Quick Links
Resurrection can be one of the trickiest scenarios to run in aDungeons & Dragonscampaign. Most of the time, spells that can revive fallen allies are instantaneous or work without rolls or difficult checks. This can sometimes leave resurrection feeling hollow or broken.
However, if you’re looking for a solution to this problem, Critical Role’s resurrection rules add a lot of punch to reviving fallen allies. Though more restrictive than typical resurrection rules, these parameters create fun, dramatic stakes to player death while still allowing for the possibility of resurrection magic overall. Here’s how to run them for your campaign.
How Resurecction Works
First, it’s importantto understand the basics of resurrection magicin Dungeons & Dragonsbefore applying Critical Role’s ruleset. There are a handful ofspells in Fifth Edition that can revive or resurrectplayers. These range from incredibly overpowered to helpful only under the right circumstances.
Revivify
3rd
You touch a creature that has died within the last minute. That creature revives with 1 Hit Point. This spell can’t revive a creature that has died of old age, nor does it restore any missing body parts.
Raise Dead
5th
With a touch, you revive a dead creature if it has been dead no longer than ten days andit wasn’t Undeadwhen it died. The creature returns to life with 1 Hit Point. This spell also neutralizes any poisons that affected the creature at the time of death.
Reincarnate
You touch a dead Humanoid or a piece of one. If the creature has been dead no longer than ten days, the spell forms a new body for it and calls the soul to enter that body. Roll 1d10 to determine the body’s species, or the DM chooses another playable species.
Resurrection
7th
With a touch, you revive a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, didn’t die of old age, and wasn’t Undead when it died.
The creature returns to life with all its Hit Points. This spell also neutralizes any poisons that affected the creature at the time of death. This spell closes all mortal wounds and restores any missing body parts.
True Resurrection
9th
You touch a creature that has been dead for no longer than 200 years and that died for any reason except old age. The creature is revived with all its Hit Points. This spell closes all wounds, neutralizes any poison, cures all magical contagions, and lifts any curses affecting the creature when it died. The spell replaces damaged or missing organs and limbs. If the creature was Undead, it is restored to its non-Undead form.
Wish
By using the spell rules for Wish, the caster can replicate the effects of another 9th-level spell, such as True Resurrection.
Beyond the basic rulesof each spell, some of thesespells already have restrictionson them.Duration to castand costlymaterial componentsplay a factor inwhether or not a playercharactercan actually cast these spells. However,there are no DCs to clearwhen it comes to these spellsas written in the Player’s Handbook.
What Is A Death DC?
The biggest difference with Critical Role’s resurrection rules is what’s known asa Death DC. A Death DC, orDeath Difficulty Class, isa rollthat a player character has to makewhen casting any kind of resurrection magic. For Critical Role players,this DC begins at 10.Each time a creature dies, theirdeath DCis subsequentlyincreased by one.
This applies toboth ritual spellsand instant spells like Revivify. In addition,if a player casts a spellwith acasting time of one action, like Revivify,and failstheir DC check, there aretwo additional effects.
This means thatafter the first Revivify attempt, a longer,more complex ritual must be attemptedin orderto bring the creature back to life. Thisadds dramatic stakesto the prospect of interfering with life and death,forcing player characters to work harderto revive their fallen compatriot.
How To Run A Resurrection Ritual
Let’s say thatyour party has attempted to cast Revivifyon their deceased allyand failed. Now,the Death DCfor this player isincreased by one, and the party mustattempt a full-fledged ritualin order to get their friend back. This is where things get really interesting.
Before The Resurrection Ritual
Before the resurrection ritual begins, there is anassistance phase. During this time,three creaturescan offer uptheir assistanceto the ritual. The idea here is to haveplayers attempt to call back the soulof their ally through words of love, or through other magical means.Here are some examplesof assistance that can be offered.
Each time a creature contributesto the ritual,the DM calls for an ability checkwith a thematically appropriate skill. Then,the DM determines a DCbased on the strength of the player’s roleplay. If we look at the examples of assistance offered,here are some examplesof thematically appropriate ability checks.
Resurrection Assistance And Ability Checks
Roll with Arcana
Running The Ritual
As each player makes their corresponding assistance check,tally up the number of successes versus failures. As you do,adjust the overall Death DCfor the target creature like so.
Once you have the adjusted DC,the DM typically makes the final rollabove the table to determine whether or not the ritual is successful.
If a player character is casting the resurrection spell, you’re able to alsooffer the roll to themas well.
On a success, the resurrection works! You cancongratulate the playerson a job well done.On a failure, explain to the players thatthe ritual failed, and make sure it’s clear to them thatfurther attempts will not work. This createsa sense of dramatic finalityand prevents any game-breaking attempts at more revives.
Note: In the Tal’Dorei campaign setting,stronger resurrection spells can bypass this ritualif the DM decides to allow it. The only spells that can circumvent these rules areTrue Resurrection and Wish.
