Evil party. I have a cleric and an inquisitor in the party who want to interrogate the corpse of a recently slain dragon. Their plan so far is to have the cleric, who is basically built to be a necromancer, use 'Speak With Dead' in tandem with the inquisitor's use of 'Zone of Truth'.
As it's a goodly brass dragon, if he makes his will save he'll be able to attempt to deceive using bluff... would the zone of truth counter this, or as the 'spirit' of the creature is technically already bound to a spell would it have no effect?
I could always house rule it, but I got no idea on this and would love to not do that, so I hope ya'll can school me.
Honestly, the best case things to do with this is to look at each spell's RAW, and see if there is any conflict or synergism to be had.
First, let's look at Zone of Truth:
Creatures within the emanation area (or those who enter it) can't speak any deliberate and intentional lies. Each potentially affected creature is allowed a save to avoid the effects when the spell is cast or when the creature first enters the emanation area. Affected creatures are aware of this enchantment. Therefore, they may avoid answering questions to which they would normally respond with a lie, or they may be evasive as long as they remain within the boundaries of the truth. Creatures who leave the area are free to speak as they choose.
While not linked, the spell also allows Spell Resistance, and is a Mind-affecting Spell, meaning if the Brass Dragon has Spell Resistance (chances are, they will) and/or improved saves/immunities to such an effect, they will apply.
Now we look at Speak with Dead:
You grant the semblance of life to a corpse, allowing it to answer questions. You may ask one question per two caster levels. The corpse's knowledge is limited to what it knew during life, including the languages it spoke. Answers are brief, cryptic, or repetitive, especially if the creature would have opposed you in life.
If the dead creature's alignment was different from yours, the corpse gets a Will save to resist the spell as if it were alive. If successful, the corpse can refuse to answer your questions or attempt to deceive you, using Bluff. The soul can only speak about what it knew in life. It cannot answer any questions that pertain to events that occurred after its death.
If the corpse has been subject to speak with dead within the past week, the new spell fails. You can cast this spell on a corpse that has been deceased for any amount of time, but the body must be mostly intact to be able to respond. A damaged corpse may be able to give partial answers or partially correct answers, but it must at least have a mouth in order to speak at all. This spell does not affect a corpse that has been turned into an undead creature.
Honestly? If the Dragon fails Will Saves and such, he can provide a couple hints/clues for the party to figure out whatever it is they're after, though that's about as generous as it gets.
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I would have to say no here. The corpse is never referred to as alive, so at best, it would be considered undead. It is probably still an object as all corpses are and is immune from the start. If it is undead, it is immune to mind-affecting spells and is not subject to the Zone of Truth. Either way, the net result is "No." At least, that is my two copper.
Four combinations;
Pass both Saves
Fail ZoT, Pass SWD
Pass ZoT, Fail SWD
Fail both Saves.
If the Dragon passes both, he can refuse to speak at all and/or lie/bluff his undead ass off.
If the Dragon fails vs ZoT but passes against SWD, it can simply refuse to speak at all. Anything it does say will be true but brief and cryptic.
If the Dragon passes the save vs ZoT but fails against SWD, it can't refuse to answer but can be as brief, cryptic and repetitive as it can while still answering
If the Dragon fails both, it must answer and must answer truthfully but can still be brief and cryptic.
Awesome, thank's for the info. Shalmdi, you make good logical sense, so I'm goin' with your suggestion.