Reincarnation and gender of the new form.

Len · Apr 1, 2005

Kemrain said:
I think it's a pity the rules dont allow for gender change. I mean, whay's the point in dying if I can't come back as a.. Well, something else.

That's what one of my co-players thinks. He was disappointed recently when his human fighter was reincarnated as a half-elf. He was hoping for something more interesting, like kobold. But fortunately the rules do allow rolling for gender, if the DM requires it, and he was quite happy to come back female.

When we went back to defeat the BBG who had killed him he gave the same battle cry as before, except an octave higher.

moritheil · Apr 5, 2005

Kemrain said:
I think it's a pity the rules dont allow for gender change. I mean, whay's the point in dying if I can't come back as a.. Well, something else. Reading the spell description.. You come back as a youn adult. So, if you're willing to lose a level every once in a while, get yourself killed before you croak naturally, and accept a good chance of a new race, this seems a great way to get out of dying of old age!

- Kemrain the [Evil] and Immortal!

Sure, if you can keep finding druids of appropriate level that don't catch on that you're trying to circumvent the natural order of your life, I don't see why not. But sooner or later you'll be spending a life as a badger or something. (Might be good or bad depending on your whims.)

Viktyr Gehrig · Apr 5, 2005

moritheil said:
Sure, if you can keep finding druids of appropriate level that don't catch on that you're trying to circumvent the natural order of your life, I don't see why not.

I'm not sure that using reincarnation in this fashion is circumventing the natural order-- it's a Druid spell, after all, and it provides a new, young body every time. You're merely keeping your spirit in circulation.

Aust Diamondew · Apr 5, 2005

moritheil said:
Sure, if you can keep finding druids of appropriate level that don't catch on that you're trying to circumvent the natural order of your life, I don't see why not. But sooner or later you'll be spending a life as a badger or something. (Might be good or bad depending on your whims.)

I'm pretty sure 3.5 reincranation makes you come back as a critter of the same type (ie humanoid, giant etc) that you normally are. So if you're playing 3.5 you're in the clear as far as avoinding coming back as a badger goes.

Khayman · Apr 5, 2005

Aust Diamondew said:
I'm pretty sure 3.5 reincranation makes you come back as a critter of the same type (ie humanoid, giant etc) that you normally are. So if you're playing 3.5 you're in the clear as far as avoinding coming back as a badger goes.

Try handing out Reincarnate scrolls to low-level casters. The mayhem that ensues when the scroll is miscast is an evil DM's dream. Badgers are one of the more benign possibilities.

Badgers? We don' need no steenking badgers...

Quasqueton · Apr 5, 2005

Way back in one of my AD&D1 campaigns, a PC male elf fighter/magic-user died. Back then, elves couldn't be raised, so they got a druid to reincarnate him. The random roll, right from the book, came up dryad. So the result was a female dryad magic-user. They hired a cleric to exercise the dryad from her tree, and then the dryad charmed him into a "cohort".

A few adventures later, that female dryad magic-user died, and the reincarnate brought it back as a [male] ogre. We retired that campaign, at that point.

Quasqueton

Jack Simth · Apr 6, 2005

Aust Diamondew said:
I'm pretty sure 3.5 reincranation makes you come back as a critter of the same type (ie humanoid, giant etc) that you normally are. So if you're playing 3.5 you're in the clear as far as avoinding coming back as a badger goes.

Just 99% of the time - there is an "other" entry way down at the bottom for 100.

Hmm.... does that roll qualify as a "Variable, Numeric effect"? If so, MAXIMIZE IT!!!!! (Empower works too, but is a little more random (and what happens if you roll a 90? 90* 1.5 = 135, off the chart....)) Really make people's lives interesting..... Especially if they are hiring an NPC caster under DM controll.....

moritheil · Apr 6, 2005

I'm pointing out that it's open to DM interpretation. The DM can very plausibly say, "The Druid believes that to continually reincarnate you, keeping you on this plane with knowledge of your prior life, is against his understanding of the natural order of things. Therefore he refuses."

And Jack Simth, yes, that's what I'm talking about. Very humorous interpretation of "variable effect," though.

Korimyr the Rat said:
I'm not sure that using reincarnation in this fashion is circumventing the natural order-- it's a Druid spell, after all, and it provides a new, young body every time. You're merely keeping your spirit in circulation.

Jack Simth · Apr 6, 2005

moritheil said:
And Jack Simth, yes, that's what I'm talking about. Very humorous interpretation of "variable effect," though.

I just have fun sometimes with things that are technically by the book - for example, an Archmage could conjour a (confused) Electricity Elemental (Or Acid, or Sonic, or cold) (it's confused because it was previously a Fire elemental; VERY confused if you go with Cold....) with the Summon Monster spells and the Mastery of Elements class ability.

Banshee16 · Apr 6, 2005

reanjr said:
What if something is reincarnated as a species that doesn't have a gender. Or one which only has females. Or a hermaphroditic species. What happens in these cases (both to and from)?

I don't know if the RAW actually saw gender/sex doesn't change. They don't say anything about it, either yay or nay. I suspect it's done that way to allow DMs to make the choice for their own games.

Personally, anyone who is reincarnated in my games has a 50% chance to go away. Interestingly, the spell had *never* been used in my campaign, in about 7 years, yet lately, a high-level druid is the only person in the party capable of bringing back the dead. This had never been house ruled, yet all my players assumed there was a random chance of switching gender.

One of the characters was a male elf, who had been slain several weeks ago, and been reincarnated as a different male elf......but he was slain again after a few sessions, and has now been brought back as a dryad, meaning a female form since there are no males....aside from satyrs, and since they're a different result on the chart, they don't count.

The player saw it as an opportunity for a change. He's been playing this character for 6 years, and miraculously, he's survived the entire time. But once he finally died for the first time, he seems to be having harder luck.

I've also tried a bit of a different take on the spell. Given that my campaign is a low-XP, slow advancement one, many characters have been in it for many years of play time, and they're still only about lvl 12 right now. Sometimes players experience character fatigue...the desire to try something different. So, I decided to allow characters to switch classes when they come back, if they're interested. The idea being that when they come back, though they remember their old life, they've also got a new mind that might not do things the same way....so that elf I mentioned had been a rogue/sorcerer, but is now a dryad wizard. So far it seems the best of both worlds. They're trying to roleplay it, and it allows them to try something new if a character dies, without the problems inherent in trying to introduce a new character into the party, not knowing any of the campaign history, what the PCs are up to, etc.

I guess it all depends on the comfort level of the group. I always just assumed you were supposed to roll, but I guess nothing specifically says you have to.

Banshee