Turn undead is a class ability for a Cleric or a Paladin.
Clerics, doomguides, some paladins and blackguards can channel positive energy, which can halt undead. The alignment of the character doesn't affect what happens.
Turning checks[]
Turning undead is a full action in NWN2. It does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Times per Day: You may attempt to turn undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier (regardless of what mixed classes you possess). This number is increased by taking the Extra Turning, Extra Turning II, and Extra Turning III feats.
Range: You turn undead in your line of sight up to 60 feet (20m) away.
Targets affected: Undead are always affected; outsiders are also affected if you have the Planar Turning epic feat or the cleric domain of Evil.
Turning Check[]
The first thing you do is roll a turning check to see how powerful an undead creature you can turn. This is a Charisma check (1d20 + your Charisma modifier). You gain a +d4 bonus if you took the sun domain. On a given turning attempt, you can turn no undead creature whose Hit Dice exceed the result on this table:
Turning Check Table Turning Check Result Maximum Hit Dice Affected 0 or lower Cleric’s level – 4 1 – 3 Cleric’s level – 3 4 – 6 Cleric’s level – 2 7 – 9 Cleric’s level – 1 10 – 12 Cleric’s level 13 – 15 Cleric’s level + 1 16 – 18 Cleric’s level + 2 19 – 21 Cleric’s level + 3 22 or higher Cleric’s level + 4
Turning Damage[]
You roll 2d6 + your cleric level + your Charisma modifier for turning damage. That’s how many total Hit Dice of undead you can turn. Sun domain clerics gain an additional +d6 bonus to this total. Multiply the final result by 1.5 for Empower Turning.
Effect and Duration of Turning[]
The turned creature acts as if rebuked and stands still, taking a -2 penalty to AC, and have their dexterity bonus lost (if above 10, the score is set to 10 if they can be affected by ability damage). This effect lasts for 10 rounds.
If you have twice as many cleric levels (or more) as the creature has Hit Dice, you destroy (supernaturally kill) the creature instead.
Other classes and turn undead[]
Blackguards can turn undead beginning at level 3 as if they were a cleric 2 levels lower than their blackguard level.
Paladins can turn undead beginning at level 4 as if they were a cleric 3 levels lower than their paladin level.
Doomguides requires the extra turning feat to choose the class, but give many turn undead feats free. They add their entire level to the cleric level.
The Improved Turning feat (granted free at level 2 to doomguides) adds 1 to the level check.
If you are multiclassed between any of the turning classes, you add the bonuses from each class (minimum 0).
- A level 10 cleric / 10 paladin would have a turning level of 17.
- A level 10 cleric / 10 blackguard would have a turning level of 18.
- A level 10 cleric / 10 doomguide would have a turning level of 21.
- A level 10 cleric / 5 paladin / 5 doomguide would have a turning level of 18.
- A level 10 cleric / 5 blackguard / 5 paladin (somehow!) would have a turning level of 12, taking the paladin's +2 bonus (blackguard and paladin levels do not stack, paladin's level-3 is used unless the character has MORE blackguard levels than paladin levels).
- A level 10 cleric / 5 blackguard / 4 paladin (somehow!) would have a turning level of 13, taking the blackguard's +3 bonus (in this case, the character has more blackguard levels than paladin levels, so for purposes of turning, the blackguard level-2 is used, while the paladin levels are ignored).
Notes[]
- If the turning attempt fails (e.g., if the target has too many HD) while the caster is invisible/ethereal, the invisibility will not be dispelled. Whether this is intentional or a bug, it still signifies a reduction in game difficulty. If this is intentional, then at least on hardcore difficulty the casting event should be signalled to the targets in the vicinity whether the caster manages to affect them or not. Otherwise you can simply try turning for hours until you get a lucky roll.
- The effects applied by this ability are not supposed to be dispellable, as it is an extraordinary ability. However, no effects are marked as extraordinary, so all of them are subject to dispel. This applies to AC decrease, the Turned effect, DEX decrease (outsiders only, planar turning) as well as the VFX applied by this spell. Since all effects except DEX decrease are linked, dispelling any one of them will dispel them all. This is extremely problematic, as Mordekainen's Disjunction must be cast on outsiders to decrease their spell resistance and to dispel the Magic Circle against Good/Evil (horned devils) to cancel their immunity to Mind Fog.
- Turn Undead will mostly ignore associates of other party members, so for example, if Safiya summons a wraith and Dove uses Turn Undead, the wraith will not be affected. This is incredibly problematic, as it simplifies the game overall, running counter to hardcore difficulty rules, this problem affects pretty much every offensive spell/ability in the game. Some campaigns like MoB disable hurting of friendly associates altogether. However, even if not disabled, there is another problem - the game checks if the associate's master is a player controlled character. Since most players will be controlling the character that is casting the spell/using an ability at the time when the spell is cast/ability is used, this means any associates of other party members are ignored completely (so in the example above, the player is most likely to control Dove at the moment when Turn Undead is "cast", which means the check for Safiya being a player controlled character will return FALSE, so the Turn Undead script will simply ignore her summoned undead associate). This behaviour is set in module load scripts (depends on module/campaign) and in NW_I0_SPELLS spells include (check CAMPAIGN_SWITCH_USE_PERSONAL_REPUTATION).
- Script clearly indicates that Turn Undead is supposed to only affect enemies but due to bugged check it actually affects all Undead around.
NWN1 rules[]
You can turn creatures other than undead based on your domain choices:
- Plant domain clerics can turn vermin.
