What happens if you cast a resurrection spell on a corpse possessed by a dybbuk?












3














The Dybbuk is a monster from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (p. 132) that can possess humanoid corpses if they're intact.



What happens if someone then casts any resurrection spell on the humanoid? Is the Dybbuk expelled, or is the humanoid just regularly possessed now by the Dybbuk?










share|improve this question





























    3














    The Dybbuk is a monster from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (p. 132) that can possess humanoid corpses if they're intact.



    What happens if someone then casts any resurrection spell on the humanoid? Is the Dybbuk expelled, or is the humanoid just regularly possessed now by the Dybbuk?










    share|improve this question



























      3












      3








      3







      The Dybbuk is a monster from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (p. 132) that can possess humanoid corpses if they're intact.



      What happens if someone then casts any resurrection spell on the humanoid? Is the Dybbuk expelled, or is the humanoid just regularly possessed now by the Dybbuk?










      share|improve this question















      The Dybbuk is a monster from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (p. 132) that can possess humanoid corpses if they're intact.



      What happens if someone then casts any resurrection spell on the humanoid? Is the Dybbuk expelled, or is the humanoid just regularly possessed now by the Dybbuk?







      dnd-5e spells monsters resurrection






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 3 hours ago









      V2Blast

      19.7k356121




      19.7k356121










      asked 5 hours ago









      user50690

      20516




      20516






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          3














          A body possessed by a dybbuk is undead, not "dead"



          Most "resurrection spells" are cast on a dead body of some sort. For example the specific spell resurrection requires you to do the following to work:




          You touch a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead.




          The spell raise dead also requires you to touch a dead creature (and similarly cannot return undead creatures to life). And reincarnate also requires you to touch a "dead humanoid".



          All of the above spells would be complicated by the fact that there's a difference between a dead creature and an undead one. Jeremy Crawford has stated (in answering a different question):




          The undead are creatures... A dead creature has no hit points and is an inanimate corpse.




          More specifically, the Dybbuk's possession of a corpse explicitly does the following (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, p. 132):




          The dybbuk is now effectively the possessed creature. Its type becomes undead, though it now looks alive, and it gains a number of
          temporary hit points equal to the corpse's hit point maximum in life.



          ...



          The possession lasts until the temporary hit points are lost (at which
          point the body becomes a corpse once more
          ) or the dybbuk ends its
          possession using a bonus action




          A possessed corpse is a creature, not a corpse: and it is undead, not dead. Thus, many resurrection spells cast on a corpse occupied by a dybbuk would not be cast on a valid target, and would thus simply fail.



          Even true resurrection would not work if the corpse is currently possessed. The text of true resurrection states that it targets (PHB, p. 284, bold added):




          a creature that has been dead for no longer than 200 years




          The tense of "has been dead" is the present perfect tense, which indicates that the action began in the past and continues into the present. So the creature must be currently dead to be a valid target of the spell.



          There is one spell which doesn't explicitly require a dead target: revivify only requires a creature that "has died" within the past minute. But revivify may not work as intended**, since the "creature" you are touching is not the creature you wish to return to life (a humanoid) but rather a new creature (an undead). Jeremy Crawford has stated:




          If you cast revivify on a zombie, the creature returns as a zombie. The spell doesn't change creature type.




          So casting revivify on a dybbuk possessed corpse may simply add a hit point to the undead creature (in addition to the temporary hit points it already has).



          Although your DM might decide, via the "rule of cool", that resurrection attempts cast on a dybbuk possessed corpse may work differently than attempts to resurrect typical undead creatures since the dybbuk is only a temporary occupant of the corpse, or simply because it would be fun to see the dybbuk expelled by holy magic. But via the Rules As Written, if you want to return a dybbuk possessed corpse to life, you will probably have to first eject the dybbuk from the corpse.






          share|improve this answer



















          • 2




            While I do not suspect the answer is different, the question is about "any resurrection spell", not just resurrection. You might want to be more general.
            – Szega
            4 hours ago






          • 1




            @Szega more specifically, revivify, for example, has no limitation that the target mustn't be undead (and may actually be more relevant since Possess Corpse is an action, so both Possess Corpse and revivify may be used over the course of a long combat). True resurrection also doesn't have the undead restriction.
            – David Coffron
            3 hours ago








          • 1




            Thanks you two! I misread the original question. I'll adapt the answer to more broadly address bringing something back to life.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            3 hours ago











          Your Answer





          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["\$", "\$"]]);
          });
          });
          }, "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "122"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: false,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: null,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f138266%2fwhat-happens-if-you-cast-a-resurrection-spell-on-a-corpse-possessed-by-a-dybbuk%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          3














          A body possessed by a dybbuk is undead, not "dead"



          Most "resurrection spells" are cast on a dead body of some sort. For example the specific spell resurrection requires you to do the following to work:




          You touch a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead.




