Animate Dead and Command Undead

[lytokk]

So, something that is very likely to come up in my next game is a necromancer (cleric base class) creating an advanced megaraptor skeleton. The group has a dread necromancer in it, and who exactly has control of the skeleton after a casting of command undead. The cleric is a gnoll level 5 and the dread necromancer is level 6. Is the skeleton just going to sit there and attack the first person who attacks it or what?

[Crake]

So, something that is very likely to come up in my next game is a necromancer (cleric base class) creating an advanced megaraptor skeleton. The group has a dread necromancer in it, and who exactly has control of the skeleton after a casting of command undead. The cleric is a gnoll level 5 and the dread necromancer is level 6. Is the skeleton just going to sit there and attack the first person who attacks it or what?

They would both have control over the undead. It's only when their commands come into conflict that there would be an issue. While it's not entirely applicable, there is a clause under enchantments about two enchantment spells coming into conflict, it says that in that case the two casters make opposed charisma checks, and the one that wins controls the creature's actions. While that only technically applies to enchantment spells, it would certainly make sense for this circumstance

[Segev]

I think it's in the RAW that you CL check; even if not, that would be how I'd handle it if better rules don't turn up.

[ExLibrisMortis]

In an antimagic field, the animator would have command, because the command undead spell is suppressed (yes, an edge case, but a good reason to personally animate your bodyguards). Otherwise, what Crake and Segev said.

[Segev]

In an antimagic field, the animator would have command, because the command undead spell is suppressed (yes, an edge case, but a good reason to personally animate your bodyguards).

The cleric rebuke/command version of control would also persist in an AMF, I believe.

[ExLibrisMortis]

The cleric rebuke/command version of control would also persist in an AMF, I believe.
I'm not sure it's an instantaneous effect - it's not written anywhere, but maybe that's the default? It does make sense to give an instantaneous duration to the "destroy" result, and by extension, to the whole ability, since you don't know the result until you use it (and you don't want to modify Duration after using the ability).

[D&DPrinceTandem]

well for you to command undead you kinda need an undead to command so
if it would go like this
1) animate undead
2) command undead
command undead would have to role to take control of the undead
if it would go like this
1) command undead
2) animate undead
command undead fails
animate undead has nothing stoping it it has auto control
if it would go like this
1) animated undead simultaneously with command undead
animate undead wins beacause command undead doent work until animate undead is done and both spells are done at the same time so command undead doesn't work
:smallredface: