What happens when a Resurrection or a Raise Dead is cast on an undead?

520.

DR052

Dragon #52

What ahappens when a Resurrection or a Raise Dead is cast on an undead?

Hmmm. It stands to reason that undead can be resurrected, as long as their living bodies had souls. But according to the spell description for Resurrection, a cleric can resurrect the “bones” of a dead body — that is, there must be some part of the body available for the cleric to touch for the process of resurrection to take place. Any undead which is encountered in an immaterial, gaseous or ethereal form could not be resurrected, because there’s nothing for the cleric to lay his hands on — even if he dared to touch one. An undead creature which is corporeal, and especially one which has retained at least a vestige of the appearance it had in life, could conceivably be resurrected with a touch — again, if the cleric is willing and able to withstand the effects of that touch. It’s worth noting here that a cleric who casts Resurrection is incapacitated for at least one day afterward, during which time the cleric cannot engage in combat or spell-casting. Unless some means is at hand to control the resurrected creature and save the cleric’s skin, he’s going to be in a lot of trouble after the spell is cast. A further guideline on the subject is found in the Monster Manual in the description for ghouls. A human who is killed by a ghoul will himself become a ghoul., unless a Bless spell is cast upon the corpse (in which case the victim is simply dead). The corpse could then be resurrected — after being blessed. Logically, the same procedure — bless first, raise later — could be required for an attempt to resurrect any undead creature. Depending on the DM’s interpretation of “touch,” it might be possible for a cleric to lay hands on, for instance, the immobilized body of a vampire without suffering the loss of 2 life energy levels which accompanies a vampire’s hit on a victim. (Since the vampire isn’t doing the “hitting” or “touching,” he can’t do any damage.) But what about the mummy? Its touch “inflicts a rotting disease on any hit,” but it’s logical to assume that anyone who initiates contact with a mummy would also be subject to the disease. Since each type of undead is at least slightly different from each other type, there are no general rules which can apply. Whether or not to require a Bless spell, whether or not to assess damage upon a “touch,” and any other particular questions are left to the DM’s discretion. Raise Dead is a different matter entirely. The spell description pretty well covers it: The vital parts of the body must be present, which rules out skeletons and any non-corporeal undead, and the undead creature must have been in a non-alive state for a length of time which does not exceed the limit of the spell’s power. The Monster Manual gives specifics for some cases: spectres, wights and wraiths will be destroyed by a Raise Dead spell (unless they make a save vs. magic), and a mummy can be resurrected by casting Cure Disease followed by Raise Dead. If a Bless is required before a Resurrection attempt can be successful, the blessing need not also be required for a Raise Dead attempt, because the soul hasn’t been away from the body as long and the newly created undead hasn’t fallen entirely into the clutches of eviltry.