Irrevocable death? Or do you allow resurrection?

[Nagol]

If the game engine offers a form of resurrection then the players have access to it at its normal price and suggested availability.

If the game engine does not offer it, but the genre of the game can allow it (comic books, Greek myth, etc.) then it may be possible through heroic struggle.

 

[Blackbrrd]

Sometimes, but it doesn't depend on wealth, but on goodwill from NPC's. If they are in an area without access to somebody who CAN ressurect, the character will stay dead.

As it is my campaigns are rarely deadly and dying should have consequences.

On the other hand, not all of my players would let their character get resurrected if the circumstances suited the character.

 

[Garthanos]

Death is cheapened then so is life.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Yep, it is part of my world myth and plane set up.

 

[Garthanos]

By the way my response on this was incredibly mood dependent... I have ideas for some really cool resurrection story lines with interdimensional questing and allies risking their souls in the process of attempting to bring back a fallen hero. ... but right now it sounds too fluffy.

 

[Jhaelen]

I voted for the bottom two.

Option three is the default for my D&D games, i.e. there are usually high-level npcs who are able to resurrect pcs but it's quite expensive.

Option four is for means to resurrect pcs immediately after they died. One common means for this is the Close Wounds spell. There are similar versions of Ressurect/Reincarnate or Revivify that typically only work up to a round after death.

The latter is also a method that is available in the second rpg system I currently play: Earthdawn.

In DSA/TDE, though, the third rpg I'm playing, there are no means to resurrect (except maybe by divine intervention), but pcs dying is something almost unheard of, so it doesn't really count.

 

[Grymar]

I voted for "Sometimes," but it hasn't actually happened in my games. I've had probably 6 or 8 PC deaths in the past few years and generally they have been of low level or happened in such a way that raising the dead is impractical if not impossible.

For instance, if they party can't do it, only a few in the world have the power to do it...and they don't want to do it. So the party would have to convince a church to make it happen. A few PCs have carried around remains of dead PCs in case the opportunity arose, but all they got out of it was a stink.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I used to have fairly rampant resurrections in D&D (and deaths, obviously). I implemented a rule (from HoH) whereby to resurrect a person, another creature of equal or higher level must be sacificed (i.e. killed). That cut down on resurrections. This doesn't apply to reincarnation, but that's harder to find, you lose a level, and you don't get your body back.

Thus, I'm in the camp of "sometimes". It's not a deity's choice, because I want to put the game in the players' hands. I simply say the deities demand a soul in return.

 

[dangerous jack]

Always. And they can come back to life as soon as they change their character a little (see below), so it's more like instant reincarnation (or as someone else put it, like Dr. Who's regeneration). It can be in the same encounter if they're quick enough, or more likely during a short rest.

By change their character, they need to change a power to be from a different power source, or granted by a different race, etc. So swapping a feat for a multi-class feat, or a racial heritage feat, etc. The idea is that death changes what you are. So the half-elf paladin of Kord might come back with deva heritage instead of the extra hit points feat. Or the dragonborn might have a different breath weapon energy type (and it's enlarged) and lose some other combat feat.

 

[Smoss]

I like my deaths permanent as much as possible. My RPG system has no normal path to ressurection (Except as an undead...)

So I voted Rarely. My PCs know the consequences of death... And avoid combat where possible - Or actually use tactics other than "charging in blindly"...
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Smoss
Doulairen (Doulairen)
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