So, do you need a body?

[Super_Troll]

I was reading a post a few months ago about something (which are better than the posts about nothing) and in a reply a comment caught my attention. Someone implied that you cannot be True Resurrected if you don't have a body or a piece of the body...IF the body has not been destroyed.

Did I just read it wrong or was the comment wrong?

Thanks.

 

[Saepiroth]

that's not true, wherever you heard it. you simply must identify your target, and you do not need a hunk of body to identify your target... though it helps a lot.

 

[dcollins]

The counterargument is that the spell says that's true for creatures "whose bodies have been wholly destroyed". A possible reading is that if that's not the case then the spell works "as raise dead" and you need to retrieve the body.

 

[hammymchamham]

the target of True Res is dead creature touched. As stated in the text of the spell, it can bring back creatures whose body has been "wholly destroyed." If the body has not been "wholly destroyed" you'd need the body. Nothing in the spells description says otherwise.

Of course nothing in the rules spells out what "wholly destroyed" means, so its up to the DM.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Most likely, the requirement of having the body is to prevent a character from being True Rezzed from nothing back at camp, then having someone else cast Raise Dead on the body. Instant double trouble.

Come to think of it...I like that idea. I think I may just make TR always create a body out of nothing. The idea of the villain resurrecting an abandoned body for nefarious purposes pleases me.

 

[John Smallberries]

Let's assume a villain absconds with a fallen PC's corpse then snips off a pinky before dumping the body into a Bag of Devouring.

As long as he keeps the pinky preserved in a pickle jar, no Resurrection magic will raise the PC?

 

[hammymchamham]

Let's assume a villain absconds with a fallen PC's corpse then snips off a pinky before dumping the body into a Bag of Devouring.

As long as he keeps the pinky preserved in a pickle jar, no Resurrection magic will raise the PC?

Originally posted by hammymchamham

Of course nothing in the rules spells out what "wholly destroyed" means, so its up to the DM.

Don't ask me, talk to the DM.

 

[Super_Troll]

A response from Sage Advice:

In a message dated 2/24/03 8:16:21 AM,
<< To clarify my question: Lets say I am walking through hell and I die by falling on a rock...so no one knows where I am or how to get my body. My friends assume I am dead so try to have me brought back via True Resurrection. >>

Technically if the body still exists somewhere. The caster has to touch it to make the spell work.

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

The caster has to touch it to make the spell work.

Well that is kind of absurd if the body is wholly destroyed...

I know the True Resurrection spell does not have a "target" entry, because it refers to Raise Dead. Like I said, its absurd.

From my point of view, if you can identify the person you wish to raise, even you don't know where the body is, you CAN do it with True Resurrection. Doesnt matter if your head is on some bad guy's secret hideout's wall, you come back to like. The aforementioned head would not disappear. You couldn't, anyways, bring someone back twice at the same time, because its the soul/spirit that comes back, and said soul/spirit cannot be duplicated.

My question would be why don't clerics constantly revive the great heroes of their faith (those that didn't die of old age)? Do you keeping "aging" even while dead?

Maitre D

 

[DreamChaser]

I would rule that if TR is cast on a creature whose body is still around somewhere but not at the location of the casting, the character's body crumbles to dust. Thus no worry about resurrection the character twice.

Of course, if you have the body with you, there wouldn't be much reason to cast TR when Resurrection will do just fine. Why over do it?

It doesn't seem to be that big a deal to me *shrug*

DC