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The Barbarian got himself killed. The party Necromancer animated his corpse and is currently using it as a body shield. Earlier in the campaign, the Barbarian had made some trade deals that required him to deposit a vial of his blood as a security so that he would not abscond. The vial will be used for a Scrying spell in case the Barbarian doesn't return to pay his debts.

Would the Scrying spell work on the Barbarian Zombie, allowing the caster to see the zombie and track the party? Or has the Barbarian turned into an invalid "target" for the spell?

I'm thinking because the Barbarian is not dead-dead but un-dead, it could still be a target of any spell, but I am not sure on the Scrying spell.

Would the vial of blood also give a -10 to the Saving Throw, in this case?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Is the question "Can you scry on a zombie?", or "If I scry on Bob, and he's been turned into a zombie, will I see that zombie instead?". Because I think those are two different questions, with potentially two different answers. \$\endgroup\$
    – Erik
    Commented Jul 2, 2016 at 17:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Erik I know you can scry a zombie, but the latter is not clear to me. Also, a happy coincidence but the Barbarian player's name is Bob. \$\endgroup\$
    – daze413
    Commented Jul 2, 2016 at 23:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ Okay, because I think @Miniman answered the former question, not the latter one. At least, that's what it sounds like to me. \$\endgroup\$
    – Erik
    Commented Jul 3, 2016 at 7:38

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Yes, Scrying should function perfectly on the zombie. To be specific, Scrying says that:

You can see and hear a particular creature you choose that is on the same plane of existence as you.

Undead are still creatures; there are plenty of examples of this, but let's go to the definition of the Undead type:

Undead are once-living creatures [...]

So a zombie is certainly a valid target for a Scrying spell. If Scrying required a humanoid target, it wouldn't work, but it all it needs is a creature.

As for using the vial of blood to strengthen the connection, this should work fine, too. It comes under:

Body part, lock of hair, bit of nail, or the like

All of the examples given are things that were once part of the creature's body, and blood is no different. The fact that the creature is dead doesn't change the fact that the blood was once a part of its body. If a human went bald, a lock of their hair would still work.

If you don't want to be scryed on, you'll have to "kill" the zombie - a corpse isn't a creature unless it's walking around.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ You can cast Nondetection on the Zombie as well. \$\endgroup\$
    – Slagmoth
    Commented Jul 2, 2016 at 15:35

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