Finger of Death & Revivify

[J-H]

Finger of Death kills the target. The target then rises as a zombie on the caster's next turn. Zombies cannot be restored to life by anything short of Resurrection.

In between the end of the FoD caster's turn, and the caster's next turn when the target rises at a zombie, the target is simply dead.

I believe that, during that short window, Revivify should still work to bring the target back to life; once revived, the target is no longer dead and cannot acquire zombie status.

RAW, this works, correct?
Balance-wise, it gives only a very short window and costs a mid-level spell slot, plus the lost actions of the dead character.

[nickl_2000]

I believe RAW is legit, the wording on the spell is

"A humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a zombie." Assuming that they are rising from the dead, if they are no longer dead then the prerequisite isn't met to be able to rise and become a zombie.


Even it RAW is a little fuzzy, you are spending a 3rd level spell, 300 GP, and an action in combat. That seems like a perfectly legit sacrifice to keep a PC alive and kicking.

[RedMage125]

Finger of Death kills the target. The target then rises as a zombie on the caster's next turn. Zombies cannot be restored to life by anything short of Resurrection.

In between the end of the FoD caster's turn, and the caster's next turn when the target rises at a zombie, the target is simply dead.

I believe that, during that short window, Revivify should still work to bring the target back to life; once revived, the target is no longer dead and cannot acquire zombie status.

RAW, this works, correct?
Balance-wise, it gives only a very short window and costs a mid-level spell slot, plus the lost actions of the dead character.

There was a long thread about a year ago when this came up, and even though there was disagreement about other factors, both sides agreed that this was correct regarding FoD and Revivify.

[Tanarii]

"A humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a zombie." Assuming that they are rising from the dead, if they are no longer dead then the prerequisite isn't met to be able to rise and become a zombie.


So it's fine as long as they get their turn and stand up first. :smallamused:

[HPisBS]

The real question is: does
"A humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a zombie."

mean that if, say, the third failed death save comes from an arrow or something, then the dead humanoid does not rise at the start of your next turn, since it was technically killed by the arrow - not this spell?

[nickl_2000]

So it's fine as long as they get their turn and stand up first. :smallamused:

Yes, or someone picks them up and weekend at Bernie's them

[Democratus]

Why would being revived stop the spell?

Is there a rule that states a living creature can not rise as a zombie?

Genuinely asking, so I can bring the answer to my table. :smallsmile:

[Chronos]

OK, so how about this? On initiative count 17, the evil necromancer uses Finger of Death on the rogue, and let's say that the damage roll is so high that it goes straight to death, without stopping at 0 HP and death saves. On initiative count 12, the cleric goes, and casts Revivify, and so the rogue comes back to life (but still severely injured). On initiative count 9, necromancer's undead minions hits the rogue again, repeatedly, and kill her again. What happens next turn? We've got a dead body, and it was killed by Finger of Death in the previous round.

[JackPhoenix]

What happens next turn?

The player(s) will start throwing things at the GM.