Raising Unwilling Dead

[mattcolville]

Is it possible to bring someone back from the dead who does not want to be brought back?

 

[pawsplay]

You could try it with a wish, but they would still get their saving throw, and their deity could likely prevent it.

 

[mattcolville]

Well poop. I have a dead PC whom I wanted the bad guys to raise. I thought it would be cool to;

*Put the PC right in the face of the enemy leaders, something that normally doesn't happen until the final boss battle.
*Force the PC via spells to divulge info about the rest of the party.
*Give the PC an opporunity to escape and return to the group.

And I wanted to do it with a 7th level spell. I wonder if turning the dead PC into some sort of intelligent undead might work? Obviously then he wouldn't return to the group, he'd become a bad guy.

Can you take a dead dude and turn him into an Undead Vampire and if so, what does he remember of his previous life?

 

[Three_Haligonians]

There are spells that let you hold onto the soul of a dearly departed and force it to answer questions for you - heck even speak with dead follows that line if you don't want to go spell hunting.

I know I've seen such spells before - Spell Compendium, Book of Vile Darkness, and Heroes of Horror all seem like the best place to start looking.

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Quartz]

Can you not simply hand-wave it and say that the PC was somehow tricked into allowing herself to be Raised? (Simple example: the bad guys forced a Good cleric to Raise her).

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

The 8th level spell Create Greater Undead can produce Shadows, Wraiths, Spectres and Devourers. All of these are intelligent undead. Create Undead is a 6th level spell and can create Ghouls, Ghasts and Mohrgs, as well as Mummies, all of which are intelligent undead.

Doesn't suggest anything about if the new undead remembers anything or not, just that they're not immediately under the control of their creator. Standard Mummies and Shadows have, it appears, a -2 penalty to Int, so they might be a bit on the thick side.

Personally, if it's a cool plot device and the guy playing the character is cool with it ... then why not? Either way.

--fje

 

[irdeggman]

Is it possible to bring someone back from the dead who does not want to be brought back?

No

Pg 171 of the PHB covers revivication against one's will.

Revivification against One’s Will: A soul cannot be returned to life if it does not wish to be. A soul knows the name, alignment, and patron deity (if any) of the character attempting to revive it and may refuse to return on that basis. For example, if Alhandra the paladin is slain and a high priest of Nerull (god of death) grabs her body, Alhandra probably does not wish to be raised from the dead by him. Any attempts he makes to revive her automatically fail. If the evil cleric wants to revive Alhandra to interrogate her, he needs to find some way to trick her soul, such as duping a good cleric into raising her and then capturing her once she’s alive again.

It is pretty specific and seems to cover the situation you are using specifically.

 

[Bad Paper]

*Force the PC via spells to divulge info about the rest of the party.

That is called speak with dead.

Why not just try the raise? Give the player the option to say yes. I said yes when the bad guys raised my wizard, and ultimately, uhh, well, I don't play that wizard anymore.

At any rate, just try it by the book. Raises are not cheap, and many players would jump at the chance.

 

[Sejs]

Are you the DM?

If so, hey look! He's been brought back as undead and he's totally working with the badguys now! Maaaaybe he's been corrupted by his transformation, or maaaaaybe they're controlling him via an evil priest or a Control Undead type spell. Whichever works better for you. They did it via this nifty evil ritual that's detailed in one of the unholy books the badguys has. Real foul stuff.


Really, don't sweat the details. If it meets both criteria of Sejs' Law (1- are you the dm? 2- is it awesome?) then it works, even if the rules themselves are squeemish on the matter.

*nod*

 

[Glyfair]

And I wanted to do it with a 7th level spell. I wonder if turning the dead PC into some sort of intelligent undead might work? Obviously then he wouldn't return to the group, he'd become a bad guy.

There are intelligent undead that aren't necessarily evil using some non-core rules (playing in Eberron, for example, you could easily be a non-evil undead). That might be an avenue for investigation.