They Don't Come Back Right

 THEY DON’T COME BACK RIGHT

This table is for when someone attempts a reanimation or resurrection after a body has had a soul leave and enter it once already. After that threshold, the physical form cannot handle the strain, and if further reanimations are attempted, things have the strong potential to go sour...

This one is for me and my games. Hope you get something out of it, I suppose?

When attempting the ritual, roll 2d6. The first one determines how many weeks the corpse is “burnt out”- all attempts on a further reanimation in that time simply wilt and fizzle to no avail. The second one determines how chaotic the reanimation is. Roll a d6, modified by the number of reanimations past 3 attempted, and compare against the table below.

1-2 Roll on the table below once and take whichever result.

3-5 Roll twice on the table; the DM can pick which result applies. I hope you brought snacks, because if I were the DM, I’d absolutely take bribes.

6+ Roll d4 times on the table; all results stack.

1 The wrathful arcane energies sear the air and cause an explosion centered on the corpse to be reanimated. 1-2 limited (catching the immediate vicinity), 3-4 sizeable (catching everyone in FAR range), 5-6 devastating (enough to cause structural damage).

2 Over the corpse, a dimensional tear to a random point in the cosmos rips open, the gravitational warp pulling everyone in FAR range towards it.

3 The ley lines tear; no magic will ever work in this area ever again.

4 The ley lines tear; magic hyperfunctions to a dangerous extent in this area forevermore, and exposure to latent magical energies will cause negative long-term effects, like radiation poisoning but faster.

5 The caster goes comatose for d6 days (1-3), d6 weeks (4-5), forever (6-7), or straight up dies (8).

6 The caster (1-5) or an onlooker in FAR range (6) has their soul shunted out of their body, replaced by another random one. The corpse has a 10% chance of “catching” the displaced soul.

7 The body becomes an atavistic tangle of limbs and organs, spasming piteously before drowning in its own internal fluids and being crushed under its own bulk.

8 The body becomes an atavistic tangle of limbs and organs- roll initiative!

9 The body spontaneously combusts and a ghost rises from the embers.

10 Bloated worms explode from the corpse’s body- roll initiative!

11 The corpse vomits up acid, hitting everyone CLOSE to it, then goes inert again.

12 The corpse reanimates stark raving mad, attacking the party.

13 The corpse reanimates, but occupied by a malignant intelligence. It will try and mask its malice until it finds a time to strike. The intelligence seeks only to quench all life in the world.

14 The corpse reanimates with the opposite personality of the body’s previous/original inhabitant 

15 The corpse reanimates as standard, but is incapable of speech or communication, only coldly staring

16 The corpse reanimates only to scream out a gibberish prophecy of woe and immediately collapse again

17 The corpse reanimates only capable of shivering in place and mumbling gibberish to itself.

18 The corpse reanimates only capable of (1-2) cackling, (3-4) screaming, (5-6) crying, or (7-8) all three intermittently.

19 The corpse dramatically shudders once, then stays inert.

20 By some miracle, the reanimation functions as normal. I’d advise against pushing your luck again…

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.