# Are you going to buy D&D 6th edition? (Update is being called 5e 2024 Revision) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** rpg-dnd-wargames\ **Created:** [May 14, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573 "2024-05-14T21:12:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/121 "2024-07-02T18:55:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’ve been playing in a 6-person party for the past year and a half and not once has any of us actually died for more than a round or two, in spite of the efforts of our occasionally psychopathic DM. I noticed that in the first 5th edition campaign I won. As the campaign progressed, I kept throwing more series threats and them well above what their CR was supposed to be and they kept surviving. I wasn’t deliberately trying to kill them, but I got a little tired of feeling like every fight was a cakewalk. There’s was no real risk and that’s just boring. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/122 "2024-07-02T20:14:45Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I noticed that in the first 5th edition campaign I won. As the campaign progressed, I kept throwing more series threats and them well above what their CR was supposed to be and they kept surviving. I wasn’t deliberately trying to kill them, but I got a little tired of feeling like every fight was a cakewalk. There’s was no real risk and that’s just boring. It _is_ hard to die in 5e. But in most of our big combats, the frontline martials always go below half, and usually at least one PC drops to 0 and starts making death saving throws- but a healing word can fix that right up. And we have had to pull out a few times to regroup. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/123 "2024-07-02T21:28:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It _is_ hard to die in 5e. But in most of our big combats, the frontline martials always go below half, and usually at least one PC drops to 0 and starts making death saving throws- but a healing word can fix that right up. And we have had to pull out a few times to regroup. If I had 1 gp for every time some other player poured a Potion of Healing down my unconscious throat I’d… have a lot of gp. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/124 "2024-07-04T07:49:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > I haven’t ever banned Revivify I have. Bringing someone back from the dead requires quite an epic quest, in my world. It should be like an Orpheus&Eurydice-level legendary event to bring someone back from the dead, not something every other cleric can do. Well, to bring them back the same as they left is hard. Bringing them back _wrong_ is way easier 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/125 "2024-07-04T09:11:39Z")
We called revivify the AED spell. You’re not dead, you’re only mostly dead and the spirit is still there. It is only good for 1 minute. But a raise dead is far more serious. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/126 "2024-07-04T19:37:29Z")
Yep. My Grave cleric of the Raven Queen will cast revivify, but not Raise Dead unless She specifically allows it. “mostly dead” vs “all dead”- “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive” Miracle Max. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/127 "2024-07-05T13:44:54Z")
It’d be one thing if Revivify was simply a “take you from -1 to 1 HP” kind of spell, but it’s not. It’s a “Bring you back no matter how many negative HP you have or what killed you” kind of spell, and I can’t be having with that. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/128 "2024-07-05T14:28:55Z")
Revivify doesn’t restore lost body parts so you presumably need an intact corpse for it to work. Beheading someone (or running them through a wood chipper) would prevent it from working, same as Raise Dead. But D&D doesn’t model that sort of damage and, if a DM was to start saying that the hobgoblin axe lopped your head clean off, players would cry foul so it’s not likely to come up often. Revivify is different from Raise/Resurrection in that it doesn’t require consent from the dead spirit to work. The other spells need the spirit to be willing to give up the afterlife and return. Revivify just works which adds to the fluff that it’s less “returning to life” and more “preventing really, _really_ dead…” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/129 "2024-07-05T14:33:55Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Revivify doesn’t restore lost body parts so you presumably need an intact corpse for it to work. Beheading someone (or running them through a wood chipper) would prevent it from working, same as Raise Dead. I’m now picturing a gnome with an Anti-Revivify machine making an absolute killing once he figures out he can sell it as a gardening tool instead. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/130 "2024-07-05T14:55:28Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Revivify doesn’t restore lost body parts so you presumably need an intact corpse for it to work. Yep. > [@Jophiel](#): > > But D&D doesn’t model that sort of damage Some items do, though - Vorpal Sword, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/131 "2024-07-05T15:01:09Z")
