Master DM's Book: Undead Lieges and Pawns

The Master DMs book introduced rules for undead lieges and pawns.

Illustration by Terry Dykstra, from the D&D Rules Cyclopedia (1991)

A Liege may control a number of undead whose total Hit Dice are less than or equal to twice the Liege's Hit Dice.  When a lich or other undead spell caster seeks to control other undead, its caster level is used instead of its Hit Dice.

Undead Attempts to Control Other Undead

If one undead tries to control another, find the Hit Dice of the would-be Liege and potential Pawn on the chart above and roll 2d6.*  If the number is equal to or greater than the number given, the attempt succeeds and the undead subject becomes the Pawn of the controller.

*if the undead attempting control was once a spell-using character and can now use spells as it did in life, a + 2 bonus applies to all die rolls for control

Benefits to a Liege:

A Liege is telepathically linked to its Pawns and can see and hear through their eyes and ears whenever it chooses.  Control of a Pawn is total, even to the point that it will obey suicidal orders.  If a Pawn fails a Morale check, the Liege may stop the Pawn and force it back into melee.

A Liege can create a chain of control by instructing its Pawns to become Lieges too.  Direct communication and control does not extend through a chain of control, but only to a Liege’s personal Pawns.  A Liege at the top of a chain of control may be considered the leader of an undead army.

Turning Controlled Undead:

When a character tries to turn Pawns, the attempt is checked as if against the Liege.  If the attempt fails, the Pawns are completely unaffected, even if they would normally be Turned or Destroyed by the result. If the Turn succeeds, the control link is broken, but there is no other effect.