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<blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 8740071" data-attributes="member: 23484"><p><strong>7. “changes its racial traits accordingly”</strong>. The presentation of new races since Tasha’s has also clarified/limited what constitutes a racial trait:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Languages are no longer part of a racial feature. A bugbear reincarnated as an elf still speak goblin, and does not learn elf.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Many of the entries in the initial 1D&D playtest materials make tool and skill affinities a divinely-imparted feature, to justify the association with race. This seems to double down on biological essentialism (which the above point on ability scores had worked against), but a clear rule is needed in any case.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The biggest obstacle comes with the free feat for variant humans and custom lineage. Certainly for the vhumans I’ve played, I <em>know</em> which feat is the free human one, even when the campaign has started at level 4+. But even if the feat lost is just made the player’s choice (even when it’s known that the feat being lost was taken at level 8), there is a chance that reincarnation will “break” some optimized builds.</li> </ul><p><strong>8. “If the target’s soul isn’t free…” (Psychology pt 2).</strong> When is the soul not free?</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When it’s in a Magic Jar, more than 100 feet away from where it wants to be.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">XGTE has the 6th-level spell Soul Cage which traps souls for eight hours.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Asmodeus (DMG 66) and other devils (MM 67) keeps soul trapped in the ninth circle of Hell.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Under the effect of the Void card in the Deck of Many Things (DMG 164). Mirror of life trapping presumably captures a soul if it is killed there.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Demiliches (MM 49) and Liches (MM 203) have the ability to trap souls.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Night Hags can capture evil humanoid souls (MM 178-79)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Soul Coins in Baldur’s Gate: Descent to Avernus.</li> </ul><p>At death, the soul can also get placed in a Ring of Mind Shielding, which would seem to be an effective defense against soul loss (specific beats general), and so is pretty powerful for an uncommon item; I’d suggest it would be a way to trick a Devil (temporarily) with whom a deal had been made. I note that undead Revenants also have/are souls that can animate corpses (MM259).</p><p></p><p><strong>9. Spell School</strong>. Reincarnate is transmutation, Raise Dead is necromancy. I think this is just cosmetic. Does the school have any effect? Apart from specialist wizards (who wouldn’t have Raise Dead in any case), I don’t know of a school-specific effect outside of the new proposed (and still UA) Rune feats.</p><p></p><p><strong>10. A poor man’s Clone spell?</strong> Clone is level 8; same casting time, same cost as Reincarnate; and it’s necromancy. Is there a way to prepare a body and have it ready to go with Reincarnation? I don’t see one. The instantaneous effect means both that the soul’s willingness to inhabit a new body is determined (magically) in no time at all, but also that the soul’s journey from wherever it is to the new body is also instantaneous, even if the PCs have crossed planes before casting.</p><p></p><p><strong>11. Updating the table? </strong>Somewhat anomalously, Warforged are considered humanoid, and so do fit the pattern of reincarnation races. I think there’s a temptation to update the table as more and more races get introduced, but doing so invites crazy biases associated with the author’s own preferences (one online update I saw had Halforc with a 14% chance, and Dragonborn with a 2% chance – nothing wrong with these numbers in themselves, but adding more races on the table more than triples the chance of becoming halforc, and halves the chance of dragonborn). The alternative to rolling (“or the DM chooses a form”) is no better – it’s DM focused and not player focused.</p><p></p><p><strong>12. My house rule</strong>. None of this makes the spell more fun, I feel. I’d just keep the PHB random table, and let the default be a player choice: either they roll randomly, or they propose three or four different possibilities (including staying the same race if they want), and rolling between those. Possibilities can be any humanoid race normally allowed in the campaign (though I’d specify that you can only choose one subrace – you can’t pick four genasi types, for example). (At some tables it might be fun for the casting druid’s race always to be a possibility, but I wouldn’t want to force that.) This keeps the random element, but gives players real agency in the outcome. Whatever the resulting race, player chooses the sex of the new body.