Greetings,

as my players reanimated a giant recently the question came up whether it is possible to heal an undead creature via necromancy. We also thought about blood rune magic as an option. Is there an "official" opinion on that point?

I would say yes. Actually, I might even decrease the difficulty from standard necromantic healing as the body is fully willing to accept life force other than its own. As for blood rune magic... I would say no as it requires living flesh and the undead do not qualify. Animism is a no go as it increases healing rates or affects the spirit, neither of which the undead possess. Though this is only personal conjecture, you can of course do whatever you want in your campaign world.

Thanks, I totally agree on Animism.

Here is how I would handle healing an undead with magic:
- Animism - I would not allow
- Blood Magic - I would not allow
- Necromancy - Absolutely (1 success to heal 1 point)
- Rune Magic - I would allow (3 successes to heal 1 point)

Thanks for your answer. That's interesting. Why would you allow Rune Magic? Because of its ability to "repair" objects? But wouldn't be Blood Rune Magic better on that as it is about flesh (and zombies consist of flesh) and not metal and stone like conventional Rune Magic?

Exactly... I consider the undead to be closer to a construct than a living thing. Almost like a magic item that happens to be made of what used to be a person.

But you make a good argument about the zombies being made of flesh (I was thinking of skeletons)... I would allow the Blood Rune magics to heal undead with flesh (1 pt per 3 successes).

Ah, I see. But also with skeletons I'd say Blood Rune Magic isn't that bad because it also has spells (like one in the spell example list) that mend bones.

Anyway, thanks for your answer. So I think I'll allow my players to heal their zombie giant via Necromancy.