- Good domain or Evil domain clerics can turn outsiders.
- Air domain, Earth domain, Fire domain or Water domain clerics can turn elementals.
- Destruction domain clerics can damage constructs (see effects below).
Constructs[]
Constructs take an amount of d3 dice equal to the turn check (done above) damage if the caster has the destruction domain, instead of being rebuked. EG: A turn check of 10 would mean the construct takes 10d3 damage.
D&D 3.5 rules[]
Good clerics and paladins and some neutral clerics can channel positive energy, which can halt, drive off (rout), or destroy undead. Evil clerics and some neutral clerics can channel negative energy, which can halt, awe (rebuke), control (command), or bolster undead. Regardless of the effect, the general term for the activity is “turning.” When attempting to exercise their divine control over these creatures, characters make turning checks.
Turning checks[]
Turning undead is a supernatural ability that a character can perform as a standard action. It does not provoke attacks of opportunity. You must present your holy symbol to turn undead. Turning is considered an attack.
Times per Day: You may attempt to turn undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. You can increase this number by taking the extra turning feat.
Range: You turn the closest turnable undead first, and you can’t turn undead that are more than 60 feet away or that have total cover relative to you. You don’t need line of sight to a target, but you do need line of effect.
Turning Check: The first thing you do is roll a turning check to see how powerful an undead creature you can turn. This is a Charisma check (1d20 + your Charisma modifier).
Table: Turning Undead gives you the Hit Dice of the most powerful undead you can affect, relative to your level. On a given turning attempt, you can turn no undead creature whose Hit Dice exceed the result on this table.
Turning Damage: If your roll on Table: Turning Undead is high enough to let you turn at least some of the undead within 60 feet, roll 2d6 + your cleric level + your Charisma modifier for turning damage. That’s how many total Hit Dice of undead you can turn. If your Charisma score is average or low, it’s possible to roll fewer Hit Dice of undead turned than indicated on Table: Turning Undead. You may skip over already turned undead that are still within range, so that you do not waste your turning capacity on them.
Effect and Duration of Turning: Turned undead flee from you by the best and fastest means available to them. They flee for 10 rounds (1 minute). If they cannot flee, they cower (giving any attack rolls against them a +2 bonus). If you approach within 10 feet of them, however, they overcome being turned and act normally. (You can stand within 10 feet without breaking the turning effect—you just can’t approach them.) You can attack them with ranged attacks (from at least 10 feet away), and others can attack them in any fashion, without breaking the turning effect.
Destroying Undead: If you have twice as many levels (or more) as the undead have Hit Dice, you destroy any that you would normally turn.
Table: Turning Undead
Turning Check Result | Most Powerful Undead Affected (Maximum Hit Dice) |
---|---|
0 or lower | Cleric’s level – 4 |
1–3 | Cleric’s level – 3 |
4–6 | Cleric’s level – 2 |
7–9 | Cleric’s level – 1 |
10–12 | Cleric’s level |
13–15 | Cleric’s level + 1 |
16–18 | Cleric’s level + 2 |
19–21 | Cleric’s level + 3 |
22 or higher | Cleric’s level + 4 |
Evil clerics and undead[]
Evil clerics channel negative energy to rebuke (awe) or command (control) undead rather than channeling positive energy to turn or destroy them. An evil cleric makes the equivalent of a turning check. Undead that would be turned are rebuked instead, and those that would be destroyed are commanded.
Rebuked: A rebuked undead creature cowers as if in awe (attack rolls against the creature get a +2 bonus). The effect lasts 10 rounds.
Commanded: A commanded undead creature is under the mental control of the evil cleric. The cleric must take a standard action to give mental orders to a commanded undead. At any one time, the cleric may command any number of undead whose total Hit Dice do not exceed his level. He may voluntarily relinquish command on any commanded undead creature or creatures in order to command new ones.
Dispelling Turning: An evil cleric may channel negative energy to dispel a good cleric’s turning effect. The evil cleric makes a turning check as if attempting to rebuke the undead. If the turning check result is equal to or greater than the turning check result that the good cleric scored when turning the undead, then the undead are no longer turned. The evil cleric rolls turning damage of 2d6 + cleric level + Charisma modifier to see how many Hit Dice worth of undead he can affect in this way (as if he were rebuking them).
Bolstering Undead: An evil cleric may also bolster undead creatures against turning in advance. He makes a turning check as if attempting to rebuke the undead, but the Hit Dice result on Table: Turning Undead becomes the undead creatures’ effective Hit Dice as far as turning is concerned (provided the result is higher than the creatures’ actual Hit Dice). The bolstering lasts 10 rounds. An evil undead cleric can bolster himself in this manner.
Neutral clerics and undead[]
A cleric of neutral alignment can either turn undead but not rebuke them, or rebuke undead but not turn them. See Turn or Rebuke Undead for more information. Even if a cleric is neutral, channeling positive energy is a good act and channeling negative energy is evil.
Paladins and undead[]
Beginning at 4th level, paladins can turn undead as if they were clerics of three levels lower than they actually are.
Turning other creatures[]
Some clerics have the ability to turn creatures other than undead. The turning check result is determined as normal.
Pre-release notes[]
- Planetouched and friendly creatures are not affected by turn undead in NWN2. [1]
- In NWN2, all undead turning will actually be treated as rebuking: they will take no actions, suffer -2 to Armor class and loss of Dexterity bonuses, if any; the effect will last for 10 rounds. Undead will still be destroyed when appropriate. [2]