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Anyways, I’d welcome thoughts on any of these musings. What’s your experience with the spell been?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kobold Stew, post: 8740071, member: 23484"] [B]7. “changes its racial traits accordingly”[/B]. The presentation of new races since Tasha’s has also clarified/limited what constitutes a racial trait: [LIST] [*]Languages are no longer part of a racial feature. A bugbear reincarnated as an elf still speak goblin, and does not learn elf. [*]Many of the entries in the initial 1D&D playtest materials make tool and skill affinities a divinely-imparted feature, to justify the association with race. This seems to double down on biological essentialism (which the above point on ability scores had worked against), but a clear rule is needed in any case. [*]The biggest obstacle comes with the free feat for variant humans and custom lineage. Certainly for the vhumans I’ve played, I [I]know[/I] which feat is the free human one, even when the campaign has started at level 4+. But even if the feat lost is just made the player’s choice (even when it’s known that the feat being lost was taken at level 8), there is a chance that reincarnation will “break” some optimized builds. [/LIST] [B]8. “If the target’s soul isn’t free…” (Psychology pt 2).[/B] When is the soul not free? [LIST] [*]When it’s in a Magic Jar, more than 100 feet away from where it wants to be. [*]XGTE has the 6th-level spell Soul Cage which traps souls for eight hours. [*]Asmodeus (DMG 66) and other devils (MM 67) keeps soul trapped in the ninth circle of Hell. [*]Under the effect of the Void card in the Deck of Many Things (DMG 164). Mirror of life trapping presumably captures a soul if it is killed there. [*]Demiliches (MM 49) and Liches (MM 203) have the ability to trap souls. [*]Night Hags can capture evil humanoid souls (MM 178-79) [*]Soul Coins in Baldur’s Gate: Descent to Avernus. [/LIST] At death, the soul can also get placed in a Ring of Mind Shielding, which would seem to be an effective defense against soul loss (specific beats general), and so is pretty powerful for an uncommon item; I’d suggest it would be a way to trick a Devil (temporarily) with whom a deal had been made. I note that undead Revenants also have/are souls that can animate corpses (MM259). [B]9. Spell School[/B]. Reincarnate is transmutation, Raise Dead is necromancy. I think this is just cosmetic. Does the school have any effect? Apart from specialist wizards (who wouldn’t have Raise Dead in any case), I don’t know of a school-specific effect outside of the new proposed (and still UA) Rune feats. [B]10. A poor man’s Clone spell?[/B] Clone is level 8; same casting time, same cost as Reincarnate; and it’s necromancy. Is there a way to prepare a body and have it ready to go with Reincarnation? I don’t see one. The instantaneous effect means both that the soul’s willingness to inhabit a new body is determined (magically) in no time at all, but also that the soul’s journey from wherever it is to the new body is also instantaneous, even if the PCs have crossed planes before casting. [B]11. Updating the table? [/B]Somewhat anomalously, Warforged are considered humanoid, and so do fit the pattern of reincarnation races. I think there’s a temptation to update the table as more and more races get introduced, but doing so invites crazy biases associated with the author’s own preferences (one online update I saw had Halforc with a 14% chance, and Dragonborn with a 2% chance – nothing wrong with these numbers in themselves, but adding more races on the table more than triples the chance of becoming halforc, and halves the chance of dragonborn). The alternative to rolling (“or the DM chooses a form”) is no better – it’s DM focused and not player focused. [B]12. My house rule[/B]. None of this makes the spell more fun, I feel. I’d just keep the PHB random table, and let the default be a player choice: either they roll randomly, or they propose three or four different possibilities (including staying the same race if they want), and rolling between those. Possibilities can be any humanoid race normally allowed in the campaign (though I’d specify that you can only choose one subrace – you can’t pick four genasi types, for example). (At some tables it might be fun for the casting druid’s race always to be a possibility, but I wouldn’t want to force that.) This keeps the random element, but gives players real agency in the outcome. Whatever the resulting race, player chooses the sex of the new body. Anyways, I’d welcome thoughts on any of these musings. What’s your experience with the spell been? [/QUOTE]
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