Yeah, there’s a scant few items (Vorpal Sword and Sword of Sharpness are all that comes to mind in 5e) but, by that point, the players probably have access to Resurrection if it comes up. Well, you can just Revivify + Regenerate for a Sword of Sharpness since that doesn’t slice heads. And how many Vorpal swords are they encountering? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/132 "2024-07-05T19:03:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > It’d be one thing if Revivify was simply a “take you from -1 to 1 HP” kind of spell, but it’s not. It’s a “Bring you back no matter how many negative HP you have or what killed you” kind of spell, and I can’t be having with that. There are no “negative hit points” in 5e. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/133 "2024-07-05T19:18:29Z")
I was using it in the sense of “how very badly that last hit was”, not “keep track of your negative HP, 1st Ed styley” sense. Even if the last blow was the insta-kill-level putting-you-into-minus-your-max-HP kind, Revivify still works, and that’s dumb, was my point. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/134 "2024-07-05T19:22:21Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Even if the last blow was the insta-kill-level putting-you-into-minus-your-max-HP kind, Revivify still works, and that’s dumb, was my point. That is where house rules make more sense. As that is suppose to be dead-dead for NPCs without plot armor, I can fully see saying _Revivify_ doesn’t work in that case. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/135 "2024-07-05T19:24:47Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > That is where house rules make more sense. As that is suppose to be dead-dead for NPCs without plot armor, I can fully see saying _Revivify_ doesn’t work in that case. I dont see why killing off PCs is a Good thing. The DM can klil the PCs any time he wants, no house rules needed. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/136 "2024-07-05T19:26:19Z")
Needing a Raise Dead is not the end of the world though. It is up to the Ref and the players can argue their case or vote with their feet. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/137 "2024-07-05T19:32:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I dont see why killing off PCs is a Good thing. It’s not a Bad thing, either. It just happens. > [@DrDeth](#): > > The DM can klil the PCs any time he wants He can also give them plot armour any time he wants. Both are not ideal DMing styles, IMO. With my house rules, it’s not _impossible_ to raise the dead. It’s just something that has to happen in plot, not casually. That makes more story for everyone. I also tend not to run combat-heavy games, so characters dying is fairly infrequent. I despise hack&slash, I don’t play with murderhobos, and my monsters and villains don’t usually fight to the death, so I don’t expect the PCs to, either. I mean, I do want them to be in danger, but the danger is about not achieving their goals or being brought low in some way, more often than not. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/138 "2024-07-06T01:45:37Z")
My feelings about resurrection are pretty much Pet Sematary. “Sometimes, dead is better.” My rules are no evil characters and be ride or die with the party. But a rezzed character will be expected to be the opposite, if it ever happens, which it won’t in my game. Rezzing cheapens death. Mourn your friend, and the player rolls a new character. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/139 "2024-07-06T02:15:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I dont see why killing off PCs is a Good thing. The DM can klil the PCs any time he wants, no house rules needed. For me, combat needs to have some element of risk to be interesting. I like seeing big hits in combat. I love seeing the PCs lay down some serious damage against the monsters, but I also like to see the monsters lay down some serious hate against the PCs. Yeah, I can kill the PC any time I want, but that’s boring. I like to let the dice do the talking. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573/140 "2024-07-06T19:43:24Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > My feelings about resurrection are pretty much Pet Sematary. “Sometimes, dead is better.” My rules are no evil characters and be ride or die with the party. But a rezzed character will be expected to be the opposite, if it ever happens, which it won’t in my game. I try not to base my games on horror films. I certainly agree with "No evils’ and in our current game- revivify will be done by my cleric, but not Raise dead or Resurrection unless his Goddess tells him to do it. And I think in that case, you would agree you have to do as She (who must be obeyed) says. We have not lost many PCs- one due to “I found I didnt like that character, give me a heroic death” (always Okay around here), and a couple due to serious opps- falling in lava with 0 hp, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-going-to-buy-d-d-6th-edition-update-is-being-called-5e-2024-revision/1001573.md?page=8)