Resurrection

Resurrection is the act of magically returning a creature from death. In Critical Role, there have been several deaths of player characters which have caused the party to attempt resurrection rituals when possible.

The Fading Spirit
In Critical Role, certain powerful spells along the lines of Revivify and Resurrection are treated as a challenge. This means that players can undo death, but its success is determined by the player's capabilities as a spell caster and their character's attachment to their companions. Whenever a character does die, a resurrection can be attempted but it is a challenge. This means there is a possibility of failing in which case the resurrection fails, the soul is lost and the character is deemed permanently dead.

Death DC
When a creature is resurrected, a roll is made against a DC, which begins at 10. For each time the creature dies, their death DC is increased by 1.

Rapid Resurrection
When a creature is targeted by the spell Revivify, the caster makes a spellcasting ability check against the target's death DC. On a success, the spell takes hold and the creature is resurrected. On a failure, the creature's death DC is increased by 1, and they can't be resurrected until they are resurrected by a spell with a casting time longer than one action.

Resurrection Ritual
When a creature is targeted by a resurrection spell with a casting time longer than one action, such as Raise Dead or Resurrection, a ritual is initiated in which up to three creatures can contribute in order to call the creature's soul back to their body. The creature makes an ability check with a skill the DM deems appropriate for the action, against a DC that the DM also determines.

For each successful check, the creature's death DC is lowered by 3 for this ritual. For each failure, it increases by 1 for this ritual. The DM makes the final roll against this DC. On a success, the creature is returned to life if its soul is willing. On a failure, the creature's soul is lost, and further resurrection rituals fail automatically.

Only the strongest of magic can bypass this ritual, in the form the True Resurrection or Wish spells. These spells can also return to life a creature whose soul was lost from a failed ritual.

Consecution
Special rules apply to consecuted individuals dying within range of a Luxon beacon. If the soul still remained within the beacon awaiting a rebirth, it would be plucked from the beacon via the spell and work as normal. If the soul had already been reborn, then there would be no soul to resurrect, and the spell fails.

Prevention
A soul must be free and willing to return if a resurrection is attempted. If a soul is at peace and unwilling to return, if the creature has become undead, or if the soul is somehow prevented from doing so by another force or entity, the resurrection fails automatically. There is at least one way to prevent a corpse from being resurrected — the echoes of Otohan Thull, known as the Gray Assassins, used a rare toxin during their attack on Zephrah. It affects divine magic and makes it impossible to complete the resurrection ritual.