          The spell raise dead also requires you to touch a dead creature (and similarly cannot return undead creatures to life). And reincarnate also requires you to touch a "dead humanoid".



          All of the above spells would be complicated by the fact that there's a difference between a dead creature and an undead one. Jeremy Crawford has stated (in answering a different question):




          The undead are creatures... A dead creature has no hit points and is an inanimate corpse.




          More specifically, the Dybbuk's possession of a corpse explicitly does the following (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, p. 132):




          The dybbuk is now effectively the possessed creature. Its type becomes undead, though it now looks alive, and it gains a number of
          temporary hit points equal to the corpse's hit point maximum in life.



          ...



          The possession lasts until the temporary hit points are lost (at which
          point the body becomes a corpse once more
          ) or the dybbuk ends its
          possession using a bonus action




          A possessed corpse is a creature, not a corpse: and it is undead, not dead. Thus, many resurrection spells cast on a corpse occupied by a dybbuk would not be cast on a valid target, and would thus simply fail.



          Even true resurrection would not work if the corpse is currently possessed. The text of true resurrection states that it targets (PHB, p. 284, bold added):




          a creature that has been dead for no longer than 200 years




          The tense of "has been dead" is the present perfect tense, which indicates that the action began in the past and continues into the present. So the creature must be currently dead to be a valid target of the spell.



          There is one spell which doesn't explicitly require a dead target: revivify only requires a creature that "has died" within the past minute. But revivify may not work as intended**, since the "creature" you are touching is not the creature you wish to return to life (a humanoid) but rather a new creature (an undead). Jeremy Crawford has stated:




          If you cast revivify on a zombie, the creature returns as a zombie. The spell doesn't change creature type.




          So casting revivify on a dybbuk possessed corpse may simply add a hit point to the undead creature (in addition to the temporary hit points it already has).



          Although your DM might decide, via the "rule of cool", that resurrection attempts cast on a dybbuk possessed corpse may work differently than attempts to resurrect typical undead creatures since the dybbuk is only a temporary occupant of the corpse, or simply because it would be fun to see the dybbuk expelled by holy magic. But via the Rules As Written, if you want to return a dybbuk possessed corpse to life, you will probably have to first eject the dybbuk from the corpse.






          share|improve this answer



















          • 2




            While I do not suspect the answer is different, the question is about "any resurrection spell", not just resurrection. You might want to be more general.
            – Szega
            4 hours ago






          • 1




            @Szega more specifically, revivify, for example, has no limitation that the target mustn't be undead (and may actually be more relevant since Possess Corpse is an action, so both Possess Corpse and revivify may be used over the course of a long combat). True resurrection also doesn't have the undead restriction.
            – David Coffron
            3 hours ago








          • 1




            Thanks you two! I misread the original question. I'll adapt the answer to more broadly address bringing something back to life.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            3 hours ago
















          3














          A body possessed by a dybbuk is undead, not "dead"



          Most "resurrection spells" are cast on a dead body of some sort. For example the specific spell resurrection requires you to do the following to work:




          You touch a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead.




          The spell raise dead also requires you to touch a dead creature (and similarly cannot return undead creatures to life). And reincarnate also requires you to touch a "dead humanoid".



          All of the above spells would be complicated by the fact that there's a difference between a dead creature and an undead one. Jeremy Crawford has stated (in answering a different question):




          The undead are creatures... A dead creature has no hit points and is an inanimate corpse.




          More specifically, the Dybbuk's possession of a corpse explicitly does the following (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, p. 132):




          The dybbuk is now effectively the possessed creature. Its type becomes undead, though it now looks alive, and it gains a number of
          temporary hit points equal to the corpse's hit point maximum in life.



          ...



          The possession lasts until the temporary hit points are lost (at which
          point the body becomes a corpse once more
          ) or the dybbuk ends its
          possession using a bonus action




          A possessed corpse is a creature, not a corpse: and it is undead, not dead. Thus, many resurrection spells cast on a corpse occupied by a dybbuk would not be cast on a valid target, and would thus simply fail.



          Even true resurrection would not work if the corpse is currently possessed. The text of true resurrection states that it targets (PHB, p. 284, bold added):




          a creature that has been dead for no longer than 200 years




          The tense of "has been dead" is the present perfect tense, which indicates that the action began in the past and continues into the present. So the creature must be currently dead to be a valid target of the spell.



