1) A priest with Major Access to Combat Sphere casts Recitation. He/She has summarily used Animate Dead on corpses (skeletons/zombies). Are the undead minions granted a +2 bonus to attack/damage OR +3? It depends upon if you consider them merely allies, or are they considered members of the faith b/c it was Divine power that brought them forth and binds them to the priest?
2) In a closely related situation, a priest uses Recitation upon Summoned Animals (or Calls Woodland Beings, Summons Undead if a necromancer, etc.). Are these beasts/creatures treated as only allies, or members of the faith (for the reason noted above)?
Just curious as to everyone's ideas. My player/fellow DM and I felt that, at least in the first case (it's been used in our games before), the undead were treated as 'members of the faith' due to the Divine power that brought them into service in the first place. I would rule the same for the second case, as well, out of continuity sake.
Animals and mindless undead are incapable of worshiping anything. In game terms they are allies. Willful undead and Narnia animals are another matter altogether. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
Animals and mindless undead are incapable of worshiping anything. In game terms they are allies. Willful undead and Narnia animals are another matter altogether.
I agree with Ceb; Mr. and Mrs. Beaver totally get a +3.
If you're interested in taking a page out of the 3.5e/Pathfinder rules, normal animals that are summoned from divine planes are referred to as "celestial <insert animal type>" or "fiendish <insert animal type>". Thus, a bear summoned from the Happy Hunting Grounds would be a celestial bear. Such animals have special powers over and above that of ordinary members of their species. Such powers are represented by a template and are not extreme. They include such bonuses as Damage Reduction 5/magic, Spell Resistance 15, and a bonus to hit dice, hit points, etc. These bonuses only raise their power by 1 or 2 levels, so nothing drastic. So, if a black bear could be summoned by a 3rd level animal summoning spell, a celestial black bear/fiendish black bear would need a 4th level animal summoning spell to call it.
It would be very appropriate for you to do something similar with your 2nd ed. clerical/druidic spells.
With respect to undead, it would be easy to come up with similar bonuses for undead summoned by evil clerics. You'd just need to recognize that the bonuses enjoyed by those undead represent greater power, so fewer would be summoned, or a higher level spell would be needed to summon them. I find it difficult to justify having a good-aligned god allowing his clerics to summon any kind of celestial undead, but you might replace them with angelic creatures of similar power.
Thanks for the input, everyone. The only reason I allowed the +3 bonus is due to the Divine power that summoned or brought forth these creatures into clerical service in the first place. However, I appreciate all the responses. SX, that includes anything from other editions, as some gems can be found outside 2e materials.
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