Raise dead ... on a horse?

[caudor]

This may qualify as one of the dumbest questions on this board, but here it goes...

Situation: A PC's beloved mount (in this case, a horse) is killed and dragged to the nearest temple in hope that it can be raised.

You humble DM is left to deal with these questions:

1. Will raise dead even work on an animal (or is there a more appropriate Druid spell out there)?

2. Would it be likely that a cleric would be insulted and/or refuse such as request because it is an animal?

3. Would a raised horse still be servicable as a mount afterwards?

Thanks in advance for your comments!

 

[starwolf]

ohhh the possibilties......

Why not?

Has the horse been a faithful companion? Better yet, has the PC been a kind and considerate companion to the horse?

Just imagine the priest trying to interced with his god to raise the horse......and the god going.."Um, excuse me but you will have to take that up with the Great Mare" and then the Great Mare materializes and demands an answer for any wrong's that the PC has done to her's? Does the horse want to come back? and what payment will the Lady of Horses demand of the PC?

 

[Hygric]

in answer to 1, yes, raise dead will work on an animal. Whether it wants to come back or not is another matter entirely.

for number 2, depends heavily on the individual cleric and god concerned.

as to number 3, as servicable as any other being brought back by a rasie dead, just remember to drop it by one con point.

 

[hong]

This wouldn't be the horse that was killed by the harm debate, would it?

 

[caudor]

Nope, I missed the harm debate so this would be a different horse.

Thanks all for the feedback. Of course, the deity of the cleric involved and the horse's actual willingness to return seem to be key.

Unless the owner and horse had a strong bond, I suppose the horse may be happily grazing away in the Beastlands (or wherever it landed on the other side). Perhaps there is a happy pastural plane just for domestic animals.

One thing that surprizes me is that there isn't a Druid version of the raise dead spell for animals and plants. (if there is I haven't found it). Perhaps Druids consider death to be natural and find raising dead to be unnatural.

 

[MerakSpielman]

This wouldn't be the horse that was killed by the harm debate, would it?

Nah. That horse is still dead and still being beaten mercilessly after all these years...

As far as Raising a horse (or other animal) it would depend on if, in your campaign, animals have souls. (Don't you love the stuff you can invent for a fantasy world that causes infinite debate in the "real world?") So do they? Is there a place animal souls go when the animal dies? Can a horse comprehend the concept of being raised enough to accept or decline such an offer? If the horse has gone to the Endless Meadows, will it really want to come back and be subjected to a life of adventure, which already proved fatal once?

 

[Lucius Foxhound]

Just to give it a rules perspective, if you can raise a familiar, you can certain raise a beloved mount. From the SRD:

Slain familiars can be raised from the dead just as characters can be, but do not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs.

For the right price, you can find a Cleric to do pretty much anything that's not evil (unless they're an evil cleric, of course).

 

[wolff96]

One thing that surprizes me is that there isn't a Druid version of the raise dead spell for animals and plants. (if there is I haven't found it). Perhaps Druids consider death to be natural and find raising dead to be unnatural.

I know my druid does. But he'll be more than happy to Reincarnate you into whatever form nature needs most right now.

There's no reason it wouldn't work on plants and animals -- though you might get some of the most stupid humans you ever saw on a bad die roll. (Reincarnate doesn't change mental stats.)

 

[MerakSpielman]

Raising plants has some serious implications, since some plants can be harvested for very valuable wood. Imagine chopping down a redwood (or some huge fantasy tree), selling the timber, and then raising it and doing it again. With the right kind of luxury wood, you could make something of a profit.

 

[Zad]

I can't see any reason why you can't raise a horse.

Except that it would never work around here, since any dead horse is beaten to the point where there isn't enough left to raise.