Turn Undead modification
by greatleapingcrabI've got similar 'discontinuity' qualms about the RAW mechanic and I'm trying out a similar modification at the moment, using a slightly complicated pattern and formula. Basic pattern of target numbers, e.g. looking at Ghouls for levels 1-9, is:
11
9
7
5
3
7*
5*
3*
D
D
D etc
You only roll once, and this determines both success and degree of success (HD turned/destroyed).
If the target number is unstarred then you need to roll the target number or over on 2d6 as usual, but the number of HD turned is equal to the number you rolled minus the target number, plus the cleric's level. So HD turned = [roll]-[target]+[lvl] as long as [roll]-[target]>0. Any successful roll means a minimum of 1 undead monster turned, but you want to roll as high as possible if there's more than one of them.
If the target number is starred, then a successfull roll instead tells you the HD of undead destroyed i.e. [roll]-[target]+[lvl] HD. However that's out of [roll]+[lvl] HD total undead affected, and the remaining HD are turned (ie. if some are successfully destroyed, then [target]HD are also turned). Again, positive HD means at least 1 monster affected, so at minimum that's at least 1 monster turned on an unsuccessful roll, and at least 1 destroyed and 1 more able to be turned if you successfully roll the target number.
For D it's just [roll]+[lvl] destroyed automatically, no adding further dice for D+ etc.
Just aesthetically I think this smooths things out, including with mixed effects, and it makes that one roll really mean something. But it's taken a bit of getting used to and it depowers low level Clerics somewhat. e.g. 1st level Clerics only have the chance of turning 1 Ghoul at a time, or up to 2 Zombies or 6 skeletons (on a natural 12). I'm compensating for this by seeing those low level Clerics as desperately concentrating on one Ghoul or Wight at a time (i.e. grouping the undead for turning purposes by maximum possible effect rather than by encounter number). In practice this sometimes means just letting them try again on an unsuccessful roll or if the target number is high. Not quite sure what the best approach is.
If this doesn't turn out well I was interested in trying out Mr Reaper's entirely 'level vs HD' approach, but might go for something else in this thread instead...
PS Has anyone tried sticking to something like the usual table but using 1d12 instead of 2d6? It would make those 11 rolls much less of a Hail Mary.