|
|
Post by dmsam on Apr 15, 2016 5:48:27 GMT
I have read up on some sage advice about this. It seems that when an undead creature dies, it is no longer undead, but just dead. www.sageadvice.eu/2016/03/19/could-one-use-raise-dead-on-an-undead-creature-after-it-dies/As such, that corpse can be targeted by raise dead and resurrection. My question is, when is the corpse's time of death? Is it when its undeath ended? Or is it when it's life ended prior to that? The 10 day time limit may alter the end result, so it may be of some concern. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2016 7:15:13 GMT
You won't find a concrete answer in any of the books, but I would look to the spell Gentle Repose for guidance. "The target is protected from decay..." and "..days spent under the influence of this spell don't count against the time limits of spell such as raise dead."
From this (and the text of Raise Dead itself), I infer that the 10 day limit on Raise Dead is based on the catastrophic amount of damage decomposition causes on the physical structure of a body. Half the magic of Raise Dead is bringing the soul back to the body, but the other half is healing the physical damage. Anything longer than 10 days is beyond the spell's capacity to heal. It's a rather arbitrary limit of course, since the amount of decay will vary based on environmental factors (e.g. a body in a swamp vs. a body in the arctic)
In any case, since Animate Dead does not prevent decay, I would say that time spent in undeath is equal to time spent dead for the purpose of Raise Dead and Resurrection.
This is just my interpretation. In the end, it's DM fiat.
|
|
|
|
Post by joatmoniac on Apr 15, 2016 8:26:58 GMT
Ye olde research puts 8 to 10 days as having "Massive decomposition of organs in abdomen accumulate massive gas; body turns from green to red because of blood decomposition." So I would tend to agree with Nevvur as the potential reasoning behind the 10 day rule. In turn making the clock start ticking once they are undead, and even thinking about that concept leads me to wonder about there being some, albeit short, time that they are likely "dead" between life and undeath. Then it's back to does undeath stop the clock in regards to those spells? Again I would say no, but vampires are considered medium undead and by no means have the wonderful description that I posted above, haha. However, you can't really kill a vampire without destroying it so not a great example. Don't forget the fun twist Mike Mearls put on it "I'd say yes - comes back as it was in life, but I'd lay down a 5% chance that Orcus notices and is... displeased." I would definitely have the player roll for that little gem to pop up, haha. Also, was there a specific in game scenario that you were needing the info for, or just general curiosity?
|
|
|
|
Post by dmsam on Apr 15, 2016 11:04:39 GMT
In my campaign the setting is in a mid-high magic city where raise dead is not out of the question. As such, assassins will need ways to make sure their targets stay dead. Removing vital organs or animate dead seemed like viable options at the time. . .
Also, a major NPC questgiver in my story was turned into a vampire. The PCs may want to change her back, so I had to plan ahead.
I think I'll rule that animate dead does not stop decomposition, thus time spent as a zombie counts against the 10 day limit, where as create undead does stop decomposition, since ghouls are specifically stated to never rot in the MM, and will not count against the limit.
Under the description of vampires (under player characters), killing and resurrecting a vampire will cure the creature of vampirism, which I suppose is always a viable option.
|
|
