D&D 5E Raise Dead/Reincarnate on dead undeads

[Sacrosanct]

I would say a wish or something similar would be needed now to return this wizard to a living person again. Perhaps a plea or request to a deity from a VERY faithful cleric in exchange for completing an extremely difficult quest. A great excuse for a new adventure that may or may not be related to what is currently happening in the campaign.

These were my exact thoughts when reading the OP. The 5e cleric even has a class ability specifically for things like this (divine intervention)

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Oops, you're right, just in a different spot.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I would rule that a dead formerly-undead person can be brought back to life normally. However, I would count the time that they were undead as part of the time they were dead (because otherwise you could reset the time limit on Raise Dead by zombifying your dead allies and then killing them again, which despite being amusing strikes me as nonsensical).

 

[Sunseeker]

Since he has been reanimated as an undead, I would not allow him to be regular resurrected, his body has IMO been damaged beyond repair thanks to the necromantic reanimation effects. You would need true resurrection, creating effectively an entirely new body for him.

 

[steeldragons]

I would expect a true resurrection would be needed to get him back in his pre-undead body/spirit/self.

Raise Dead on an undead, I expect to create a large explosion of twinkling particles of grave dust. Revivify (someone mentioned) would, similarly, deal damage on the undead body.

Resurrection...I suppose would just bring him back to "ghast life." You resurrect the body that they are/had when they died...or in this case "died" as a ghast.

Reincarnate would not function on an undead body...or so I would rule.

So true resurrection or a wish ...or direct divine intervention, I suppose would work. Obviously a deity would need a verrrry good reason to bother getting involved.

But I'll also go on record as another vote to just let this be a "find the right spell" fix. This fix, if it is even possible, needs to be a process...and the necromancer really stepped in it. Sounds like mad-ghast-archmage BBEG on the horizon to me.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I'd say that resurrect should work on a killed undead, providing the soul in question wishes to live again.

The real challenge should be in killing a powerful spellcasting undead who doesn't want to die. There's your 'challenge' right there - tracking down a spellcasting intelligent ghoul who is intent on evading the PCs should not be a trivial task.

 

[adam_antio]

I would rule that a dead formerly-undead person can be brought back to life normally. However, I would count the time that they were undead as part of the time they were dead

The real challenge should be in killing a powerful spellcasting undead who doesn't want to die. There's your 'challenge' right there.

Yes, we're going exactly this way, which was the cleric's first idea and the one everyone else is inclined to follow. Also the ghoul's entry clearly specifies that a ghoul's flesh never rots, and that counts for something. All in all, between having to kill the powerful wizard* turned ghoul, and pulling in a higher officer of the cleric's faith as a new player** that will present both demands and an opening to a previously unexplored element of our setting, we feel we have more than enough on the plate!

*we're off to kill the Wizard...

**well, player in the common meaning, not the rpg meaning!

 

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[CapnZapp]

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