Clean-Up After A Wightpocalypse

[Tibbaerrohwen]

I'm currently working on obliterating an army of approximately 10, 000 orcs. Many tactics have been suggested and among them are several variations of a Wightpocalypse. I'm currently a Factotum 3/Swash 3/Protean Adept 3 and I have a couple of questions:

1) How can I guarantee control over a Wight with a second level spell when it has a Will +5?

2) Does an increase of followers for a Wight constitute a rise in CR/HD?

3) How can I clean-up after a Wightpocalypse (destroy all the Wights) quick, cheap and easy?

Thanks.

[Jarian]

Re #3: I suggest making it rain holy water. (See spoiler #5).

Does it technically work? No. Would it be AWESOME? Yes.

[Jack_Simth]

I'm currently working on obliterating an army of approximately 10, 000 orcs. Many tactics have been suggested and among them are several variations of a Wightpocalypse. I'm currently a Factotum 3/Swash 3/Protean Adept 3 and I have a couple of questions:

1) How can I guarantee control over a Wight with a second level spell when it has a Will +5?

You don't. However, you can make it exceptionally statistically unlikely that the critter will pass all the saves you throw it's way. Just get out of reach of the critter (it can't fly, and has no ranged weapon proficiencies), and start burning wand charges at it. 35% chance per attempt, with a DC 13 wand vs. a +5 save (he needs an 8 to save, so a 1-7 is a win for you - about three or four charges, usually). Targeted spells have the benefit that they let you know whether or not they worked, so you can stop once you've got him under control for the next three days.

Do be warned, however, that Wights are intelligent, and even if that works, they're just rather friendly towards you....

2) Does an increase of followers for a Wight constitute a rise in CR/HD?

Not by RAW. Oddly.

3) How can I clean-up after a Wightpocalypse (destroy all the Wights) quick, cheap and easy?

If you could, so could the army you're attacking. Other than finding an Evil Cleric-8 to Command your general to have all his troops kill themselves, you're kinda out of luck.

[Tibbaerrohwen]

You don't. However, you can make it exceptionally statistically unlikely that the critter will pass all the saves you throw it's way. Just get out of reach of the critter (it can't fly, and has no ranged weapon proficiencies), and start burning wand charges at it. 35% chance per attempt, with a DC 13 wand vs. a +5 save (he needs an 8 to save, so a 1-7 is a win for you - about three or four charges, usually). Targeted spells have the benefit that they let you know whether or not they worked, so you can stop once you've got him under control for the next three days.

Do be warned, however, that Wights are intelligent, and even if that works, they're just rather friendly towards you....
Not by RAW. Oddly.If you could, so could the army you're attacking. Other than finding an Evil Cleric-8 to Command your general to have all his troops kill themselves, you're kinda out of luck.

Would intelligent undead accept a command like that from the Wight General?

[Jack_Simth]

Would intelligent undead accept a command like that from the Wight General?

Yes. See, your general's control of it's spawn is absolute. However, because it's merely friendly when under Charm Command Undead, it won't follow "suicidal or obviously harmful orders" - which, you know, ordering it to kill off it's entire fanatically-loyal army would be.

For that, you need to get someone who *can* convince the beast to follow obviously self-destructive orders - which a Cleric who can Rebuke or Command the wight can do (Control Undead will also work, but requires a 13th level wizard's help - harder to get than an Evil Cleric-8... although the evil Cleric-8 might just want to take over the undead army, rather than disposing of it...).

[ericgrau]

I wonder how you start a wightpocalypse though. Assuming you don't mean 10,000 orc combatants at least 1,000 of those would be able to fight and a couple hundred might be level 3 or higher. You better believe most of those are going to try to squash the outbreak so you'd need a similar number of wights to get started.

EDIT: Oh it's an orc army. Ok you have maybe a couple thousand at level 3 or higher. That'll take a lot of wights to start an outbreak that won't get squashed before they get multiplying.

