[Soul for Soul]
Wizard/Sorc level 5, [Evil, Death]
Necromancy
Components: V, S, M
Casting time: 1 Hour
Range: 15 ft.
Target: One dead creature and one creature with -1 or fewer hit points (see text)
Save: Fortitude negates
Description: With an elaborate, hour-long ritual that requires at least 5000 gp worth of rare incense and diamond dust as components, you can transfer the waning life-energy of a single living creature with -1 or fewer hit points into a corpse within range. The target creature must be present (within range) for the entire ritual, so it must be willing or somehow restrained. The target creature is allowed a Fortitude save at the end of the ritual to resist the spell. If it succeeds on the save, the spell fails and all material components are wasted. If the target creature fails the Fortitude save, the dead creature may be restored to life, as if a raise dead spell were cast upon it. All restrictions and limitations of the raise dead spell still apply.
Material components: Rare incense and diamond dust worth at least 5000 gp.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The -1 hp takes care of the Death Spell part -- the creature must be dying anyways, although you would likely have stabilized it to prevent it from dying during the ritual. The material components might be wasted (if the victim makes the save), so it is a bit worse than the clerical version of raise dead. The ritual takes one hour (incidently, exactly the duration between random encounter rolls) so if you perform it in a dungeon there is always the chance of disruption.
Just my two cents. Any and all comments welcome and sought for.