Do you think a character should be resurected or changed when it dies ?

[Al]

I played the raising/resurrection rules as per PHB in 3e, and tend to prefer the 3e costs to the 3.5e costs. The reason is simple...continuity.

Due to either the heroic nature of the setting or the deadly nature of (especially high-level) combat, death in DnD is surprisingly common. Unfortunately, character development is necessarily hampered by it. I invest a lot of time into my characters when I play, and as a DM I tend to expect my players to do likewise. I worked out a good, long and interesting background with one of my players which meshed well with the campaign world and had some nice backstory NPCs. He died the first session, and, being low-level, there was no chance of raising. His new character has a background of trivial complexity by comparison.

Now, this may be tolerable at low levels, but at high levels, it is a nuisance both from the point-of-view of the DM and of credibility. Sure, credibility can be tested by constant raising, but it's more tested by 17th level characters popping out of nowhere and joining the party. Given that a 17th level party will face mass death effects such as Wail of the Banshee, character turnover is going to be huge. Without resurrection, there'll be a whole new party in about two or three sessions, with no motivation for the plot other than 'well, we met these guys who were doing this quest'. For a tough module, there could be an entire party turnover in the case of *one adventure* which does wonders for plot consistency (hey, didn't I hire a totally different group of people?) Too high a party turnover negates long-running friends and allies, destroys backstories and past NPCs, undermines the notion of BBEGs, thwarts PC motivation and fundamentally breaks a campaign. Given 13 combats/level, with mass death enemies like 17th level wizards and dragons, high level PC turnover can range around the 10-15 area just for one level, which is, needless to say, a nightmare.

That's why I favour easy resurrection.

 

[Nifft]

As a DM, I like Reincarnation... for the bad guys, too.

-- Nifft

 

[Aaron L]

As long as they can afford it, they can be brought back from the dead. The only true death is the destruction of the soul.

Look at Greek myths with heroes travelling to Hades to retrieve the souls of their loved ones, or just to visit. In some mythologies the dividing line between the realms of the dead and that of the living is indistinct, and may be crossed without all that much trouble. In any D&D setting with significant planar travel, the realm of the dead is just a plane shift away.

The high price makes it rare enough in my game world. Consequently, the dwarven diamond mines have an enormous amount of political and social power in my world, as do the few mage Houses who can manage to mine diamonds from the elemental plane of earth.

 

[ProfAnime]

Well I voted not bothered either way. DnD is built around the expectation that there is easy ways to bring back the dead, and if the players want to try it, then they can, though I normally do attach some sort of roleplaying price to getting brought back, I do not do it always.

But then again, my groups know that I normally take it easy on them for the first few levels so they can grow into their abilities and characters, and then the gloves will come off after that.

 

[Argent Silvermage]

It all depends on the character. I've played a Paladin who refused to come back to a life of heardship even though I loved playing him.
My character in my RL game right now is a Druid and will not ressurect. only reincarnate (went from Halfling to elf to centaur to elf.)

 

[MarauderX]

...
Now I my friend thinks that every time, yes, every single time, he dies then it's got to be a new character, and that character can be anything he wants to play even if it does not fit in with the party and might even be unbalancing. I can understand if there is no way a character can get raised or they have playe it a while and geuninly got fed up with it but if there is a high mortality rate in the campaign and they are changing characters evry time they die then that really does effect the status quo, IMHO.

I am just a bit bothered by how much a new PC would 'unbalance' a party. Granted it may be something to have only fighter or mage -types, but I would work around it. So what if you have to teach the party how to handle certain situations that others may find easier; adjust the encounter or strategy of the enemies so as not to overpower the party in every fight and have fun with their weaknesses. Or just do something lame - kill more of them off until the party is Perfect according to what the adventure needs.

 

[Aeolius]

An entire party of adventurers being slain and then reincarnated is the basis for a chat-based game concept I am developing. Nature of the Beast

 

[Argent Silvermage]

An entire party of adventurers being slain and then reincarnated is the basis for a chat-based game concept I am developing. Nature of the Beast

That sounds really interesting. Can you send me more info?

send it to Arctos_magi@yahoo.com
Thanks.

 

[Bagpuss]

As a player I prefer to death to be death, we have one of these DM's that will fudge the dice so you don't die most of the time. The lack of risk really makes the game boring for me after a while.

As a DM I'm happy to go with whatever the player wants.

 

[Vurt]

Personally I think raised and resurrected players should be secretly replaced "Folgers Crystals-style" with evil twins, dopplegangers, or the body becomes possessed and reanimated by some really, really nasty spirit posing to be the previous dude. But I'm just the DM, so what do I know?

Let the player decide what she wants done. Ultimately she's there to have fun. Let her have fun!

-- Vurt