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What are the mechanics for Turn Undead?

MitchforkMitchfork Member Posts: 390
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Does anybody know exactly how this works or how reliable it is for high-level undead? I'm familiar with the PnP implementation from 2e, but it seems like Baldur's Gate doesn't go by that... I've had things happen while using it that shouldn't be possible (tried to turn multiple Shadows and chunked some, while others were unaffected- PnP is either all-or-nothing for a specific enemy type). I'm trying to gauge whether its worth trying against groups of Skeleton Warriors and Greater Mummies and such.

Comments

  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    The PnP version actually works on either a number of Hit Dice or a number of monsters which may or may not exceed the number of monsters present and thus could have the impact you describe. So if you get a successful role, that may/should only impact a certain number of the mob. In that, I believe that BG works correctly, and complies with what you describe.

    I know that in PnP, Charisma impacts your die roll but I am not sure if that was implemented in BG. Perhaps someone with more experience could chime in on that front.

    To answer your ultimate question, so long as you have the level, trying it against Skel Warriors or Greater Mummies 'Should' work provided that you get a high enough roll. I know that in a certain undead lair in BG2, Viccy became instrumental in turning a good portion of the enemies against the greater whole.
  • MitchforkMitchfork Member Posts: 390
    the_spyder said:

    The PnP version actually works on either a number of Hit Dice or a number of monsters which may or may not exceed the number of monsters present and thus could have the impact you describe. So if you get a successful role, that may/should only impact a certain number of the mob. In that, I believe that BG works correctly, and complies with what you describe.

    Ah, apparently I misunderstood the rules then. I thought that your roll affected any and all undead in the encounter with no limits on quantity.

    Hmm... maybe when I get to level 14 I'll test the turning probability on certain enemy types to see how closely it matches the 2e table. Apparently at that Cleric level you have a 50% chance of totally neutering a Lich, which seems incredibly strong since there's no defense against it.

  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    the_spyder said:


    I know that in a certain undead lair in BG2, Viccy became instrumental in turning a good portion of the enemies against the greater whole.

    For me, in a certain undead lair, Viccy spent the entire time being "turned" herself...
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    @nano. I do EVERYTHING I can before going there. So I tend to be of a level where that isn't an issue anymore.
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    Yeah, me too. It was kind of a letdown because for all her talk Bodhi disappeared in the first round. That's the problem with doing Watcher's Keep first, I guess.
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