[RPG] Does the undead controlled by the Oathbreaker paladin’s Control Undead ability get advantage/disadvantage on the saving throw

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I have two questions about my Oathbreaker paladin's relationship to the undead.

When I use my Control Undead Channel Divinity option, I can take control of an undead. My question is "Does the turn undead resistance offer advantage on the saving throw?"

I tried to control a ghast one time. It had turn undead resistance so my DM said it had advantage on the saving throw because of that.
Is that how it works?

Directly related to the above is: when I use control undead again on an undead that I already control, does it have to make the saving throw again, or do I have an advantage somehow because I already control him?

Best Answer

The ghast would not get advantage against Control Undead

The ghast has the Turning Defiance feature:

Turning Defiance. The ghast and any ghouls within 30 feet of it have advantage on saving throws against effects that turn undead.

However, Control Undead, although it is a Channel Divinity power like Turn Undead, does not turn undead. Therefore, the ghast does not get advantage against Control Undead as per RAW. Features that turn undead will say so in their description, such as a cleric's Turn Undead feature or Devotion paladin's Turn the Unholy feature, both of which say "If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage."

No advantage for attempting to control an already controlled undead

The Oathbreaker archetype (DMG, p. 97) including this on the Control Undead feature:

Control Undead. As an action, the paladin targets one undead creature he or she can see within 30 feet of him or her. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. One a failed save, the target must obey the paladin's commands for the next 24 hours, or until the paladin uses this Channel Divinity option again. An undead whose challenge rating is equal to or greater than the paladin's level is immune to this effect.

Although it says that the undead must obey the paladin's commands, a saving throw isn't really a command, so you wouldn't necessarily be able to "order" the undead to fail it (see Can you choose to fail a saving throw? in short, Jeremy Crawford tweeted "No rule lets you opt to fail a save. As DM, I might allow it, assuming you aren't incapacitated or dominated.")

Furthermore, to use Control Undead again on the same undead ends the control you already have over the undead. What that means is you have control (assuming we're still within the 24 hours since the first time you used it) right up until you use Control Undead again, then as you use it, in that instant, you do not control the undead, so it would not be affected by the previous use of Control Undead.