tal’dorei campaign guide

oPtional ruleS of critical role alternative

For those who have watched along with our adven-
tures, you may see some of these optional rules as
resurrection rules
familiar. Many of the elements included in this Character death can often prove to become a minor
chapter are based on or retooled versions of the house inconvenience in some campaigns once the adventuring
rules we tried within our own campaign. Some have party reaches a certain level, with spells being available to
undergone a number of changes for balance as we try return fallen comrades from the afterlife with temporary
new things and learn from our experiences. For those setbacks, robbing a small element of danger and threat
that are curious, the ones we utilized within our own to future conflicts and challenges within the story. If you
game are Rapid Quaffing and Multi-Spell. wish to elevate the gravity of character death, you can
introduce any of these optional rules.

multi-spell a taxing return

This variant harkens back to older edition rules where
At around 8th level, gift the Spelldriver feat to your play-
every time a character is restored to life, the process cor-
ers. This will allow spellcasting classes more options to
rodes a fraction of their vitality, slowly consuming the
aid themselves and the party at higher levels without a
body until it can no longer sustain life.
comparably sluggish per-round ability set, spending their
Each time a character is brought back to life via a spell
solitary action on a bonus action spell. This would also
or ritual, that character suffers a permanent loss of 1 point
apply to enemy spellcasters, leading to additional chaos
of their Constitution ability score. This loss cannot be
and challenge.
restored outside of a carefully worded wish spell. Use of
the spell true resurrection to restore a character does not
impose this loss of Constitution. Characters that reach a
accelerated doWntime Constitution ability score of 0 are permanently dead and
cannot be resurrected.
Certain adventures thrive on the adrenaline of the chase,
or the ever-present fear of ambush. As it stands, the need
to take a short rest can prove difficult during long dungeon
didn’t come Back right
crawls, and this lends itself to a nice tone of personal stress Within this rule, the process of dying and being pulled
and risk-vs-reward. However, sometimes a rest is necessary back into your body is a harrowing experience. The magic
for the party to even continue, but the current rush of the itself pulls you from beyond the dark veil of death, taking
story’s clock won’t allow for a standard short rest. You could its toll on your body and psyche each time, leaving you
consider lessening the required time to complete a short less and less the person you were.
rest to 30 minutes or less for the moment, or your entire When a character is brought back to life via magic,
campaign, as an option. Another possibility is to allow the that character must make a Wisdom saving throw with
party to take an Arduous Rally if they so choose. a DC equal to 20 - the level of the magic used to return
the character to life. A failure on this check inflicts long
arduous rally term madness (see DMG, p. 260), except that the duration
is measured in days rather than hours. A lesser restoration
The party spends 5 minutes to rally their resolve in the or remove curse will alleviate the madness itself, though
face of coming peril, the adrenaline fueling their need it returns any time that character drops to 0 hit points or
to push on. The party benefits from the completion of a awakens from sleep, until its full duration has expired.
full Short Rest, but all healing gained by spending hit
dice is halved, and all rallying characters suffer 1 point of
Exhaustion (p. 291 PHB).
didn’t come
Back right (advanced)
For additional consequences and player difficulty, you can
implement a further stage of corruption. If a character has
died a number of times equal to their Constitution
modifier, and they fail their Wisdom saving throw
upon being brought back to life, they instead suffer
an indefinite madness (see DMG p.260). Any
“Like all of the great rites of passage in life, death subsequent deaths inflict an additional indefinite
changes us, and simply returning to the world of madness with each resurrection. A greater restoration
the living does not undo that change, nor is it at all
spell can temporarily suppress a type of indefinite
simple. Those who have passed beyond the veil are
madness, with it returning anytime that character
marked by it, even if they manage to find their
drops to 0 hit points.
way back.”
—From “On the Price of Death and
Resurrection,” by the sage Narrel
 tal’dorei campaign guide

The base DC for the final resurrection check is 10,

the fading spirit increasing by 1 for each previous successful resurrection
This resurrection rule set is designed to add an element the character has undergone (signifying the slow erosion
of party roleplaying and narrative to the resurrection of the soul’s connection to this world). For each success-
attempt, as well as the creeping threat of permanent death ful contribution skill check, this DC is decreased by 3,
to a character. Any of the following DC modifiers are whereas each failed contribution skill check increases the
easily adjusted to fit your campaign needs. DC by 1. Upon a successful resurrection check, the play-
er’s soul (should it be willing) will be returned to the body,
resurrection challenge and the ritual succeeded. On a failed check, the soul does
If a character is dead, and a return from death is attempted not return and the character is lost.
by a spell or spell effect with longer than a one action cast- Only the strongest of magical incantations can bypass
ing time, a Resurrection Challenge is initiated. Up to 3 this resurrection challenge, in the form of the true res-
members of the adventuring party can offer to contribute to urrection or wish spells. These spells can also restore a
the ritual via skill checks. The DM asks them each to make character to life who was lost due to a failed resurrection
a skill check based on their form of contribution, with the ritual, should you allow it.
DC of the check adjusting to how helpful/impactful the
DM feels the contribution would be. quick resurrections
For example, praying to the god of the devout, fallen If a spell with a casting time of 1 action is used to attempt
character may require an Intelligence (Religion) check at to restore life (via the revivify spell or similar effects), no
an easy to medium difficulty, where loudly demanding the contribution skill checks are allowed. The character cast-
soul of the fallen to return from the aether may require ing the spell makes a Rapid Resurrection check, rolling
a Charisma (Intimidation) check at a very hard or nearly a d20 and adding their spellcasting ability modifier. The
impossible difficulty. Advantage and disadvantage can DC is 10, increasing by 1 for each previous successful
apply here based on how perfect, or off base, the contribu- resurrection the character has undergone. On a failure,
tion offered is. the character’s soul is not lost, but the resurrection fails
and increases any future Resurrection checks’ DC by 1.
resurrection check No further attempts can be made to restore this character
After all contributions are completed, the DM then rolls a to life until a resurrection spell with a casting time higher
single, final Resurrection success check with no modifier. than 1 action is attempted.

chapter 3: character options 119