Resurrection: Welcome Back, Rotter
Spell Level: 7
School: Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S, M (A diamond worth at least 1,000 gp, which the spell consumes)
You touch a dead creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead. If its soul is free and willing, the target returns to life with all its hit points.
This spell neutralizes any poisons and cures normal diseases afflicting the creature when it died. It doesn’t, however, remove magical diseases, curses, and the like; if such effects aren’t removed prior to casting the spell, they afflict the target on its return to life.
This spell closes all mortal wounds and restores any missing body parts.
Coming back from the dead is an ordeal. The target takes a −4 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Every time the target finishes a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.
Casting this spell to restore life to a creature that has been dead for one year or longer taxes you greatly. Until you finish a long rest, you can’t cast spells again, and you have disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
This 7th level spell is TERRIBLE. For a 3rd level spell, you can resurrect an ally that just died. For a 5th level spell, you get a whole ten days to get them back to life. From 9th level onwards, you just always have that ability. Now, for a 7th level slot, you can bring them back to life, but… worse. They get a penalty to existing until you finish four long rests, AND you can’t cast spells until your next long rest. Oof. Raise Dead has these same penalties for the resurrected, but doesn’t prevent you from casting spells. This is two levels higher, and you don’t really get anything else out of the deal, plus it has enormous penalties for you.
Resurrection has to exist for reviving long dead people then; the only problem is it caps at a century. I guess you have the niche reward of growing back body parts and and dispelling mundane diseases, but it doesn’t solve magical problems. Spells half this level solve those problems, but this doesn’t. What?
Reincarnate has none of the penalties for casting it, and has the minor (but epic) downside of bringing them back as a different race. True Resurrection is two slots higher and can get back anything, no questions asked, and while ultimately not worth a 9th level slot, is far superior to regular Resurrection.
The times where you’d need Resurrection are few and far between. Once you have access to resurrection magic, you should be carrying on you the tools to do at least one, especially if you’re traveling long distances. Teleport and Teleportation Circle both mitigate this downside entirely as well by giving you the tools to get the components you need with just a long rest or two.
Bringing dead player characters back to life predominately will happen with 3rd or 5th level slots readily available to druids and clerics. Don’t bother with the worse in nearly every way 7th level version. Stick to the better stuff, in particular Reincarnate because that spell is actually FUN.
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