Turning the Undead

Some spell-casters, and such characters as priests or paladins, have the ability to turn undead, causing them to flee or even outright destroying them. When a turning attempt is made, a d20 should be rolled and the Turning Undead table consulted for the result.

If the number on the die is equal to or greater than the number shown on the table, all undead creatures of the targeted type are turned and will flee for 3d6 rounds, or will cower helplessly if they cannot flee.
If the table indicates “T”, all undead creatures of the targeted type are automatically turned and will flee for 3d6 rounds, or cower helplessly if they cannot flee.
For Lawful or Good Clerics, if the table indicates “D”, the undead creature is automatically destroyed and will crumble to dust. For Chaotic or Evil Clerics, a result of “D” indicates that the undead are forced into the Cleric’s command for a period of 24 hours.

Undead HD	Examples	Clerical Level
Undead HD	Examples	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9–13	14–18	19+
1	Skeleton	10	7	4	T	T	D	D	D	D	D	D
2	Zombie	13	10	7	T	T	D	D	D	D	D	D
3	Ghoul	16	13	10	4	T	T	D	D	D	D	D
4	Shadow	19	16	13	7	4	T	T	D	D	D	D
5	Wight	20	19	16	10	7	4	T	T	D	D	D
6	Ghast	–	20	19	13	10	7	4	T	T	D	D
7	Wraith	–	–	20	16	13	10	7	4	T	D	D
8	Mummy	–	–	–	19	16	13	10	7	4	T	D
9	Spectre	–	–	–	20	19	16	13	10	7	T	T
10	Vampire¹	–	–	–	–	20	19	16	13	10	4	4
11	Ghost	–	–	–	–	–	20	19	16	13	7	4
12	Lich	–	–	–	–	–	–	20	19	16	10	7
13	Demon	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	20	19	13	10
¹Vampires cannot be turned automatically

The maximum range at which any type of undead can be affected is a function of the level of the character doing the turning. The 60� cone is 10� long, plus 10� per level, and is impeded by walls, doors, or other such obstacles.

Lesser undead such as skeletons, zombies, ghouls and so forth can be made considerably harder to turn if they are under the direct control of greater undead like vampires or liches, or of high-level necromancers, anti-paladins, demons and the like.

The degree to which they resist a character�s Turning attempts is dependent on the power of the controlling entity. At the very least, they will move two steps up in rank � a skeleton, normally a Type 1 undead, would thus be treated as a Type 3 (or even higher) undead for the purposes of Turning. Similarly, undead can be easier to Turn or even destroy when on sanctified ground.