Raise dead after undeath

[Quasqueton]

Raise Dead spell:

"A creature who has been turned into an undead creature . . . can't be raised by this spell."

Say a character is killed by a wight. The resulting wight creature is then 'killed'. Can the original character be raised? [Edit: was "shadow"]

Say a dead character's body is animated as a zombie. This zombie is then 'killed'. Is the character still prevented from being raised?

Quasqueton

 

[Arcturus_Rugend]

Unless it is specifically stated that the character CANNOT be raised afterward, I think there should be no problem, as the character's body is no more or less "dead" than before it was animated. If the physical body is not present, however, this may cause a problem as some spells require it.

 

[Desdinova]

Raise Dead spell:

"A creature who has been turned into an undead creature . . . can't be raised by this spell."

Say a character is killed by a shadow. The resulting shadow creature is then 'killed'. Can the original character be raised?

Say a dead character's body is animated as a zombie. This zombie is then 'killed'. Is the character still prevented from being raised?

Quasqueton

By the rules, both are not able to be raised by the spell.
It would require a higher form of magic.

 

[Quasqueton]

So far, one yes and one no.

I probably should change the shadow example to something like a wight. A shadow has no physical body for the raise dead to work on, so that is a bad example.

But a wight would leave a body. I'm editing the opening post.

Quasqueton

 

[Arcturus_Rugend]

Desdinova is correct. Raise dead is one of those examples of it being specifically stated that the creature can't be raised in that manner.

If your question is "Will Raise Dead work on a 'dead' undead character?" then the answer is no.

If your question is (as I originally, and probably mistakenly, took it) "Can a creature who has been 'killed' as an undead creature be raised in some way?" then the answer is yes, and it does, as Desdinova pointed out, require more powerful magic.

(edited for grammar)

 

[Desdinova]

As to what magic it would take is dependant upon the DM and their interpretation.

For example, Resurrection states that it will work on someone who has been turned into an undead (as long as some remains are available). True Resurrection requires no remains.

However neither one specifies whether the creature is restored to life as their original living form or simply back to being a "live" undead. I know people who look at it both ways, so that would be up to a specific DM.

 

[Nareau]

Reincarnation does not have this kind of restriction. It probably should, but it doesn't.