The imprisonment, consumption & obliteration of souls and the campaign’s tone

[Nightfall]

*prefers the one where Orcus feeds and feeds, and feeds...* You get the idear.

 

[Agent Oracle]

I'm probably a bad DM for admitting this... but...

I've never had a character be ressurected, reincarnated, or any of that jazz.

Equally, my players tend to be too interested in THIS plane of reality to try adventuring in any of the other planes.

They've never drawn from the deck of many things and lost to a void card, they've never had to decend into the abyss or into hell.

Frankly, we never worried much about what happened to them.

Now, I had one DM tell me that all players who DIDN'T pick a god, their souls would wind up perminantly pressed into this black wall of some sort. I dunno. I really didn't care, since, y'know, there's no room for athiests when the gods are on-call.

 

[Nightfall]

Now, I had one DM tell me that all players who DIDN'T pick a god, their souls would wind up perminantly pressed into this black wall of some sort. I dunno. I really didn't care, since, y'know, there's no room for athiests when the gods are on-call.

True but there's PLENTY of room for demon/devil worship!

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I have to admit that soul destruction makes me somewhat uncomfortable, and I'm not entirely sure why.

Well, specifically, the idea that innocent souls can be harvested and/or destroyed. It's a great plot device and tone/feel device, but it makes me squirm slightly in ways that even hints of physical torture, rape, etc. do not. I can't really explain it rationally, it just is.

That is how I feel too.

 

[WayneLigon]

So I ask, how do you DMs out there run this subject?
Do those souls of the slain always make it to where they belong?
Do those prayers that wish a safe journey to the afterlife really matter?
Is the mortal soul a tasty snack to unnatural monsters as it was in editions past?
Do evil soul sucking monsters burst into a torrent of now freed souls once defeated?
Is it easier for magical attacks to kill the soul rather than the body?

The souls of the slain usually make it to where they should go, though it's possible for a soul to become lost, or forget where it's going, or not realize it's dead, etc; this is one way that ghosts form. A particularly willful person may remain behind, which usually causes them to become some form of spirit or ghost (not nessesarily the Ghost of the MM). They'll be back again, usually; reincarnation is a fairly consistant thing. Powerful souls, such as those from blackguards, paladins, high level clerics, or others that have served the gods well usually choose to stay around the plane of their deity - they generally reborn as some sort of demon or celestial creature at a later time.

The prayers don't matter all that much unless it's also a spell, such as one to prevent them from rising as the undead. (Normally, I say that the Animate Dead spell does in fact draw the soul back to the body and use it as the 'power source', corrupting it in turn). Much more important are various death rituals which, if not followed, may allow a soul to wander or become lost, or grow angry with the living.

Yes, the mortal soul is a tasty treat. One of the tastiest, in fact. It's also a wonderful power source for all sorts of black magic.

Evil soul sucking monsters that use the soul for a power source of some type will free the souls when killed or destroyed. Most, though, devour the soul, destroying it.

It is almost impossible for a magical attack to harm the actual soul unless it's one of the very few that specifically targets it (such as Trap the Soul). The soul can be harmed or healed by certain specific things (the Heal spell in particular can do this). It can be destroyed, and one can be created through deep ritual workings that are outside the standard spell system.

 

[green slime]

Nifft, you really have some of the coolest ideas!

*Grabs Mint of Dis and runs*

 

[Drowbane]

Souls normally end up where they are supposed to go... unless some sort of fell evil prevents it... such as Souls that end up as bargaining chips on the lower planes or Souls used in the blackest (vile) of magics.

I imagine that most pricy thing on the menu at Orcus's Pub would be "Roasted Soul of Paladin".

What is the point of even having Devils in your game if they don't traffic in Souls?

IMC:

1/ Your soul begins to exist when you take your first breath. Literally, when you "inspire yourself".

2/ The plane you are on when you take your first breath determines where you are considered "native", and the disposition of your soul. (Mortal or "celestial" / "fiendish" templated.) Half-fiends or half-celestials are morally free if born on a Prime. A half-fiend born in Celestia would be stillborn -- the air and blood would reject each other.

