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House Rule: returning from the dead. Opinions, please?
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<blockquote data-quote="Kweezil" data-source="post: 761268" data-attributes="member: 681"><p>Something I've been tinkering with for my own game has been the rules for <em>raise dead</em> etc. Personally, I've always found it a little bit of a cop-out, that it cheapens death in-game. However, totally banning all such spells would ruin something of the feel I want for my world. </p><p></p><p>The rules are based on some I saw here a few weeks back, but after an hour or so hunting, I couldn't find the original. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite3" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":(" /> THe concept's roughly the same. The fluff is there to show the reasoningbehind the rules. Critique on either would be appreciated. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> </p><p>Apologies for the rotten attempt at a table</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">Death and Revivification in Tenaebrys</span></strong></p><p></p><p><em>After death all intelligent beings must stand before Morr in his Grey Halls. There he weighs the life of each deceased soul in the balance and decides their fate and dispatches each to an afterlife befitting their deeds on the mortal plane. A man who spent his life lying and cheating without thought of the cost of his deeds to others would be sent to Banthak’s realm where he is the victim of every deceit. A murderer becomes prey in Kaela’s realm, a career soldier joins Selekhar’s legions and a valiant hero continues to quest in Marthric’s name. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Some souls are of special importance to the gods. Most often these are the god’s own clerics and holy warriors, but some other souls single themselves out for attention through their deeds or their faith. These are the souls who have a place set aside for them, and these are the souls for whom the gods must argue their case before the Lord of Endings.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Returning a soul to life is a disturbance in the order of Morr’s courts. Very few souls return from his grim halls and even less from the afterlives that lie beyond, and all of them only with his express permission. All who seek this boon must plead their case before Morr and only those rare few he feels have a truly compelling reason to return are permitted to do so.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Once a the soul has moved on to his afterlife any attempt at revivification is now hindered by his keeper, the god in whose realm the soul now resides. Only at with their permission can a soul even approach the Grey Halls to plead his case, and this only happens if it is in the keeper’s interest that the soul returns to life. Some powerful clerics can request that their god simply take the deceased from the keeper, but this is seldom done as the repercussions can be terrible. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>To complicate matters, the attempted revivification of any soul attracts the attentions of the gods. Depending on the life of the soul, and the reason for revivification, some may petition for their return to life if it suits their schemes, or if the soul is one of their favoured. Others may petition against it for the same reason, or for some blasphemy or slight the soul committed against them. </em></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Game Mechanics</span></strong></p><p></p><p>For the first few days after a character dies (the casting window of <em>raise dead</em>) the deceased soul is still within the Grey Halls and may easily return to life if Morr permits. Once the spell is cast, the deceased soul is immediately aware of the attempt to return him to life. As usual, the soul knows the name, alignment and patron deity of the caster and may refuse to return to life. If the soul chooses to attempt to return to life, he must first plead his case before Morr. The details of this are up to the DM, but Morr is extremely strict and only permits revivification on the proper grounds, such as a significant unfinished duty or a life’s quest unfulfilled. </p><p></p><p>Once the deceased soul moves on to their afterlife the matter becomes more complicated. <em>Resurrection</em> and similar spells only work if returning the deceased to life would benefit the keeper in any way, or if the spell is cast by a cleric of the keeper, who can argue the case to their god. <em>True resurrection</em> can simply steal the soul from the keeper, bypassing their permission entirely, and presents them in Morr’s Halls to plead their case.</p><p></p><p>The deceased soul must make a check to determine whether or not the petition is successful. This is a d20 roll against a DC of 15 with the following modifiers:</p><p></p><p>The character has a worthy reason to return to life* <em>+1 to +5 (DM’s discretion)</em></p><p>Character has 5 or more ranks in Diplomacy <em>+1</em></p><p>Revivification spell cast by a cleric of Morr <em>+3</em></p><p>Character has died before <em>-2</em></p><p>Support/opposition of a demigod <em>±2</em></p><p>Support/opposition of a lesser god <em>±3</em></p><p>Support/opposition of a intermediate god <em>±4</em></p><p>Support/opposition of a greater god* <em>±5</em></p><p>Support/opposition of Morr or the Triad <em>Automatic success/automatic failure</em></p><p></p><p>*Note that a character that does not, in the DM’s opinion, have a worthy reason to return to life automatically fails.