Polymorph undead?

[gamelyn31]

Can an undead be the target of a Baleful Polymorph? Per the rules for Baleful Polymorph, I see no reason why not, but it does seem to have the unintended affect of bringing an undead creature to life, since Polymorph says that the creature takes on the new form's type (which, in the case of Baleful Polymorph, is type "animal").

This came up in our game recently and as DM I was at a loss for how to handle it. I didn't like the idea that the spell could "give life" to something of "unlife" so I ultimately decided to rule that the bodak was changed into an undead toad (that still thought it was a bodak! )

Anyway, just thought I'd see if someone could point me towards the official ruling on this (if, in fact, one exists). - Thanks!

 

[DarkJester]

Undead are immune to any effect that requires a fortitude save and doesn't affect objects, thus they are unaffected by Baleful Polymorph. Polymorph any object can affect them though, as it can target objects. I think liches flat out get immunity to polymorph effects.

 

[gamelyn31]

Perfect! Thanks for the response. Now, what to do about this undead frog hopping around...

 

[phindar]

Weird. The last time I recall this coming up was in my friend's Night Below campaign for 2e, probably 10 years ago, and it was because someone in the party had polymorphed two wights into... frogs. What is it about frogs and undead?

 

[Aries_Omega]

Frogs like to hide in lich skulls and go "ribbit" to disrupt their spellcasting. That is if he is your party's rogue that was polymorphed.