Idle question (Awakened Zombie)

[MaxWilson]

Suppose I have a zombie via Finger of Death, and I then Polymorph it into a beast, and then someone casts Awaken on it. (For the sake of argument, let's say Awaken is cast via Wish to avoid side-tracking on an argument over how casting time works and whether the target has to be present for the whole casting time.) I then release concentration on Polymorph and the intelligent beast now turns back into a zombie.

Question: is my zombie now smart enough to learn how to dance the merengue?

[arrowed]

Polymorph states that the target gains the mental ability scores of the beast it is turned into. If you Awaken the beast, you increase the beast's intelligence, but when the zombie reverts it gets all it's old statistics back, including mental ability scores. So I suspect not.
But Awaken is a 5th level spell. It seems logical for there to be a necromantic equivalent that grants zombies and skeletons the intelligence they had in life, and Create Undead can create ghasts and wights at level 8+, and they have intelligence 10. Thus I would consider those shenanigans within the power of a Wish spell, and a homebrew Necromantic Awakening doesn't seem unreasonable.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I then release concentration on Polymorph and the intelligent beast now turns back into a zombie.

For me, this assumption doesn't necessarily hold. Both Awaken and Wish are higher-level spells than Polymorph, and I might say it is appropriate for either of them (especially Wish) to supersede the Polymorph, effectively making it permanent as part of the awakening.


It seems logical for there to be a necromantic equivalent that grants zombies and skeletons the intelligence they had in life

As it happens, I homebrewed something similar (maybe more limited, but still) with a 5e revival of Undead Lieutenant, here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?481810-Low-Level-Necromancy&p=20551062#post20551062), if you're interested.

[MaxWilson]

Polymorph states that the target gains the mental ability scores of the beast it is turned into. If you Awaken the beast, you increase the beast's intelligence, but when the zombie reverts it gets all it's old statistics back, including mental ability scores. So I suspect not.

That's an interesting interpretation. It implies that a Polymorphed PC who gets his intellect devoured by an Intellect Devourer would likewise get his old Int back at the same time he gets his HP back when the Polymorph ends.

I don't think I would rule that way, based on how I perceive Polymorph to work.


But Awaken is a 5th level spell. It seems logical for there to be a necromantic equivalent that grants zombies and skeletons the intelligence they had in life, and Create Undead can create ghasts and wights at level 8+, and they have intelligence 10. Thus I would consider those shenanigans within the power of a Wish spell, and a homebrew Necromantic Awakening doesn't seem unreasonable.

Makes sense.

[JellyPooga]

Use Animal Shapes instead of Polymorph. Targets retain mental Ability Scores and it lasts up to 24 hours too. There is some question over "type" vs. "form of [type]" (is an Undead in the form of a Beast treated as Beast or Undead for purposes of targeting?), but I suspect you'll have zombies doing the cha-cha yet...

[Temperjoke]

It sounds like someone wants to recreate Thriller.