3/ Air is morally important. Pazuzu is thus one of the most powerful arch-fiends, since he is the king of bad air. IMC, he's the NE peer of Asmodeus and Demogorgon.

4/ When you die, some say your soul sinks into the Ethereal, but it is near the Prime as long as someone remembers your name. Thus, it is important to keep old songs of your hero-ancenstors alive. When no-one can remember your name, your soul sinks into the deep Ethereal, and who knows what after that.

5/ Others say that your soul is re-incarnated here on the Prime.

6/ Still other say that your soul joins the great river whicn runs from Celestia, through Arboria, tumbles into Faerie, then runs across the Abyss, Carceri's first layer, Hades, Gehenna, and finally ends in the Pit of Hell. Those who say this are not cheerful people.

7/ It is known that the Mint of Dis stamps infernal green coins with glowing runes and a palpable evil aura. These coins are backed by souls, and each is worth 10 platinum.

8/ It is unknown if soul-larvae are pre-born or post-death.

Well said! yoinks the Mint of Dis

 

[Gez]

There are many risks for souls IMC. Because, since bodily death isn't much a threat anymore at high and epic levels, something else must replace it.

 

[SpiderMonkey]

So I ask, how do you DMs out there run this subject?
Do those souls of the slain always make it to where they belong?
Do those prayers that wish a safe journey to the afterlife really matter?
Is the mortal soul a tasty snack to unnatural monsters as it was in editions past?
Do evil soul sucking monsters burst into a torrent of now freed souls once defeated?
Is it easier for magical attacks to kill the soul rather than the body?

1. I run it as no one has a definite answer.
2. Nope
3. Nope
4. It goes particulary well on Ritz.
5. I haven't decided one way or the other in our campaign (just started), but I'm think "not most of the time"
6. Nah. Unless it's one of them danged Outerbeasts. Darn things'll eat your face if you're not careful.

 

[riprock]

So I ask, how do you DMs out there run this subject?
Do those souls of the slain always make it to where they belong?
Do those prayers that wish a safe journey to the afterlife really matter?
Is the mortal soul a tasty snack to unnatural monsters as it was in editions past?
Do evil soul sucking monsters burst into a torrent of now freed souls once defeated?
Is it easier for magical attacks to kill the soul rather than the body?

Getting your soul stolen isn't scary if it's not your fault.

If a big bully chases you down and beats on you, and there's no way for you to defend or escape, you're not guilty of cowardice: you're simply outgunned. No one can expect you to fight an unwinnable battle.

If a big demon eats your soul and makes you suffer eternally or cease to be -- there's no horror. You didn't sin. You had no chance. If that can go on eternally, then there is no justice is the cosmos, and you have no reason to care. Suffering although you don't deserve to suffer is merely proof that your torturer is an idiot.

If the gods are unjust, humans don't owe them any awe. They're just big, idiotic bullies.

If, however, the gods are just, and human souls can suffer eternally because of sins they could have avoided .... that's horrifying.

Unfortunately, *all* role-playing games tend to be characterized by unwise, arbitrary decisions on both sides of the DM's screen. So if any gods are roleplayed, chances are good that they won't deserve awe.

So, if the DM uses game mechanics to imperil the PC's soul, then tries to get emotional shock out of the story that the player character's immortal soul is suffering dreadfully, the player should realize the DM is trying far too hard. IMHO, the correct response is frivolous laughter, possibly followed by, "You're a lousy DM." Game mechanics usually reduce or destroy emotional impact.

If, on the other hand, the DM and the players are both on the same cultural wavelength and can agree to a notion of sin, it's more interesting. Then the DM can trick the player character into sinning. And when the players realize that, the correct response *is* horror, pity, and terror -- in other words, a classical catharsis. In many years of role-playing, I've played with dozens of groups. I've only known one or two groups that had a chance to achieve truly cathartic moments of drama.

I think it was Jonathan Tweet who said that D&D souls, alignments, and gods resemble ritual impurity more than ethics. I wouldn't go that far, I would just say that it's only one group out of a hundred that has a chance to make a real drama instead of a silly melodrama.