Conjure Elemental Did Not Need Errata - Can WotC Maybe Workshop These First?

Quote from RegentCorreon >>

So, to be clear, in your opinion if I were to cast Faerie Fire on this dead bird it would roll a Dex save using the dexterity on its stat block? It would roll to dodge my fireball and my lightning bolt? If I try to pick up the dead bird it would choose a Str or Dex save to resist my grapple attempt? 

While we're in the business of pointing out what isn't written in the Dead rules - there certainly isn't anything changing the way its saving throws function. The only conditions which could possibly be inferred to be currently affecting the corpse might be those "any conditions affecting it at death" and, being a regular monster, when it reached 0 HP it died outright. The rules are clear that it never received the Unconscious condition. Heck, it isn't even Prone.

The text which states and implies that a corpse is an object is that an object is defined as a "non-living thing" and a creature is defined as a "being". A corpse is the first thing, not the second.

As far as I know there are no further complications with my interpretation. I don't have any corpses resisting my grapples. 

If your character is downed while wearing leather armor and you are in the process of making death saving throws and a monster attacks you while you are down -- what's your AC?  Are you keeping the Dex bonus for your leather armor?  There are all sorts of places where the rules do an incomplete job of fully fleshing out all of the details for things like this.  I would say that more should have been written into the Rules Glossary for the "dead" game state to answer questions like this, but as is the case with many things in the game it is up to the DM to just have some common sense and make appropriate rulings wherever the rules fall short.

In the case of a dead Character at least, in most cases they will at least have the Unconscious condition, which means that you automatically fail strength and dex saves.  If not, maybe you go ahead and roll the saves, why not?  Maybe a corpse is awkward to grapple.  Narrate the results, be creative.  If a monster wants to target a fully dead ally on the battlefield with a spell, then that's probably good for the rest of the party.  

Quote from RegentCorreon >>

The text which states and implies that a corpse is an object is that an object is defined as a "non-living thing" and a creature is defined as a "being". A corpse is the first thing, not the second.

As far as I know there are no further complications with my interpretation. I don't have any corpses resisting my grapples. 

I just fully disagree with this, but it is what it is.  It's obvious that plenty of people will just assume that "non-living" means not currently alive even though the dictionary does provide alternate meanings for the word, and that's unfortunate.  If someone asks me if a bird is a living thing, I have no problem just saying "yes" without asking additional questions.  

Quote from up2ng >>

Quote from RegentCorreon >>

So, to be clear, in your opinion if I were to cast Faerie Fire on this dead bird it would roll a Dex save using the dexterity on its stat block? It would roll to dodge my fireball and my lightning bolt? If I try to pick up the dead bird it would choose a Str or Dex save to resist my grapple attempt?

 

If your character is downed while wearing leather armor and you are in the process of making death saving throws and a monster attacks you while you are down -- what's your AC?  Are you keeping the Dex bonus for your leather armor?  There are all sorts of places where the rules do an incomplete job of fully fleshing out all of the details for things like this.  I would say that more should have been written into the Rules Glossary for the "dead" game state to answer questions like this, but as is the case with many things in the game it is up to the DM to just have some common sense and make appropriate rulings wherever the rules fall short.

In the case of a dead Character at least, in most cases they will at least have the Unconscious condition, which means that you automatically fail strength and dex saves.  If not, maybe you go ahead and roll the saves, why not?  Maybe a corpse is awkward to grapple.  Narrate the results, be creative.  If a monster wants to target a fully dead ally on the battlefield with a spell, then that's probably good for the rest of the party.  

 

Quote from RegentCorreon >>

The text which states and implies that a corpse is an object is that an object is defined as a "non-living thing" and a creature is defined as a "being". A corpse is the first thing, not the second.

As far as I know there are no further complications with my interpretation. I don't have any corpses resisting my grapples. 

 

I just fully disagree with this, but it is what it is.  It's obvious that plenty of people will just assume that "non-living" means not currently alive even though the dictionary does provide alternate meanings for the word, and that's unfortunate.  If someone asks me if a bird is a living thing, I have no problem just saying "yes" without asking additional questions.  

So you do agree that dead creatures continue to make saves using their stat blocks? So it is easier to cast Banishment on a dead Wizard than it is on a dead Bard? What about ten years later, is a Bard's skeleton more resistant to Banishment than a Wizard's skeleton? How decayed does a body have to be before it can no longer make a Dex save to grab onto something and avoid the effect of Reverse Gravity? An unconscious character falls automatically, but that rotting bird carcass will grab onto a root and drag itself to safety. 

I have quoted the rules that help define a corpse as an object, and via standard reductio ad absurdum, illustrated that treating a corpse as a creature is neither correct nor particularly useful to the smooth operation of the game.

There is no text that proves a corpse is a creature in the rules. It is an unnecessary complication to adopt that interpretation.