D&D 5E Resurrection and Revivify

[Quartz]

I like these. I particularly like the levels of exhaustion adjustment to Revivify. That said, I would keep Resurrection at level 7 but require a level adjustment for lack of a body. These are all meant to keep the story going and that is a good thing.

 

[Salthorae]

I like these. I particularly like the levels of exhaustion adjustment to Revivify. That said, I would keep Resurrection at level 7 but require a level adjustment for lack of a body. These are all meant to keep the story going and that is a good thing.

I like that, give Resurrection an upcast option. Would you increase the cost of the material component to scale from Resurrection cost to True Ressurection costs? I mean 25,000 gp is a big jump from the 1,000 gp Resurrection cost!

 

[Quartz]

I like that, give Resurrection an upcast option. Would you increase the cost of the material component to scale from Resurrection cost to True Ressurection costs?

Sounds good to me.

 

[MarkB]

I like the idea of "only one resurrection spell, upcast as required depending upon body condition / deterioration / availability". You could even stick Reincarnate in there, as a lower-slot option for when you only have a small chunk of corpse.

 

[NotAYakk]

Revify:
casting time: 1 action
components: 300 gp of diamonds or diamond dust, which is consumed.

Returns to life a creature who has died in the last hour. The body must be present. Mortal wounds are healed, and the creature has 1 hp. If they have died in the last minute, they come back with a level of exhaustion (unless they died with more). If longer than a minute, two levels of exhaustion. If they died from exhaustion, they come back with 5 levels of exhaustion.

Any Poisons and Disease that killed a creature are not cured by this spell, but their action is delayed for 30 minutes.

At higher levels: As a 4th level spell, works on a creature which has died in the last 24 hours. At 5th level, a week. At 6th level, a month. At 7th level, a year. At 8th level, 100 years. For each time increment beyond 30 minutes. If the creature was dead more than an day, week or year they come back with 3, 4 or 5 levels of exhaustion.

 

[Quartz]

I'd not apply the initial level of exhaustion for a quick revivify as you can get into a death (ahem) spiral.

So, under a minute no exhastion, over a minute one level.

 

[jayoungr]

A consequence that you may not have thought about here is the effect of being able to use these spells on NPCs. It's a lot more difficult to run a "murder mystery" style adventure when you can just resurrect the victim and ask what happened.

Yes, there's speak with dead, but (1) that spell has limitations on it while questioning a resurrected NPC has none, and (2) you could easily have a party where no one took speak with dead but there's virtually no way you'll have a party without revivify under your new guidelines.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Resurrection should be able to create a NEW BODY, completely healthy, of any age, to bring anyone back to life regardless of how the ally died or how long ago. The Resurrection spell should even be able to reconstitute the ‘echos’ of a destroyed soul. Unlike Revivify, Resurrection should be able to handle the impossible situations, including precasting a self-resurrection. Therefore such a version of Resurrection probably deserves a slot 9, comparable to Wish. Because this Resurrection creates a new body, it should also be able to restore an ally that is trapped in suspended animation (compare Clone where the soul migrates to a new body). The old body vanishes as any residue gets incorporated into the new body. Likewise, such Resurrection can destroy an undead by creating a new living body, while the undead corpse vanishes. Meanwhile, a reverse application of this Resurrection spell can be employed to deny a foe the possibility of a resurrection. In this case, trying to Resurrect a denied ally would be similar to Dispel Magic, and difficult to succeed.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but I don't think a resurrection should be able to reverse the effects of a trapped soul: Magic Jar, Stasis (which isn't a spell in 5e anymore, but I love it), a person transformed into an undead. Otherwise, you'd be able to kill a Lich with a single spell remotely. I think, seeking out that soul and releasing it makes for a good adventure hook that shouldn't be hand waived by a spell. IMO.

As far as denying a foe a resurrection: Magic Jar, turning them into undead or burying them on grounds that have been 'Hallowed' all allow for this. There's a few other spells that do this but I can't remember them off-hand.

 

[Yaarel]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but I don't think a resurrection should be able to reverse the effects of a trapped soul: Magic Jar, Stasis (which isn't a spell in 5e anymore, but I love it),

As far as denying a foe a resurrection: Magic Jar, turning them into undead or burying them on grounds that have been 'Hallowed' all allow for this. There's a few other spells that do this but I can't remember them off-hand.

This Resurrection spell would be slot spell level 9, so I feel it should undo various effects that trap a soul.

A person can preemptively suppress Resurrection by being a higher level and casting a reverse version of Resurrection. (Things like ‘vestiges’ of ‘dead’ immortals are more like their existence being suppressed, rather than truly nonexistent.)

... a person transformed into an undead. Otherwise, you'd be able to kill a Lich with a single spell remotely. I think, seeking out that soul and releasing it makes for a good adventure hook that shouldn't be hand waived by a spell. IMO.

That is kinda a good point.

When using Resurrection aggressively to destroy Undead, there might need to be some prerequisites to make it happen. An easy prerequisite would be that the former living soul of the Undead is willing. In the case of a Lich, the soul might prefer to remain a Lich.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

That is kinda a good point.

When using Resurrection aggressively to destroy Undead, there might need to be some prerequisites to make it happen. An easy prerequisite would be that the former living soul of the Undead is willing. In the case of a Lich, the soul might prefer to remain a Lich.

Well, resurrection doesn't work at all if the soul isn't willing. You can't actually, offensively, resurrect people for the purposes of torturing them over and over. So, since a lich has willingly made himself undead, the spell would auto-fail. It would deny him his 'immortality' and he would never accept that. It might be the same for most intelligent 'natural' undead. (like those Giant negative energy ones...I forget what they're called) Zombies and the like would have unwilling 'tortured' souls trapped inside. A vampire is a hedge case. They probably weren't willing participants when they were turned, but now they might deny a Resurrection. So you might have to do it on a case-by-case basis or put in a saving throw.