          There is one spell which doesn't explicitly require a dead target: revivify only requires a creature that "has died" within the past minute. But revivify may not work as intended**, since the "creature" you are touching is not the creature you wish to return to life (a humanoid) but rather a new creature (an undead). Jeremy Crawford has stated:




          If you cast revivify on a zombie, the creature returns as a zombie. The spell doesn't change creature type.




          So casting revivify on a dybbuk possessed corpse may simply add a hit point to the undead creature (in addition to the temporary hit points it already has).



          Although your DM might decide, via the "rule of cool", that resurrection attempts cast on a dybbuk possessed corpse may work differently than attempts to resurrect typical undead creatures since the dybbuk is only a temporary occupant of the corpse, or simply because it would be fun to see the dybbuk expelled by holy magic. But via the Rules As Written, if you want to return a dybbuk possessed corpse to life, you will probably have to first eject the dybbuk from the corpse.






          share|improve this answer



















          • 2




            While I do not suspect the answer is different, the question is about "any resurrection spell", not just resurrection. You might want to be more general.
            – Szega
            4 hours ago






          • 1




            @Szega more specifically, revivify, for example, has no limitation that the target mustn't be undead (and may actually be more relevant since Possess Corpse is an action, so both Possess Corpse and revivify may be used over the course of a long combat). True resurrection also doesn't have the undead restriction.
            – David Coffron
            3 hours ago








          • 1




            Thanks you two! I misread the original question. I'll adapt the answer to more broadly address bringing something back to life.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            3 hours ago














          3












          3








          3






          A body possessed by a dybbuk is undead, not "dead"



          Most "resurrection spells" are cast on a dead body of some sort. For example the specific spell resurrection requires you to do the following to work:




          You touch a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead.




          The spell raise dead also requires you to touch a dead creature (and similarly cannot return undead creatures to life). And reincarnate also requires you to touch a "dead humanoid".



          All of the above spells would be complicated by the fact that there's a difference between a dead creature and an undead one. Jeremy Crawford has stated (in answering a different question):




          The undead are creatures... A dead creature has no hit points and is an inanimate corpse.




          More specifically, the Dybbuk's possession of a corpse explicitly does the following (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, p. 132):




          The dybbuk is now effectively the possessed creature. Its type becomes undead, though it now looks alive, and it gains a number of
          temporary hit points equal to the corpse's hit point maximum in life.



          ...



          The possession lasts until the temporary hit points are lost (at which
          point the body becomes a corpse once more
          ) or the dybbuk ends its
          possession using a bonus action




          A possessed corpse is a creature, not a corpse: and it is undead, not dead. Thus, many resurrection spells cast on a corpse occupied by a dybbuk would not be cast on a valid target, and would thus simply fail.



          Even true resurrection would not work if the corpse is currently possessed. The text of true resurrection states that it targets (PHB, p. 284, bold added):




          a creature that has been dead for no longer than 200 years




          The tense of "has been dead" is the present perfect tense, which indicates that the action began in the past and continues into the present. So the creature must be currently dead to be a valid target of the spell.



          There is one spell which doesn't explicitly require a dead target: revivify only requires a creature that "has died" within the past minute. But revivify may not work as intended**, since the "creature" you are touching is not the creature you wish to return to life (a humanoid) but rather a new creature (an undead). Jeremy Crawford has stated:




          If you cast revivify on a zombie, the creature returns as a zombie. The spell doesn't change creature type.




          So casting revivify on a dybbuk possessed corpse may simply add a hit point to the undead creature (in addition to the temporary hit points it already has).



          Although your DM might decide, via the "rule of cool", that resurrection attempts cast on a dybbuk possessed corpse may work differently than attempts to resurrect typical undead creatures since the dybbuk is only a temporary occupant of the corpse, or simply because it would be fun to see the dybbuk expelled by holy magic. But via the Rules As Written, if you want to return a dybbuk possessed corpse to life, you will probably have to first eject the dybbuk from the corpse.






          share|improve this answer














          A body possessed by a dybbuk is undead, not "dead"



          Most "resurrection spells" are cast on a dead body of some sort. For example the specific spell resurrection requires you to do the following to work:




          You touch a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead.




          The spell raise dead also requires you to touch a dead creature (and similarly cannot return undead creatures to life). And reincarnate also requires you to touch a "dead humanoid".



          All of the above spells would be complicated by the fact that there's a difference between a dead creature and an undead one. Jeremy Crawford has stated (in answering a different question):




          The undead are creatures... A dead creature has no hit points and is an inanimate corpse.