[Chilingsworth]

Instead of getting an Evil cleric-8, why not get a negative-channeling Neutral cleric-8?

Hopefully, such a character would be less likely to take control of the army.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

An epic-level Good Cleric with the epic feat that auto-turns or destroys anything within a radius will automatically destroy any wight who gets within 30' of him. How to convince him is easy... stop the Wightopocalypse or the world will end.

[Enterti]

I'm assuming that you are the same one who started the 1 vs 1000 thread.

If this is the case why bother cleaning them up, instead bait the wight army towards the prohuman overlord's territory and suddenly two of your problems are taking care of each other.

To do this is as easy as using the aforementioned neutral or evil clerics. It would be relatively easy to convince a nonhuman cleric that destroying a prohuman empire is within it's best interest.

[Tibbaerrohwen]

I'm assuming that you are the same one who started the 1 vs 1000 thread.

If this is the case why bother cleaning them up, instead bait the wight army towards the prohuman overlord's territory and suddenly two of your problems are taking care of each other.

To do this is as easy as using the aforementioned neutral or evil clerics. It would be relatively easy to convince a nonhuman cleric that destroying a prohuman empire is within it's best interest.

Unlike myself, the pro-human overlord (Francis) would undoubtedly have the ability to bend them to his will, via power Cleric or what-have-you.

In response to some of the above, I don't really need to have only a handful of Wights take out all 10,000 orcs, because the orcs will be diseased or poisoned as well. This is mostly to deplete their numbers before I need to face them.

[Tyndmyr]

Yes. See, your general's control of it's spawn is absolute. However, because it's merely friendly when under Charm Command Undead, it won't follow "suicidal or obviously harmful orders" - which, you know, ordering it to kill off it's entire fanatically-loyal army would be.

For that, you need to get someone who *can* convince the beast to follow obviously self-destructive orders - which a Cleric who can Rebuke or Command the wight can do (Control Undead will also work, but requires a 13th level wizard's help - harder to get than an Evil Cleric-8... although the evil Cleric-8 might just want to take over the undead army, rather than disposing of it...).

Kill off? Why would you want to do that?

No, you USE this army by convincing the general to kill off more things you need killed. The fact that your previous actions resulted in his existence and army in the first place should be a positive modifier.

[AslanCross]

The Cleansing Light of Pelor, in DMG2, can technically nuke the Wights rather quickly. You do need to have a hundred clerics of Pelor that can cast Daylight, though, and since you did cause a Wightocalypse, I doubt you have the Pelorians on your side.

[Tibbaerrohwen]

Kill off? Why would you want to do that?

No, you USE this army by convincing the general to kill off more things you need killed. The fact that your previous actions resulted in his existence and army in the first place should be a positive modifier.

Because of the Exalted nature of my party this isn't really an option. I need to destroy all the evidence that this assault ever occured.

The Cleansing Light of Pelor, in DMG2, can technically nuke the Wights rather quickly. You do need to have a hundred clerics of Pelor that can cast Daylight, though, and since you did cause a Wightocalypse, I doubt you have the Pelorians on your side.

I agree with you; it would be effective but is highly unlikely. Ironically, part of a sub-adventure in the near future involves meeting some Clerics maintaining a Cleansing Light of Pelor.

[Hazzardevil]

I reckon the best thing to do is order all teh wights to surround clerics and have them unconscious so they instantly fail turning checks and the cleric can destroy them.

[linebackeru]

Because of the Exalted nature of my party this isn't really an option. I need to destroy all the evidence that this assault ever occured.

Using a Wightpocalypse - for any purpose - seems rather unexalted.

[Tibbaerrohwen]

Using a Wightpocalypse - for any purpose - seems rather unexalted.

My character is not Exalted, though most of the party is either Exalted or LG, and, should he actually resort to a Wightpocalypse, it would be for a personal vendetta.
The party should not become aware of his activities, if all goes according to plan