So my players recently fought a Lesser Death Dragon, whose breath weapon turns you into a Zombie if it drops you to 0 HP, no death saves, just killed and zombified. This happened to two of my players in the fight, but they were quickly killed again within the next two rounds.
Now, because they were turned into Undead, but then killed again, and its still within 1 minute, does Revivify still work to bring them back to life?
The wording for Revivify doesn't state anything about undead, unlike the higher level resurrection spells, and since the PCs were killed again, they count as a creature killed within the time frame if I'm not mistaken.
RAW Revivify only specifies "a creature", so there's no reason based on the description it can't target a corpse that was last Undead. Now, someone might try and argue that they can only be brought back to the state they were in prior to death- ie: an Undead- rendering the exercise somewhat moot.
Really, this is a fuzzy area that's up to you- if you prefer to just keep the party moving you can let the casters bust out the magic AEDs and get everyone back on their feet. If you're aiming for a more hardcore campaign, there's enough RAW ambiguity at what Revivify would raise them as that you can say it's a no-go for getting the PCs back, plus D&D tradition that being raised as Undead greatly complicates attempts to return someone to true life.
If it were my table... I would let the cleric cast Revivify, but tell him that the spell fails, but the spell slot is not used and the diamond is still intact. Then I would ask him to roll a Religion check. As long as he doesn't roll absolute dogsh*t, I would suggest to him that maybe the corpse needs to be blessed first, to ensure it comes back normal and not as a zombie. Just a simple prayer, maybe pour some holy water in the mouth just to be sure. Then on the recast of Revivify it would work.
It may not be 100% RAW, but it gives the players a moment of concern when they thought the danger was over. But then they get the relief they deserve for winning the fight.
This is from the Dev, and RAW I'd say it's how Revivify works:
@Hub_Libertarian Another FB group question. Fighter dies from death tyrant, raised as zombie, killed, revivify w/in 1 min, does that work? @JeremyECrawford If you cast revivify on a zombie, the creature returns as a zombie. The spell doesn't change creature type.
But TBH, since you're the DM, you could allow it based on the suggestions above and the time that has elapsed.
Hi all,
So my players recently fought a Lesser Death Dragon, whose breath weapon turns you into a Zombie if it drops you to 0 HP, no death saves, just killed and zombified. This happened to two of my players in the fight, but they were quickly killed again within the next two rounds.
Now, because they were turned into Undead, but then killed again, and its still within 1 minute, does Revivify still work to bring them back to life?
The wording for Revivify doesn't state anything about undead, unlike the higher level resurrection spells, and since the PCs were killed again, they count as a creature killed within the time frame if I'm not mistaken.
Appreciate any thoughts/guidance on the matter :)
RAW Revivify only specifies "a creature", so there's no reason based on the description it can't target a corpse that was last Undead. Now, someone might try and argue that they can only be brought back to the state they were in prior to death- ie: an Undead- rendering the exercise somewhat moot.
Really, this is a fuzzy area that's up to you- if you prefer to just keep the party moving you can let the casters bust out the magic AEDs and get everyone back on their feet. If you're aiming for a more hardcore campaign, there's enough RAW ambiguity at what Revivify would raise them as that you can say it's a no-go for getting the PCs back, plus D&D tradition that being raised as Undead greatly complicates attempts to return someone to true life.
If it were my table... I would let the cleric cast Revivify, but tell him that the spell fails, but the spell slot is not used and the diamond is still intact. Then I would ask him to roll a Religion check. As long as he doesn't roll absolute dogsh*t, I would suggest to him that maybe the corpse needs to be blessed first, to ensure it comes back normal and not as a zombie. Just a simple prayer, maybe pour some holy water in the mouth just to be sure. Then on the recast of Revivify it would work.
It may not be 100% RAW, but it gives the players a moment of concern when they thought the danger was over. But then they get the relief they deserve for winning the fight.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
This is from the Dev, and RAW I'd say it's how Revivify works:
But TBH, since you're the DM, you could allow it based on the suggestions above and the time that has elapsed.
Also, I recently created a thread about Curse of Strahd, related to undead and resurrection. It might be useful for you too (it has spoilers!): Curse of Strahd - True Resurrection for a certain NPC