Alternative Resurrection Rituals in D&D 5e
Dungeons and Dragons presents a myriad of scenarios where your character may perish, whether through combat, by triggering a trap, upsetting the king, a spell gone wrong, or anywhere in between. While the 5th edition of the game in particular has a lot of fail-safes against death, depending on the style of game you’re playing, chances are a player’s character has kicked the bucket one way or another. Though: it might not be the final farewell. Enter resurrection spells.
The Resurrection Debate
I’ve observed an interesting debate in D&D circles on all corners of the internet about resurrection. On one hand, the existence of spells that can bring a beloved character back from the cold embrace of death can save the emotional heartache of losing that character. It can also be a nice save from a decidedly unheroic death, or one that endangers the party massively by having a whole person down in the middle of a dungeon. However, there is plenty of discontent too: the idea that resurrection spells prevent the players from getting emotionally involved in the deaths of their characters, because they can just be hopped right back up. That, and/or the players throwing all caution to the wind and avoiding potentially creative use of their resources because, hey, if they die, they won’t be dead for long, right?
As a result, I’ve seen DMs entirely remove resurrection, or make it incredibly difficult to pull off, or harshly punish a resurrected player character with debuffs. This is usually done in the effort to garner more of a ‘reaction’ from the group, or to show how harsh the world is, etc.
For me, I can understand most of the arguments. Death can be a very powerful moment in games, and when it’s squandered with a slap of a hand, it can feel disappointing. That being said – sometimes the players choosing not to delve deep into their emotions for certain aspects of the game isn’t something that can be solved by changing how that thing works in the game. All that said, I do think resurrection, much like a lot of things in 5th edition, doesn't give a lot of direction to make it more exciting. Death is emotional, but coming back from death can be just as epic. If both are treated with a wave of the hand, of course they’re not going to feel meaningful.
You can’t guarantee your group (depending on their personalities and playstyles) will suddenly have the reaction you want when death happens. Sometimes changing methods helps the roleplay process, but sometimes it doesn’t. I will always caution DMs, too, on feeling like they have to ‘teach their party a lesson’ when it comes to any aspect of the game. While it can feel frustrating when the party doesn’t have the reaction you want, trying too hard to force that reaction can breed resentment and feel very transparent. Session Zeros are important for this reason: it can clear up expectations from the beginning so both the DM and the players are on the same page. A DM should celebrate the party’s successes as much as they challenge their strength, and trying to ensure failure so they ‘learn something’ can lead to unneeded strife.
All that said, I’ve gathered a bunch of different ways to handle resurrection in the game down below. Plenty of these have been talked about before, but I want to weigh the pros and cons of each. You can test out the methods with your group and see which one bodes the best!
#1 – Resurrection Rules As Is
We start with the classics. If you’re unfamiliar with how resurrection works in D&D, then this’ll get you up to speed.
There are four resurrection spells in the game (ignoring something like Clone, which is technically resurrection but too adjacent to be mentioned here.) We’re also excluding Reincarnate, since despite it being a resurrection spell, it has a much more notable effect on the target - completely changing their form from one race to another. Regardless of the spell used, the creature must be both willing and free to return to their body. For all but the last, the creature cannot be undead, and cannot have died of old age.
Revivify. The lowest level and cheapest resurrection spell in the game that is normally only available to clerics at level 5, since it’s a 3rd level spell. This spell requires a 300 gold diamond, and also requires the target to have been dead for less than a minute, but only takes an action to cast.
Raise Dead. The next step up from Revivify is Raise Dead. This spell requires a full hour to cast, as well as a 500 gold diamond. However, the body can be as old as 10 days. Additionally, the spell cures all nonmagical diseases and poisons, but does not neutralize magical disease curses. It heals wounds, but does not regrow body parts. Finally, this spell introduces the negative effects of resurrection: the target has a -4 to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks, with that counter reducing by 1 per long rest until it is remedied.
