undead likely understands what is going on - a magical repulsion effect backed by a gods power directed through one foe. A non intelliegent undead just feels danger/pain. whatever from a given direction and wants to get away.
#15 Slagger_the_Chuul Aug 18, 2015 23:59:24	I do agree; the undead won't want to come any closer, but it might do so if that allowed it to quickly get even further away.  And yes, the intelligence of the undead in question probably comes into play when deciding how it should flee.  I'm not sure I'd always rule that a less intelligent undead would avoid the turning radius (there are plenty of animals that will make a break for an opening straight past danger, and they're not very intelligent), but it's certainly still a factor in considering how they go about getting away.   It seems consistent with treating the limitation on not moving to a space within 30 feet of the cleric as a destination.  Put that together with the need to move as far away from the cleric as possible, and you've basically got a model of turned undead behaviour that allows them to risk the radius in order to get further away.   It's more of a judgement call if there's something that has a chance to stop the undead getting past without being absolutely certain as an obstacle.  For example, an undead might have to run past someone with the Sentinel feat (assuming it knows they can block it after fighting them a bit) or take a longer route that wouldn't allow it to get as far away but doesn't risk them stopping it dead in its tracks (pun intended).