Raise Dead etc.

Hello all

The other night, during a session I was DMing, I had a player who made a couple of bad Balance check rolls, while crossing a thin, unsafe rope bridge. He fell 200' down a chasm, and the resulting damage killed him outright. He was playing a 6th level Fighter/Dwarf.

I told him he could roll up a new character then we would continue. He said that he only plays one character per session and he refused. This was only 2 1/2 hours into the game, and I wanted to play a 4 or 5 hour session. Another thing is, he was one of only 2 players that could make it that night. So I was left with only one player, who couldn't possibly play the module and survive alone. Thus, that was the end of that session.

The player got up and went home. He was annoyed that I wouldn't have his character raised, and he said he would have, if he was DMing. Now, I'm not opposed to ressurecting pc's under the right circumstances, but I just don't believe in handing out spells like that as a common practice.

How common is raise dead/res spells in your game? Should I have raised him or are those types of spells more available to higher level pc's ( which is my thinking on it ). I realize as DM, I can do what I want, but I would like to have other player's opinions on this.

Fare Thee Well!

Those spells are available to PCs of the correct level to cast it. Only PCs will likely cast it - it's not for sale at temples (since, based on my campaign's cosmology, when you die it's "your time", and you're in a better place - you're deity's home plane - anyways). People are only brought back if they have some very important mission for that diety's religion still unfinished (very rare).

PCs, being PCs, can cast it whenever they have access to it - I'm not telling them what they can and can't do.

What was that player's justification for being raised? Did he even bother to try to come up with a plausible explanation?

I'm not sure I understand what the player wanted. Was he just expecting the character to stand up at the last save spot like in a video game?

If the PC's are high enough level, and have a cleric in the group that has Raise Dead memorized, and have the right spell components, then they can try a Raise on the spot. Otherwise, they had better get the deceased to an appropriate level cleric as soon as possible.

Of course, in my homebrew, raising the dead isn't even as easy as it is in the Rules as Written. The deceased has to have some sort of value to the God you are beseeching, otherwise even the gods won't devote energy to searching for a soul lost in the dead wastes. If you are a devout worshipper, you probably made it to the correct citadel (but not always) and your god can probably find you with a minimum of fuss. But, that is neither here nor there.

If the player expected a video game raising, then you are either running the wrong game for the player, or the player is at the wrong table for the DM.

"one character per session"? First I've heard that one.

From what you've told us, it sounds to me like the guy was ticked that his character died and he was trying to get a free rez out of the deal. This is appropriate under the following circumstances:


1) The character the The Nameless One from Planescape:Torment.
2) It's just a bunch of casual fun and who needs these silly rules anyway?
3) The player is a billionaire who likes flying his friends out to tropical islands over the weekend.

Otherwise, he shouldn't die and pop right back up. What's to stop him from charging into every room? Opening chests without checking for traps? Questioning the ancestery of ancient red dragons to their face?

So, he gets no rez.

Now on to you.

Why'd you have an unsafe rope bridge over a 200' chasm requiring a dwarf fighter to make a balance check? That's pretty much a make-this-roll-or-die situation. Hopefully you didn't make him do it in full armor, but still that's a nasty situation. There's nothing wrong with 25' chasms, bridges that are surprisingly sturdy, or making the players roll just to scare them while you have the outcome in your head. Next time something like that happens, have the dwarf catch the edge of the rope bridge if he slips. Tension mounts. You make a sinister laugh. You make a secret roll and ignore the results. The dwarf manges to hang on and climbs back up.

Two or three checks to avoid death in the middle of nowhere is not what you want to do to your players.

Happy gaming!

BiggusGeekus said:

Why'd you have an unsafe rope bridge over a 200' chasm requiring a dwarf fighter to make a balance check? That's pretty much a make-this-roll-or-die situation.

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Normally, I run a homebrewed campaign, where in fact I have other punishments other than death, loss of xp and or magic items etc, which are VERY rare in that world.

The night before the scheduled session, I decided to put my regular game on hold because of the lack of player's that were going to be present. I told the two player's who were going to be there to simply "throw" together a quick pc, because I was going to run an adventure module ( standard dungeon crawl ) instead, for a couple sessions, until the full group was available again. The chasm I spoke of, is a part of the module, which I would like to remain secret because I may have player's read this post. I usually run a module, and when it is finished, that is when I reveal the name of it.

Fare Thee Well!

BiggusGeekus said:

Why'd you have an unsafe rope bridge over a 200' chasm requiring a dwarf fighter to make a balance check?

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Meh. My players like that sort of thing.

Inappropriate criticism without knowing the full dynamics of the group.

arnwyn said:

Inappropriate criticism without knowing the full dynamics of the group.

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Good point.

Don't understand what the guy wanted, either. Maybe he was bored.

Anyway, in my game Raise is available through temples, though the price is high, it isn't normally available until the next day (at least), and it isn;t always the right temple.
For example, the Paladin of Osiris died and the only cleric of enough power available within the window of opportunity was the High Priest of Set.
He was overjoyed to be asked and even did it at cost.

My feelings, you are better off without him BUT better watch out next time you play with him.

Stuff like this happens, character dies, not much can be done with it. Yes the body could be recovered, then the party has to drag it around with them until they find someone to raise the dead, can you say fresh meat - talk about attracting monsters! My players would have had every item off the body and forgot his name.

robberbaron said:

Don't understand what the guy wanted, either. Maybe he was bored.

Anyway, in my game Raise is available through temples, though the price is high, it isn't normally available until the next day (at least), and it isn;t always the right temple.
For example, the Paladin of Osiris died and the only cleric of enough power available within the window of opportunity was the High Priest of Set.
He was overjoyed to be asked and even did it at cost.

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But should the player's EXPECT their pc's to be raised?