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Suppose a character dies of the Yellow Musk Creeper's Touch attack (ToA, p. 237).

They have 24 hours to get resurrected or have remove curse cast on the body (after which it animates as a yellow musk zombie). So far, so good.

They also have 8 days total (7 days after being reanimated as a zombie) to get destroyed in order to leave behind a serviceable corpse (otherwise, a fully-grown yellow musk creeper emerges from the body, causing it to "collapse into a mound of dead offal"). Looks straightforward.

Why bother removing the curse? If resurrection is not immediately available, is there any reason not to just tie the corpse up, de-animate it after 24 hours, and then take your time resurrecting?

Or in plainer terms, is it tougher to resurrect a 'bloomed' yellow musk zombie than an unbloomed one?

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    \$\begingroup\$ You are using multiple terms that have multiple meanings and are context sensitive in ToA: please define which curse and methods of resurrection you are talking about. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    May 4, 2019 at 19:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ What do you mean by "They also have 8 days total to get destroyed to leave behind a serviceable corpse."? \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    May 4, 2019 at 20:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ @V2Blast The corpse is animated as a zombie after 24 hours that zombie will nourish the unbloomed Yellow Musk Creeper until it is grown, this takes 7 days. When it is nourished the zombie disperses into a pulp of blood, there is now no corpse to ressurect. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    May 4, 2019 at 21:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Akixkisu pile of offal actually, allowing resurrection that requires body parts but not that doesn't build a new body. But yea, spot on. \$\endgroup\$
    – ThanosMaravel
    May 4, 2019 at 23:07

2 Answers 2

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Most resurrection type spells don't work on undead.

Resurrection cannot target an undead creature:

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. If its soul is free and willing, the target returns to life with all its hit points.

So you have to cure the condition before resurrection can affect the zombie. This is also true for raise dead:

The spell can't return an undead creature to life.

What's worse is that the only way to "de-animate" said zombie is destroying it, at which point, if you are lucky and have a nice DM, you have a corpse. The body is also being destroyed at an accelerated rate by the bulb so raise dead will likely fail after the first day anyway.

Restraining a zombie is iffy, since they don't get tired and will never stop trying to escape; chances are they will succeed eventually.

You can raise them with true resurrection but you don't need a body for that anyway.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Note that resurrection is not the only spell that could be used in this case. Nothing in OP's post or in the statblock mentions that spell in particular, just the general concept of resurrection. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    May 5, 2019 at 4:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ OP directly refers that it is not the only kind of ressurrection that they are considering "allowing resurrection that requires body parts but not that doesn't build a new body." in their comment. \$\endgroup\$
    – Akixkisu
    May 5, 2019 at 10:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yea, hoping for Raise Dead. The restraining bit is basically to allow the party to off the zombie safely and easily. \$\endgroup\$
    – ThanosMaravel
    May 5, 2019 at 11:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ Raise dead has the same problem, it doesn't work on undead, . \$\endgroup\$
    – John
    May 5, 2019 at 12:46
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It is likely that it is easier to kill a CR 2 creature than to kill a CR 1/4 creature.

After you kill the undead, it becomes a corpse. Corpses are not undead. The Yellow Musk Creeper's touch is not a curse, and the condition is temporary as no rule states that the condition is permanent.

Other curses may or may not apply.

You cannot resurrect the creature as long as it is undead.

Generally, it is tougher to kill a Yellow Musk Creeper (CR 2) than a Yellow Musk Zombie (CR 1/4). But you have not provided any further information that makes this obvious. You are always under time conditions, opportunity cost and different situations. Maybe there is currently a 22 CR creature in the vicinity, as long as you do not provide this information it is difficult to answer your question.

Remove Curse specifically kills the bulb of the The Yellow Musk Creeper.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Well, I get that much. The question is, will the once-zombie party member be as easy to ressurect as the never-zombie party member? \$\endgroup\$
    – ThanosMaravel
    May 6, 2019 at 14:24

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