Animate Dead and Raise Dead/Resurrection/True Resurrection [Archive] - Wizards Community

Animate Dead and Raise Dead/Resurrection/True Resurrection [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
unfortunate_crow
01-17-07, 03:00 PM Recently, one of my players' character died and due to the situation his comrades were unable to get his body. Well this character's corpse was animated via animate dead.

The players want to find him and destroy him (in his undead form), and try to raise him afterwards. I couldn't find anything that say thisisn't possible, but it just doesn't fell "right".

Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Am I missing something?
Thomas_Covenant
01-17-07, 03:04 PM Barring complex and questionable Wishes/Miracles, they need to destroy that animated body.

Per the Raise Dead text, as soon as he was animated, Raise Dead is no longer an option.
Resurrection/True Rez works fine, once the skeleton/zombie is destroyed, not before.
TheChilliGod
01-17-07, 03:05 PM Take a look at the monster features of the Undead type in the back of the Monster Manual.

It says that undead are not effected by raise dead or reincarnation. However, resurrection & true resurrection raise them and return them to whatever they were before they turned undead.

So if the players have a resurrection spell handy, I don't see anything wrong with it.
Kradlo
01-17-07, 03:11 PM With Animate Dead, the corpse either becomes a zombie or a skeleton. In both cases, the corpse is now undead, animated by negative energy, and is neutral evil. That's RAW, though some GMs may house rule otherwise for their campaigns.

Once "slain" again, the corpse is now just a dead body (though a bit worse for wear). As such, it may be subject to Raise Dead, Resurrection, or True Resurrection. Again, RAW, though any GM is free to house rule otherwise.

If you feel, for instance, that the spirit of the dear departed would be expelled from the body because of its animation via evil magic, you're free to rule that this is so. If that's the case, then those wishing to bring their loved one back from beyond the veil of death will have to perform some kind of cleansing ritual upon the corpse to remove the taint of evil necromancy before attempting the resurrection.

You could even have some fun in which the person brought back will have flashbacks to being a mindless, yet hostile, undead. Those would be unsettling memories indeed.

"Brains..."

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
unfortunate_crow 01-17-07, 03:00 PM	Recently, one of my players' character died and due to the situation his comrades were unable to get his body. Well this character's corpse was animated via animate dead. The players want to find him and destroy him (in his undead form), and try to raise him afterwards. I couldn't find anything that say thisisn't possible, but it just doesn't fell "right". Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Am I missing something?
Thomas_Covenant 01-17-07, 03:04 PM	Barring complex and questionable Wishes/Miracles, they need to destroy that animated body. Per the Raise Dead text, as soon as he was animated, Raise Dead is no longer an option. Resurrection/True Rez works fine, once the skeleton/zombie is destroyed, not before.
TheChilliGod 01-17-07, 03:05 PM	Take a look at the monster features of the Undead type in the back of the Monster Manual. It says that undead are not effected by raise dead or reincarnation. However, resurrection & true resurrection raise them and return them to whatever they were before they turned undead. So if the players have a resurrection spell handy, I don't see anything wrong with it.
Kradlo 01-17-07, 03:11 PM	With Animate Dead, the corpse either becomes a zombie or a skeleton. In both cases, the corpse is now undead, animated by negative energy, and is neutral evil. That's RAW, though some GMs may house rule otherwise for their campaigns. Once "slain" again, the corpse is now just a dead body (though a bit worse for wear). As such, it may be subject to Raise Dead, Resurrection, or True Resurrection. Again, RAW, though any GM is free to house rule otherwise. If you feel, for instance, that the spirit of the dear departed would be expelled from the body because of its animation via evil magic, you're free to rule that this is so. If that's the case, then those wishing to bring their loved one back from beyond the veil of death will have to perform some kind of cleansing ritual upon the corpse to remove the taint of evil necromancy before attempting the resurrection. You could even have some fun in which the person brought back will have flashbacks to being a mindless, yet hostile, undead. Those would be unsettling memories indeed. "Brains..."