Keep on the Shadowfell Anticlimax(some spoilers)

[Jhaelen]

Well Maybe I take game too seriously in this case, but I personally penalize death a lot. This means most of the time that the player will have to wait until the end of the *adventure* before re-joining the group and usually arrives with a character which is at least one level lower than the lowest level character in the party (I reward experience individually).

While the dead waits for playing again, he can assist me as a DM in the adventure, interpreting NPCs or other situations.

Are you players okay with that?
If so, that's fine, I guess.

Have you banned the Raise Dead ritual, btw.? If you didn't, I'd think you may have a hard time justifying your death penalty rules.

 

[ventu]

Are you players okay with that?
If so, that's fine, I guess.

Well we never discussed the issue in 4th edition
Lev.8 is still quite far, and ritualists are not found very easily.. (and certainly not in winterhaven. not to mention that Valthurn is dead in my adventure) but sooner or later we will have to discuss it..

Have you banned the Raise Dead ritual, btw.? If you didn't, I'd think you may have a hard time justifying your death penalty rules.

Not yet. Anyway you're right... I will have an hard time to impose these rules. In 3ed my policy worked very well and in 7 years of play my PCs were absolutely attached with their characters (and they feared death ! I like that).
In 4ED I will have to find a way to limit the raise dead ritual that does not generate an insurrection of my players against me

PS: if I well remember in some preview of 4ED it was said that resurrection to work was needing a "destiny to fulfill".. or something like that. Why isn't this requirement in the raise dead ritual... ?

 

[Jhaelen]

In 3ed my policy worked very well and in 7 years of play my PCs were absolutely attached with their characters (and they feared death ! I like that).

In 2E I used exactly the same rule for replacement pcs that you used in 3E.

I changed it in 3E to have exactly the same consequences that having been raised would have had, i.e. new characters started at the middle-point of their previous level. It turned out to be harsh enough. Currently levels range from 12 to 9.

For 4E I will probably do the same thing, i.e. replacement characters start at the same level with a penalty that lasts for a couple of encounters.

PS: if I well remember in some preview of 4ED it was said that resurrection to work was needing a "destiny to fulfill".. or something like that. Why isn't this requirement in the raise dead ritual... ?

Excellent question! It's something I've been looking for, as well. It seems it got cut - DMG p.30 also doesn't mention it.

Judging from the published WotC adventures so far npcs knowing the ritual also seem to be more abundant than was initially alluded to.