Raise Dead
Level 5 · Necromancy
- Utility
Carried by bard, cleric, and paladin, Raise Dead operates at the 5th level of the necromancy school. Cast time: 1 Hour. Range Touch, components V/S/M, duration instantaneous. Material: a diamond worth 500+ GP, which the spell consumes. Effect: With a touch, you revive a dead creature if it has been dead no longer than 10 days and it wasn't Undead when it died.
Stat Block
- Level
- 5
- School
- Necromancy
- Casting Time
- 1 Hour
- Range / Area
- Touch
- Components
- V, S, M
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Ritual
- No
- Concentration
- No
- Classes
- Bard, Cleric, Paladin
- Material
- a diamond worth 500+ GP, which the spell consumes
Description
With a touch, you revive a dead creature if it has been dead no longer than 10 days and it wasn't Undead when it died. The creature returns to life with 1 Hit Point. This spell also neutralizes any poisons that affected the creature at the time of death. This spell closes all mortal wounds, but it doesn't restore missing body parts. If the creature is lacking body parts or organs integral for its survival—its head, for instance—the spell automatically fails. Coming back from the dead is an ordeal. The target takes a −4 penalty to D20 Tests. Every time the target finishes a Long Rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it becomes 0.
5e (2014) vs 2024 changes
This spell has both a 5e (2014) and 2024 Player's Handbook version. Doungim shows the current 2024 stat block above. Differences between editions typically affect components, range, or scaling — check both source books for the table.
Doungim Lore
School Fit
Necromancy magic is the school of vitality and its absence. Spells in it drain hit points, ignore deaths, or animate corpses. Raise Dead reads as Necromancy because the spell works on the boundary between life and death — draining, raising, or extending vitality. The 5th-level slot is precious; Raise Dead earns its slot or doesn't.
Class Fit
- Bard: At the Bard table, Raise Dead matters most when the College's signature features are on cooldown or out of charges. Otherwise the class has cheaper answers.
- Cleric: Clerics often prep Raise Dead for a single arc — a kidnapping arc, a planar arc, a politics arc — and swap it out when the arc ends.
- Paladin: Channel Divinity is the Paladin's Action-cost competitor in encounter math; Raise Dead earns its slot when it complements rather than conflicts.
Tactical play (Doungim editorial)
Bring back a creature up to 10 days dead. 500-gp diamond. The returned character takes 4 days of penalties.
Related Spells
Frequently Asked Questions about Raise Dead
- What level spell is Raise Dead?
- Raise Dead sits at level 5 in the Necromancy school of magic, prepared by Bard, Cleric, Paladin.
- What is the range of Raise Dead?
- Raise Dead is cast via touch. The caster has to reach the target with a successful melee touch (if the target is unwilling).
- What components and casting time does Raise Dead need?
- Note: the spell uses V, S, M components. Beyond that — Material component: a diamond worth 500+ GP, which the spell consumes; the casting time is 1 hour (not a standard Action).