11

Assuming there's a party fighting that demon, they failed to kill it and let it escape several times.

The spellcaster comes up with the idea that they can just resurrect that demon's original creature's corpse (an evil soul might become a demon in its afterlife), which should return that soul (which forms the demon) to the corpse and hence "remove" it from the game.

Since the party was not the enemy of the creature before it died and became the demon, would the soul refuse to resurrect because they are an enemy in its afterlife? Would the demon be reverted into a normal soul and be raised normally (and hence removed from the game)?

Assume there's a way for the party to locate and get to the corpse, with or without being noticed by the demon.

I remember there's a campaign in which the evil party fights a paladin in the first chapter, and the same paladin again (as a new-born solar) in the last chapter. The same logic might be applied to that campaign if they somehow find a way to raise that paladin in that last chapter.

jwodder
  • 2,310
  • 1
  • 22
  • 25
Terry Windwalker
  • 4,325
  • 8
  • 31
  • 3
    This is such a cool idea though. that I'd be tempted to disregard RAW/RAI and let them try it – Kaia Sep 07 '23 at 18:38
  • 1
    I thought in 3.5E default cosmology, Demons are not spawned from mortals' souls, but Devils are? I.e. Devils are crafted from souls of the deceased usually as a basic one like a Lemure, and can rise through the ranks. But Demons are more like elementals - generated from some deep well of evil energy which they are recycled into when destroyed . . . there are lots of settings and sometimes conflicting articles though – Neil Slater Sep 08 '23 at 15:26
  • I've done a little research and found loads of contradictory suggestions. The setting you are using could be important. Could you name your setting, or what setting cosmology your campaign is most like (because e.g. you have the sourcebooks)? There is still the issue that all the restore-to-life spells require a willing soul to return to life, so the idea would be a hard sell to force through, even if you allow it in the cosmology. But I think the start point should be adding some setting and cosmology details that you are using, so we can give you an answer from the setting – Neil Slater Sep 08 '23 at 15:49
  • @NeilSlater Well, let's say it is just the Grayhawk settings. – Terry Windwalker Sep 09 '23 at 10:08
  • Others have noted that the demon is unlikely to be willing. However, the demon may be willing after all... if it was even stronger as a mortal than it is now. Be very careful what you wish for. – Elliot Sep 10 '23 at 12:03
  • @Elliot I wonder if the revived mortal would have the memory of his afterlife since that might cause align change, gaining extra levels, etc., after being revived. – Terry Windwalker Sep 11 '23 at 00:09

2 Answers2

19

There is no way that this works

You can only use a resurrection spell successfully on somebody whose soul is free and willing to be resurrected. This requires the soul to still exist in the first place. However, both of these factors are false for a soul that became a demon:

  • The very soul sought out to return is no more.
    • A soul that does not exist is clearly neither free nor willing to return.

But what if they still were souls?

Even if you (erroneously) assume that the demon still could be the soul sought, those two factors fail:

  • Most demons are bound to other, more powerful demons, and thus are not free in almost all cases.
  • The few free demons can just decide that they don't want to be resurrected: They would know the alignment and identity of the caster and realize their loss of power and say no (see below).
  • Also of note is, that the typical age of a free demon is most likely older than dirt (or several centuries) and thus far beyond the 10-years-per-caster level of the most powerful resurrection spell True Resurrection.

Raise Dead:

In addition, the subject’s soul must be free and willing to return. If the subject’s soul is not willing to return, the spell does not work; therefore, a subject that wants to return receives no saving throw.

Even allowing the demon to count as the soul (which it shouldn't) the 3.5th Player Hand Book precludes it. The rule says that the soul can just deny it for any or no reason. They also very much know who is trying to resurrect it, making it nigh impossible to force anyone back from the afterlife:

Bringing Back the Dead: [...]

Revivification against One's Will: A soul cannot be returned to life if it does not wish to be. A soul knows the name, alignment, and patron deity (if any) of the character attempting to revive it and may refuse to return on that basis. For example, if Alhandra the paladin is slain and a high priest of Nerull (god of death) grabs her body, Alhandra probably does not wish to be raised from the dead by him. Any attempts he makes to revive her automatically fail. If the evil cleric wants to revive Alhandra to interrogate her, he needs to find some way to trick her soul, such as duping a good cleric into raising her and then capturing her once she's alive again.1

By the way, that very same text was moved in 5e to the Dungeon Masters Guide: Magic in Your World > Bringing Back the Dead with just a slightly different example:

A soul can’t be returned to life if it doesn’t wish to be. A soul knows the name, alignment, and patron deity (if any) of the character attempting to revive it and might refuse to return on that basis. [...] If the evil cleric wants to revive Sturm to interrogate him, she needs to find some way to trick his soul, such as duping a good cleric into raising him and then capturing him once he is alive again.

Turning Souls into Demons

But back to the start of this side-track: being turned into a demon is just one of the numerous exceptions that turn souls into other beings or outright destroy it, at which point they are no longer souls but other beings and can't be revived because they are no longer souls, as I pointed out in the first paragraph. The Nine Hells turn their captured souls into Lemures and lesser Devils, Hades turns them into Larvae and so on.

In fact, to resurrect someone who died from a Narzugon's Hellfire Lance under 5e rules and who turned into a Larva needs to be killed first to be resurrected at all.

Conclusion

As a result, you can not use any resurrection spell on a demon successfully as they are not a valid target or unwilling, and the spell automatically fails - without telling the caster why the spell failed.

Footnotes
  1. Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Core Rulebook I v.3.5, 2003, p.171
Trish
  • 42,656
  • 4
  • 93
  • 230
  • You refer to 5e rules - but this is a DnD 3.5 question. – Peregrin Sep 08 '23 at 12:52
  • @Peregrin that part of the rules had originally been in the 3.5 PHB, p.171 – Trish Sep 08 '23 at 13:19
  • This is a mathematician's answer, but: if the soul no longer exists, then it is vacuously true that the soul is both free and willing. It is also true that it is not free and willing. From a false assumption, all things are true. :D – Xander Henderson Sep 08 '23 at 19:27
11

Doesn’t work

All resurrection magic references Raise Dead, which says “… the subject’s soul must be free and willing to return.“ The demon’s soul is not free and probably isn’t willing to return.

In addition, even True Resurrection is limited to 10 years per caster level - most powerful demons have been demons for Millenia.

Dale M
  • 210,673
  • 42
  • 528
  • 889