[AD&D 2ed] Raise dead and resurrection spells on undead

[Topus]

Sorry to bother, does anyone know about the effect of raise dead on an undead? Does he slay him? And what about resurrection, if used against an undead it slays him, also causing the three years loss?

I am speaking about the old AD&D, second edition.

Thanks in advance :)

[jmbrown]

Resurrection and Raise Dead have no effect on the undead. The dead creature's former constitution score acts as the number of times it can be raised. Undead have 0 constitution meaning they can never be raised even after being destroyed.

This is why animate dead is such an evil spell aside from obvious reasons of being a perversion of nature.

[Topus]

thanks for your answer;
and about healing spells, such as cure wounds, or heal, do they damage undead?

thanks :)

[jmbrown]

By default, no.

"This healing cannot affect creatures without corporeal bodies, nor can it cure wounds of creatures not living or of extraplanar origin."

I say by default because there's at least a dozen 2E splat books detailing extra options and variant rules including Player's Option and Unearthed Arcana.

[Topus]

ok thank you very much :)

[Matthew]

Some undead are destroyed by raise dead, and it usually says so in their description; wraiths, wights and spectres are good examples of such creatures.

[hamlet]

Some undead are destroyed by raise dead, and it usually says so in their description; wraiths, wights and spectres are good examples of such creatures.

Mummies as well, though there are some unfortunate side effects to that, such as turning the thing into a highly ticked off 7th level fighter.

The short answer is that, unless specifically spelled out, these spells have no effect on undead. Essentially, by the time they become undead, their souls are too lost to retrieve, their bodies too gone, insert whatever rational you want here.

The long answer is 1) Depends on the type of undead and the spell, 2) Depends entirely on the DM and how he interprets spell function and how his game works.