Resurrection. Another step, and we’re at the 7th level spell. This spell requires a 1000 gold diamond and an hour to cast, but this time, you can resurrect a body up to a century old. Much like Raise Dead, the spell cures all nonmagical diseases and poisons, but does not neutralize magical disease curses. It does, however, restore all necessary body parts. The target gets the same penalties when they return to life as Raise Dead, but for this spell, the caster is taxed as well. The caster cannot cast another spell for and has disadvantage on all d20 rolls until they finish a long rest.
True Resurrection. The absolute most powerful resurrection spell in the game at 9th level. It costs a whopping 25,000 gold (as well as a bit of holy water) and takes an hour to cast. It completely restores a creature with all its hit points and all negative ailments removed, neither they nor the caster gaining any ill effects from the casting. This spell can even make a body from nothing, and can restore anyone who did not die of old age and who has not been dead for more than 200 years.
The largest obstacles in the default rules for resurrection are a.) the diamonds / cost and b.) the time it takes and c.) the availability of the spells in general. Revivify, for example, is the cheapest resurrection spell, but is only available to the most limited number of classes. The higher level resurrection spells are more spread out around the classes, but Revivify and Raise Dead are going to be the most commonly utilized ones.
The accessibility of resurrection depends on a lot of factors - mainly, how a DM handles the obstacles mentioned above. If diamonds / money to buy them are easy to come by, the party has a cleric (and they’re not the ones who die) and there’s plenty of time to move, plus the caster has the spell slot, yes, resurrecting your dead friend is fairly easy! If any of those obstacles become harder, though, then it can tip that balance.
As an example, a DM could make diamonds much harder to come by. Don’t make them available at any shop, or make the prices marked up due to their rarity. This is the method I recommend if you don’t want to stifle resurrection much, but don’t exactly want your party walking around with thousands of gold in diamonds. You can also limit money, though that has an effect on all other things the players want to buy, so be cautious with that decision.
The time resurrection takes is a harder obstacle to tackle because whether or not a player perishes isn’t an easily controlled factor. Once you start either guaranteeing death or making sure it never happens, it can be really clear your manipulating things beyond the curtain. Thus, the timing tends to be a problem on its own, and doesn’t need a whole lot of tinkering to hinder the party.
Finally, having someone to actually cast the spell: if the party has someone, great! If not - or the person who cast is the one who died - they have a much bigger problem on their hands. In my games, other than Revivify, resurrection spells are rare forms of magic. People who are capable of casting the spells are few and far between, so finding someone to cast it on their behalf can be tricky.
These situations can also be a great opportunity to introduce story beats or unique forms of resurrection. Maybe an entity offers to save the creature’s soul for a price, or the party researches and discovers an ancient pool that can resurrect the pure-hearted. There is a ton you can do with it - or the player can decide to take up the mantle of another character on the backburner.
But maybe you want to mix things up! There are other, homebrew mechanics that can be added to add a bit more spice to resurrection rituals.
#2 The Team Effort
This method takes full advantage of the ‘ritual’ part of the resurrection ritual, and is one I personally use in my homebrew campaign. These mechanics were also popularized by Matt Mercer in Critical Role. Simply put: resurrecting someone requires everything you would need for spells like Raise Dead and above, but now, you need extra people too.
Implementing the other members of the party in the resurrection is a really easy way to have them feel involved, as well as injecting some emotion into it. Matt Mercer’s method, for example, is a skill challenge that initiates for any resurrection spell that requires more than an action to cast. It must have at least three participants, and each contributes a unique method of guiding the soul of the departed back to the body. This can be anything from yelling at them to return, delivering an emotional speech, impressing them with a feat of strength, etc. A relevant skill check is rolled, with the DM determining the DC based on the method.
When all contributions are made, the DM then rolls a final check, the DC being 10 + 1 for each resurrection the dead character has undergone - 3 for each successful contribution check by the participants in the ritual. On a success, the dead party member is returned. This method is great if you want the ritual to feel more involved, and to give party members a solo-roleplay moment to ponder the death of their party member. It’s also nice if not everyone wants to participate in the event of a large group - requiring only three people means someone can sit out if they don’t have much to say.
