I have a BBEG who is a Necromancer and he wants some servants who dont stink up the place. The idea is smother or poison some slave girls, raise them as Zombies and then cast Gentle Repose to keep them from decaying.
So does Gentle Repose work on Undead or just the dead?
By the rules as written, gentle repose only works "the remains of a dead creature." Since zombies are no longer dead, but undead, the spell wouldn't work.
However, there are plenty of ways to embalm bodies that significantly reduce the rate of decay, so there's no reason you can't just do it that way. If you're the GM, handwave it. A good embalming and liberal use of perfume should do the trick.
Well, the target is "Corpse touched."
By RAW, corpses are objects, whereas undead are creatures.
Though that does bring up the interesting point of what happens when you kill them, cast Gentle Repose, and *then* raise them.
But yeah, if you're the GM, make a spell that *will* work on Undead, and call it a day.
One of the perks of being a GM in a homebrew game (i.e. not PFS) is that the world is clay at your fingertips. You can do almost anything to serve the story, as long as it isn't blatantly penalizing the players...
Long ago in the 2nd ed days I allowed a "potpourri" spell for a player that wanted the same thing. All of his zombies thus smelled nice and fresh.
There is a precedent for undead who either do not rot, or decay at a much slower and gentler rate.
Check out the Ascendant Councilor or the Baelnorn.
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In the GameMastery Module: Entombed with the Pharoahs (set in Osirion), there's a mummy who uses Gentle Repose on herself regularly to maintain her beauty.