          More specifically, the Dybbuk's possession of a corpse explicitly does the following (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, p. 132):




          The dybbuk is now effectively the possessed creature. Its type becomes undead, though it now looks alive, and it gains a number of
          temporary hit points equal to the corpse's hit point maximum in life.



          ...



          The possession lasts until the temporary hit points are lost (at which
          point the body becomes a corpse once more
          ) or the dybbuk ends its
          possession using a bonus action




          A possessed corpse is a creature, not a corpse: and it is undead, not dead. Thus, many resurrection spells cast on a corpse occupied by a dybbuk would not be cast on a valid target, and would thus simply fail.



          Even true resurrection would not work if the corpse is currently possessed. The text of true resurrection states that it targets (PHB, p. 284, bold added):




          a creature that has been dead for no longer than 200 years




          The tense of "has been dead" is the present perfect tense, which indicates that the action began in the past and continues into the present. So the creature must be currently dead to be a valid target of the spell.



          There is one spell which doesn't explicitly require a dead target: revivify only requires a creature that "has died" within the past minute. But revivify may not work as intended**, since the "creature" you are touching is not the creature you wish to return to life (a humanoid) but rather a new creature (an undead). Jeremy Crawford has stated:




          If you cast revivify on a zombie, the creature returns as a zombie. The spell doesn't change creature type.




          So casting revivify on a dybbuk possessed corpse may simply add a hit point to the undead creature (in addition to the temporary hit points it already has).



          Although your DM might decide, via the "rule of cool", that resurrection attempts cast on a dybbuk possessed corpse may work differently than attempts to resurrect typical undead creatures since the dybbuk is only a temporary occupant of the corpse, or simply because it would be fun to see the dybbuk expelled by holy magic. But via the Rules As Written, if you want to return a dybbuk possessed corpse to life, you will probably have to first eject the dybbuk from the corpse.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 2 hours ago

























          answered 4 hours ago









          Gandalfmeansme

          17.8k366111




          17.8k366111








          • 2




            While I do not suspect the answer is different, the question is about "any resurrection spell", not just resurrection. You might want to be more general.
            – Szega
            4 hours ago






          • 1




            @Szega more specifically, revivify, for example, has no limitation that the target mustn't be undead (and may actually be more relevant since Possess Corpse is an action, so both Possess Corpse and revivify may be used over the course of a long combat). True resurrection also doesn't have the undead restriction.
            – David Coffron
            3 hours ago








          • 1




            Thanks you two! I misread the original question. I'll adapt the answer to more broadly address bringing something back to life.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            3 hours ago














          • 2




            While I do not suspect the answer is different, the question is about "any resurrection spell", not just resurrection. You might want to be more general.
            – Szega
            4 hours ago






          • 1




            @Szega more specifically, revivify, for example, has no limitation that the target mustn't be undead (and may actually be more relevant since Possess Corpse is an action, so both Possess Corpse and revivify may be used over the course of a long combat). True resurrection also doesn't have the undead restriction.
            – David Coffron
            3 hours ago








          • 1




            Thanks you two! I misread the original question. I'll adapt the answer to more broadly address bringing something back to life.
            – Gandalfmeansme
            3 hours ago








          2




          2




          While I do not suspect the answer is different, the question is about "any resurrection spell", not just resurrection. You might want to be more general.
          – Szega
          4 hours ago




          While I do not suspect the answer is different, the question is about "any resurrection spell", not just resurrection. You might want to be more general.
          – Szega
          4 hours ago




          1




          1




          @Szega more specifically, revivify, for example, has no limitation that the target mustn't be undead (and may actually be more relevant since Possess Corpse is an action, so both Possess Corpse and revivify may be used over the course of a long combat). True resurrection also doesn't have the undead restriction.
          – David Coffron
          3 hours ago






          @Szega more specifically, revivify, for example, has no limitation that the target mustn't be undead (and may actually be more relevant since Possess Corpse is an action, so both Possess Corpse and revivify may be used over the course of a long combat). True resurrection also doesn't have the undead restriction.
          – David Coffron
          3 hours ago






          1




          1




          Thanks you two! I misread the original question. I'll adapt the answer to more broadly address bringing something back to life.
          – Gandalfmeansme
          3 hours ago




          Thanks you two! I misread the original question. I'll adapt the answer to more broadly address bringing something back to life.
          – Gandalfmeansme
          3 hours ago


















          draft saved

          draft discarded




















































          Thanks for contributing an answer to Role-playing Games Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





          Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


          Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f138266%2fwhat-happens-if-you-cast-a-resurrection-spell-on-a-corpse-possessed-by-a-dybbuk%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          Eastern Orthodox Church

          Zagreb

          Understanding the information contained in the Deep Space Network XML data?