True resurrection and the zombie

[Hypersmurf]

I agree. Range: Touch, with a clause that says if there is no body it can still work.

Not many people seem to be able to accept that, though. Every time I bring it up, everyone disagrees but offers no reasoning behind their interprietation. =/

Hell, I accept it... I've been arguing that interpretation for years!

-Hyp.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

So, that's the way to ensure that an assassin's target is never resurrected. Re-animate him as something unintelligent, and stuff him somewhere inaccessible off-plane. Say, sealed in an adamantine vault and buried in the Elemental Plane of Earth, ot just set loose in the Negative Material Plane.

Well, either that, or kill him again as a petitioner.

 

[ThirdWizard]

So, that's the way to ensure that an assassin's target is never resurrected. Re-animate him as something unintelligent, and stuff him somewhere inaccessible off-plane. Say, sealed in an adamantine vault and buried in the Elemental Plane of Earth, ot just set loose in the Negative Material Plane.

Well, either that, or kill him again as a petitioner.

Feed him to a barghest!
It isn't a sure thing, but a 50% chance that nothing can ever possibly bring them back to life including wish and true ressurection isn't bad.

 

[El Mono Digo]

I don't think the zombie can be ressurected directly but that could be open to a given DM's house rule, but I'm pretty sure it is right in the spell description that you can destroy the zombie (or other undead) and then ressurect the person normally. Based on that I answered yes. Or if it is a PC undead who is destroyed then you can ressurect them, kill them, and re-raise them. That is always fun to play though with rituals and the like.

 

[RandomPrecision]

It seems unusual that the spell True Resurrection wouldn't need a body unless the body existed, but it is based on Raise Dead, which is a touch spell, so maybe that is correct.

As for killing someone who you really don't want to see return, it says in the description of True Resurrection that someone who has died of old age can't be affected, so if you could age your target to death, it doesn't sound like they can come back.

 

[Vargo]

Naw, you feed him to a devourer, then force it to burn the essence of the individual in question... That's guaranteed GONE, not a 50/50 chance.

 

[Darkness]

Now. True resurrection doesn't work if the target's soul is not accessible (other limitations of true res: target dead for more than 10 years/CL or died from old age).

For example, if you use soul bind on a creature, it can't be brought back even with true res.

So does a creature's soul end up in a skeleton or zombie? The core rules don't seem* to say either way.

*If you think the line "This spell ... can't resurrect ... undead creatures," includes mindless undead the implication IMO is yes, however.

So if that is the case:
What happens if the BBEG kills the good duke, soul binds him, and some of his minions later animate the body into a zombie? Does the animate dead fail?
If not:
1) Why doesn't it fail?
2) Can the good adventurers true resurrect the duke (without destroying the new zombie first) if they acquire the gem in which the soul is bound?

IMO, thinking through a few such scenarios is useful here.

 

[Hypersmurf]

As for killing someone who you really don't want to see return, it says in the description of True Resurrection that someone who has died of old age can't be affected, so if you could age your target to death, it doesn't sound like they can come back.

The Spells section in Masters of the Wild implied that Reincarnate could bring back someone who died of old age.

I never agreed with it, but someone might argue it.

-Hyp.

 

[RandomPrecision]

The Spells section in Masters of the Wild implied that Reincarnate could bring back someone who died of old age.

I never agreed with it, but someone might argue it.

-Hyp.

Player's Handbook 3.5 says it doesn't work on someone who has died of old age.

I looked in Masters of the Wild and found True Reincarnate. Unlike other dead-raising spells (including Last Breath, a few pages earlier), it doesn't have an old-age clause. However, it does say that it functions like Reincarnate, which does have the old-age clause. Probably depends on the DM, but I'd have to say no.

And if we want to look at things that need to be errata-ed, True Reincarnate is a touch spell that can function without a body.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I don't think the zombie can be ressurected directly but that could be open to a given DM's house rule, but I'm pretty sure it is right in the spell description that you can destroy the zombie (or other undead) and then ressurect the person normally. Based on that I answered yes.

The question at hand does not ask if the person can be true resurrected after the zombie is destroyed (we know it can), it asks can the true resurrection work when the zombie still exists?

Would you answer 'yes' if asked again the more clarified question?