Mind-Affecting Spells and Death

[Hypersmurf]

If somebody under the influence of a Mind-Affecting spell dies, does the spell end, or persist until its duration expires?

For example, if a character suffering from a Lesser Geas is killed and subsequently raised, well within the 1 day/level duration of the spell, are they still Geased when they come back? And would the time they spent dead count as "prevented from obeying", and incur attribute penalties?

The Monster Manual states that creatures with a non-ability score in Intelligence (Int --) are immune to mind-influencing effects. Does this include dead people?

If not, would the body radiate Enchantment?

-Hyp.

 

[AGGEMAM]

I believe the general consensus is that spells lasts until their duration expires, benifical or malicious alike.

If not that would mean a wizard with permanent spells cast on him would loose those if he died.

Whether or not you would count the time as 'prevented from obeying' is a judgement call.

Also a character cannot get an Int score of - (none), even if dead, the Int score would always be at least 0 (zero), and most probably more than that.

Yes, the body would radiate magic.

 

[Macbrea]

Quote from Raise dead spell.
Raise dead cures hit point damage up to a total of 1 hit point per Hit Die. Any ability scores damaged to 0 are raised to 1. Normal poison and normal disease are cured in the process of raising the subject, but magical diseases and curses are not undone.


Quote from Geas/Quest
Remove curse ends the geas/quest only if its caster level is at least two higher than the character's caster level. Break enchantment does not end the geas/quest, although limited wish, miracle, and wish do.



Since, Geas appears to be a form of curse it isn't removed as the person is raised. Alot of effects are removed, curses and magic diseases are not one of those things.

 

[Macbrea]

Sorry, question was in relation to Lesser Geas not Geas/Quest. But the same thing still holds true with Lesser Geas.

Quote from Lesser Geas
A lesser geas (and all ability penalties) can be ended by break enchantment, limited wish, remove curse, miracle, or wish. Dispel magic does not affect a lesser geas.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Since, Geas appears to be a form of curse it isn't removed as the person is raised. Alot of effects are removed, curses and magic diseases are not one of those things.

Cool.

Now, onto my next question.

Let's say an evil bard kidnapped someone, tied them up, used Modify Memory to implant a memory of someone else's face as the villain in the victim's mind, and killed them.

Duration of Modify Memory is permanent, so it's not going to wear off.

Will a Speak With Dead reach the original memory, or the modified memory?

"The partially animated body retains the imprint of the soul that once inhabited it, and thus it can speak with all the knowledge that the creature had while alive. The corpse cannot learn new information. Indeed, it can't even remember being questioned."

Given that the target of Modify Memory is "one living creature", obviously it can't be cast on someone who's already dead. But given that a corpse "cannot learn new information", if the Modify Memory is dispelled while the person is dead, will a Speak with Dead subsequently reach the original memory or the modified memory?

-Hyp.

 

[Umbran]

Let's say an evil bard kidnapped someone, tied them up, used Modify Memory to implant a memory of someone else's face as the villain in the victim's mind, and killed them.

Well, there's a few technicalities...

First - Modify Memory only affects 5 minutes of memory. I expect most DMs would say it has to be 5 minutes of contiguous memory - not one minute here and another there. So, the whole kidnapping scene has to be fast.

Second - note the problem of casting the spell and then killing them. The victim will have an actual memory of being slain that hasn't been modified.

So, the villain has to be crafty - he cannot appear for more than 5 minutes of the victim's memory (or he needs to use multiple Modify Memory spells), and he must be sure the victim cannot actually see who kills them, and the corpse will report it that way. A smart party may well see that little hole in the story.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Well, there's a few technicalities...

Yup, and in the full script I'm taking them into account - the kidnapping is performed while ski-masked (or equivalent), and the throat is cut from behind.

The inserted memory is just the traditional Before-I-Kill-You-Mr-Bond gloating - the only time a face is seen.

It's not the script I'm worried about, it's the mechanics of the interactions of the three spells, Modify Memory, Dispel Magic, and Speak with Dead

-Hyp.