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I had a friend of mine asked me if someone could animate a creature that a gorgon or basilisk had turned to stone, and I couldn't answer.

The Petrified status has one of the following as part of its rules.

A petrified creature is transformed, along with any nonmagical object it is wearing or carrying, into a solid inanimate substance (usually stone). Its weight increases by a factor of ten, and it ceases aging.

So, due to petrification, they are transferred into a solid, inanimate substance. Would that mean that a spell like animate object would be able to temporarily animate a petrified individual? Or does Petrification count as a magical condition and thus animate object cannot be used on the petrified individual? RAW, I'm guessing it can't be used as the Petrified individual is still considered a creature.

Even without animate object, would you still be able to animate a petrified creature without removing the petrified status, or is it just impossible to animate petrified creatures?

CannedMawloc
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  • I've marked your question as a dupe because I think it is essentially equivalent to the other question. This isn't a bad thing as this question might help others find that one. If that question doesn't answer it for you, please clarify for us how and why, and we'll see what needs to be done to help you. – Someone_Evil Nov 05 '20 at 23:48
  • It answers my question. Thanks! I guess I was just blind; I couldn't see it when there were similar topics laid up. – CannedMawloc Nov 05 '20 at 23:50

1 Answers1

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A petrified creature is a creature, not an object.

This is clear from the petrified condition which describes the petrified creature as a creature, and a creature is not an eligible target for animate objects.

Thomas Markov
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