Another method involving multiple people in the ritual is a more straightforward one: each of the party members meditating around a ritual circle, contributing a bit of power into it. This can involve a constitution check, mages donating spell slots, charges from a magic item, etc. This is a much more physical method, but can force the party to contribute resources to the ritual that they can’t easily get back. Again, be cautious with this method: making the costs too ridiculously high can remove some of the motivation.
Personally, my method merely requires the party members to be in close proximity to the ritual site. All members of the party donate their presence to the ritual, requiring them to remain within twenty feet of the ritual space. The caster of the actual spell is incapacitated during the duration of the ritual. The extra caveat: a ritual of such holy power attracts otherworldly enemies. These enemies desire to disrupt the ritual, meaning the party has to defend the caster and the body without breaking their connection to the center. I’ve only had it happen once in my game so far, and it was predictably stressful for both me and my players, but thankfully: it was in a good way. I change the level of the entities that attack by the level of the party, and it usually consists of demons or aberrations, but you can get creative depending on the lore of your world.
#3 Sacred Ground & Regional Effects
Even if you largely use the default methods for resurrection, this one can be implemented to add a little more planning to the ritual. Large scale rituals can require the area to be set just right in order to allow that ritual to take place. This can mean casting the Hallow spell, or gathering incense and herbs to burn in a salt circle, or finding a temple with a big enough space for the ritual to be performed in. It can also be a means for you to introduce new and interesting landmarks in your setting.
Perhaps there is a special grove in the forest necessary to visit, but you must earn the trust of the druids there, which can introduce other plot points. Perhaps certain rare holy items must be found and poured into an ancient lake. It can give the party more time to ruminate on their friend’s death, or even press them for time. If they only have access to Raise Dead, and the closest place they can go to perform the ritual is nearly ten days' travel away, it can be a race against time without something like Gentle Repose.
You can also have the ritual leave behind an effect on the surrounding area. Calling a soul back to the Material Plane can perhaps leave a scar in the sky where a portal was opened, or blesses the ground beneath the party’s feet, or causes an unusual shift in the magic in the air. Perhaps the aftermath attracts strange creatures or even pilgrims of whatever god the cleric worships.
Consequences can be had if the ritual is not performed on sacred ground. While you could have it just straight up not work, it could also attack monsters that threaten the ritual, or the gods are angered by the slight and prevent the ritual from reaching the soul. Overall, it’s a ripe opportunity for a lot of plot points and lore bits to present itself, even if you’re playing a more linear story.
#4 No Resurrection
While not ideal in my personal opinion (and definitely something you want to discuss with your group) you always have the option to simply remove resurrection altogether. At least, the spells for resurrection. You could lean into the idea that coming back to life can only be accomplished with deals with entities or the Wish spell or divine intervention. Depending on the lore that exists in your world, this can be a perfectly viable method.
This can add more of a mystique to the art of resurrection too! Though, it would be best to consider the effect it can have on combat. If you're running a game where death is super likely (i.e. you have very tough combat, slow leveling, etc) you could provide more means to prevent death, like health potions and less insta-kill abilities. It also may be worth considering keeping Revivify, since it has a lot of limitations already.
Keep Expectations Clear
Any time you make major changes to rules or implement new mechanics, always make sure you discuss those changes with your group first. They will more than likely have valuable insight on how they feel about certain rules. Additionally, it’s good to consider why you want to change the rules. Do you want to just mix things up and try a different method, or are you trying to solve a problem? Does your group think that problem is worth addressing, or do they think it isn’t a problem in the first place? An open communication and collaboration solves a lot of issues before any in-game mechanics do, but that isn’t to say changing up the rules doesn't have any benefits.
Always consider simpler solutions before making sweeping changes that may or may not work, or trying to solve an out of character issue without addressing it first. Remember: the game is supposed to be fun for both you, the DM, and all of your players!
