Number of Turn Undead Attempts

[kiltedyaksman]

Hi there,

Is there something somewhere regarding the number of turn attempts per day or is it up to the DM?

What do people do?

Thanks!

[Blood axe]

I generally allow one attempt per undead group/encounter. If the first attempt is successful and all the undead are not turned- he can keep trying until he fails.

Example- Brother Murray (level 2 Cleric) encounters 12 Skeleton warriors. He brandishes his holy symbol and attempts to turn them. He needs a 5 on a 2d6. He rolls a 7 - success!! He rolls 2d6 for the # of HD affected. He rolls a 4. Four Skeleton flee.
Flush with success and his faith in the mighty diety Fharlaghn he tries again. He rolls a 9- success again! He rolls a 5 for the number affected and five more Skeletons flee.
The last 3 Skeleton close to attack- and Brother Murray tries again. This time his faith is not strong enough- he rollsa 2. The remaining 3 Skeletons stab at him with rusty blades.

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With mixed groups of undead I allow the player to choose which to try & affect first. If they try the weaker- they have a greater chance of success. But the more powerful undead can get closer and there might not be enough time for another try.

[scadgrad]

I don't recall that there was ever a limit to the number of turns per day in BX or RC. The method described by Blood Axe is the way it worked in RC and that is fine, but makes combats with undead a bit less exciting in my experience. In our campaign, the Cleric gets one attempt, then the blighters have to be dealt with using sword and axe which is much more entertaining and gives the other PCs something to do. OTOH, more powerful, level-draining dead stuff is considerably less frightening if you've a buddy who's a cleric and handy with 2d6. YMMV.

[Glgnfz]

In our campaign, the Cleric gets one attempt, then the blighters have to be dealt with using sword and axe which is much more entertaining and gives the other PCs something to do.

Same here.

[Dyson Logos]

In the source game there was a ruling on this in an old Polyhedron magazine (so "official" for said game). The ruling was, I believe, that you could keep turning until you failed a turn attempt and then you had to stop.

It's definitely how I play, otherwise the job ends up falling to the fighters all the time and the cleric becomes next to useless against high level undead where he can only turn one with each turn attempt (any undead over 7 HD).

[3llense'g]

...the cleric becomes next to useless against high level undead...

To me, that sounds kind of rational. Van Helsing couldn't even turn Dracula properly, never mind something greater.

[Dyson Logos]

I just find that having to resort to fighting every enemy gets tired quickly. The cleric ends up being burned out with one shot even against its most iconic foes... throw two ghasts in with any undead and that undead becomes turn-proof.

[velaran]

I always understood that you get one try per group.(One, and Done. 'Cuz the rules never menton do-over's, but YMMV.) Never understood the check thing, though: is it monster's will vs. cleric's, or monster's will vs. God's(Jesus, Buddha, Zeus, X'hal, whatever), or your God's Attention Span Check, or Cleric's Courage vs. Loss Of Nerve? The effects were screwy, too; especially in Holmes(where you turn a # of creatures, not HD worth!).

Me: I just said Turn works 100% as long as Buddha/YHVH/Odin/Larosa/etc.. likes you at the time. It really makes Clerics useful. Course, I give spells at first level in B/X, too!

greater : the Vampire is the most powerful Undead in B/X & LL! I mean, you could homebrew, but in the RAW: top dog.

[samwise7]

I let Clerics try to turn once per encounter.

[scadgrad]

My group has, for the last 3 sessions, switched over to the "unlimited turning attempts" model and it seems to work fine. It makes the cleric very powerful in those types of encounters, but that is as it should be I think. It certainly makes wights and such a bit less scary as a strong cleric can see them off pretty quickly.