Is it possible to bring someone that has been turned into an undead creature back to life? My initial inclination is no. But …
Background without spoilers if it matters.
PC’s around 8th level are supposed to protect a person and get that person back home. That person has been forcibly turned into an undead creature. The write-up seems to basically assume the PC’s will figure out the situation and put that person out of his/her misery. The PC’s have figured things out in general (they don’t have all the details yet, but near enough). The PC’s sorta have control of the undead person. However, one of the PC’s especially is really trying to figure out a ‘cure’ to fulfill his promise.
The player is really staying in character and trying to keep his word. That is great and I feel like it should be rewarded. But this is a horror story. Everyone lives happily ever after is not a horror story.
By RAW is there a way to bring back an undead?
If not RAW would you allow it anyway? If yes, how would you suggest so that it is possible but not easy?
By RAW is there a way to bring back an undead?
Yes!
From the undead traits:
"Not affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect undead creatures. These spells turn undead creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming undead.
So it is possible, and actually quite easy.
Story-wise I'd prefer making it a quest in itself. As far as you (or perhaps the players) can come of with some alternative way to do it, it is going to be a lot cooler than just spending 10k on a ressurection spell.
Hmm... Somehow I seem to have missed that before. Oddly enough it doesn't quite agree with the spell text that says you have to destroy the undead creature first.
May be something of a quest anyway. The have to figure out how to destroy the undead. (What they've tried so far just lets it reform the next day.) Then they have to get a portion of the person back to someone that can cast the spell. They are only 8th level (and fairly poor). And there is no divine caster in the area even close to 13th level.
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Well, only if your friend here is only MOSTLY undead. There's a big difference between mostly undead and all undead. Mostly undead is slightly un-alive. With all-undead, well, with all-undead there's usually only one thing you can do.
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Well, only if your friend here is only MOSTLY undead. There's a big difference between mostly undead and all undead. Mostly undead is slightly un-alive. With all-undead, well, with all-undead there's usually only one thing you can do.
** spoiler omitted **
"THIS is the cure for being undead?"
"The chocolate coating helps it go down easier."
+1000 points for you two. :D
On topic: I say make it a quest to remove the negative energy animating the undead in question, then resurrect as normal.
What kind of undead is he? If you look in Blood of Night it has rules for undead who don't "feed" their "hunger".
It is a custom job from the write-up. I don't want to give any more details at this time since I know a couple of my players read these forums.
{ Sorry to disappoint you Jym and Aggy, but I don't want to spoil the rest of the surprises! }
If I remember after it is over, I will come back with more details and what they ended up doing.
Oh, it has shown it's true nature as an undead. It has been feeding on and trying to kill the PC's! Even came pretty close to killing one of them once.
A horror story can have everyone survive, especially if they go through things like being undead and trying to eat people before getting cured. That's pretty horrifying.
... I'll PM you an idea for what you can do to keep the horror in the game if they save the guy. This is to prevent any possible spoilers if the players read the board, otherwise I would just post it here.
Sure, I'll always take ideas.
Sure, Resurrection can bring undead back, but not every cleric down the block can cast Resurrection. Perhaps the local temple cleric doesn't have the power but he knows of some ascetic priest living in the wilderness or something who knows magic that could do it. The quest is to find the cleric who can cast it, without even knowing that they're just looking for a guy who can cast Resurrection.
And even after they find the guy, he might not be willing to do it for something as simple as 10,000 gp. He's eccentric, living in the woods. Perhaps he sends them on a quest themselves, maybe even for the material component of the spell.
... or someone remembers seeing a scroll of it in the manor/tower/alternate venue for the plot, back before it fell into disrepair after the Night of the Dramatic Incident™ about 10-30 years ago... seems there may be a curse on the place, but there is a chance that the scroll is still there... in fact, lower level divinations indicate that your quest will be over after you go there...
-TimD
... Though stitched together abominations would offer a problem, especially if you couldn't easily tell which parts belonged to which person. Next thing you know you're resurrecting 6 or 7 people and you still don't have the guy you want alive yet.
Now that would be hilarity.