</p><p></p><p>Because of the complexities of the deceased soul’s petition before Morr, all revivification spells are highly ritualistic spells. While the rituals vary from faith to faith, the core remains the same. The body is properly prepared and anointed and allowed to lie in state for a night while the caster maintains a vigil of prayer throughout the night. If the petition was successful, the deceased awakes with the first light of dawn, as if from a long sleep.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kweezil, post: 761268, member: 681"] Something I've been tinkering with for my own game has been the rules for [I]raise dead[/I] etc. Personally, I've always found it a little bit of a cop-out, that it cheapens death in-game. However, totally banning all such spells would ruin something of the feel I want for my world. The rules are based on some I saw here a few weeks back, but after an hour or so hunting, I couldn't find the original. :( THe concept's roughly the same. The fluff is there to show the reasoningbehind the rules. Critique on either would be appreciated. :) Apologies for the rotten attempt at a table [B][SIZE=4]Death and Revivification in Tenaebrys[/SIZE][/B] [I]After death all intelligent beings must stand before Morr in his Grey Halls. There he weighs the life of each deceased soul in the balance and decides their fate and dispatches each to an afterlife befitting their deeds on the mortal plane. A man who spent his life lying and cheating without thought of the cost of his deeds to others would be sent to Banthak’s realm where he is the victim of every deceit. A murderer becomes prey in Kaela’s realm, a career soldier joins Selekhar’s legions and a valiant hero continues to quest in Marthric’s name. Some souls are of special importance to the gods. Most often these are the god’s own clerics and holy warriors, but some other souls single themselves out for attention through their deeds or their faith. These are the souls who have a place set aside for them, and these are the souls for whom the gods must argue their case before the Lord of Endings. Returning a soul to life is a disturbance in the order of Morr’s courts. Very few souls return from his grim halls and even less from the afterlives that lie beyond, and all of them only with his express permission. All who seek this boon must plead their case before Morr and only those rare few he feels have a truly compelling reason to return are permitted to do so. Once a the soul has moved on to his afterlife any attempt at revivification is now hindered by his keeper, the god in whose realm the soul now resides. Only at with their permission can a soul even approach the Grey Halls to plead his case, and this only happens if it is in the keeper’s interest that the soul returns to life. Some powerful clerics can request that their god simply take the deceased from the keeper, but this is seldom done as the repercussions can be terrible. To complicate matters, the attempted revivification of any soul attracts the attentions of the gods. Depending on the life of the soul, and the reason for revivification, some may petition for their return to life if it suits their schemes, or if the soul is one of their favoured. Others may petition against it for the same reason, or for some blasphemy or slight the soul committed against them. [/I] [B][SIZE=3]Game Mechanics[/SIZE][/B] For the first few days after a character dies (the casting window of [I]raise dead[/I]) the deceased soul is still within the Grey Halls and may easily return to life if Morr permits. Once the spell is cast, the deceased soul is immediately aware of the attempt to return him to life. As usual, the soul knows the name, alignment and patron deity of the caster and may refuse to return to life. If the soul chooses to attempt to return to life, he must first plead his case before Morr. The details of this are up to the DM, but Morr is extremely strict and only permits revivification on the proper grounds, such as a significant unfinished duty or a life’s quest unfulfilled. Once the deceased soul moves on to their afterlife the matter becomes more complicated. [I]Resurrection[/I] and similar spells only work if returning the deceased to life would benefit the keeper in any way, or if the spell is cast by a cleric of the keeper, who can argue the case to their god. [I]True resurrection[/I] can simply steal the soul from the keeper, bypassing their permission entirely, and presents them in Morr’s Halls to plead their case. The deceased soul must make a check to determine whether or not the petition is successful. This is a d20 roll against a DC of 15 with the following modifiers: The character has a worthy reason to return to life* [I]+1 to +5 (DM’s discretion)[/I] Character has 5 or more ranks in Diplomacy [I]+1[/I] Revivification spell cast by a cleric of Morr [I]+3[/I] Character has died before [I]-2[/I] Support/opposition of a demigod [I]±2[/I] Support/opposition of a lesser god [I]±3[/I] Support/opposition of a intermediate god [I]±4[/I] Support/opposition of a greater god* [I]±5[/I] Support/opposition of Morr or the Triad [I]Automatic success/automatic failure[/I] *Note that a character that does not, in the DM’s opinion, have a worthy reason to return to life automatically fails. Because of the complexities of the deceased soul’s petition before Morr, all revivification spells are highly ritualistic spells. While the rituals vary from faith to faith, the core remains the same. The body is properly prepared and anointed and allowed to lie in state for a night while the caster maintains a vigil of prayer throughout the night. If the petition was successful, the deceased awakes with the first light of dawn, as if from a long sleep. [/QUOTE]
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