Reincarnate: Good spell or best spell?

Rossbert · Feb 22, 2018

Reincarnate will likely only see use if making a new character at the current level is not an option. There is no point to a random race when you can pick one (or just carbon copy the original character). Reincarnation is spiritual remnant of a harder time when you had to take any resurrection option available to you.

That said if your concept is so inflexible it can't survive a minor thing like an in-game justified race shift, you may need to look at it again (character freak-out may be justified).

The big question that may throw things out of whack is if you are allowed to use race-based feats and/or classes. If yes, then no problem (you either learned the techniques already or maybe your souls is strengthened by your experience, whatever), if no, I would absolutely expect a refund of the resources used as well as a brief window to respec the character a little based on his newfound attributes.

Swarmkeeper · Feb 22, 2018

Wednesday Boy said:
With such delicious randomness, what's not to like?? (Aside from it not being on the wild magic sorcerer's list

Although reincarnate is not on the Wild Sorcerer spell list, it IS on the Wild Magic Surge table.

It just so happens that the 4th level hill dwarf wild magic sorcerer at our table decided to use his Tides on Chaos during a battle with an Ice Maiden (Tome of Beasts), her Mammoth steed, and her pet Winter Wolf. On the ensuing Wild Magic Surge roll, he rolled a 91:

If you die within the next minute, you immediately come back to life as if by the reincarnate spell

The player did not know the result (he thought that it should always be a mystery to him until I reveal it).

I decided that I would do what was needed within the context of the combat to make it so.

When he struck the mammoth with an acid chromatic orb, it was on. The mammoth went bezerk, charging and goring the sorcerer. Knocking the sorcerer prone, the mammoth used its bonus action to stomp the sorcerer into oblivion (read: negative max HP)

The player was initially bummed at his character dying, but when I announced the Wild Magic Surge result, the table went bananas. They all dug into the PHB to review how it worked. When the reincarnation result indicated Dragonborn, everyone was giddy. As the hill dwarf was an outcast from his clan, this now presents an interesting role playing opportunity when he returns to them in his new form as a Bronze Dragonborn - which is a strong possibility in our Homebrew campaign.

Anyway, for our table: reincarnate = fun

Immoralkickass · Feb 22, 2018

The best use of this spell is to use it in your character back story to justify playing a different race from race-specific subclasses like Bladesinger.

'Well I used to be an Elf, then I died and got reincarnated into a Tabaxi...'

5ekyu · Feb 22, 2018

I have a dim recollection of seeing reincarnate used in game once maybe 30 years ago and it not going well.

if i had it used in game now, i would have a powerful fey/nature entity show up, dialog with the dead guy and try to reach a patron/quest accommodation with the character's past playing a role. Reaching a relationship would result in character "choice", neutral being random and "hostile" being basically either a "ironic" or "comeuppance" choice and then see if the character says "yes" to the come back.

Wednesday Boy · Feb 22, 2018

DM Dave1 said:
Although reincarnate is not on the Wild Sorcerer spell list, it IS on the Wild Magic Surge table.

Ah, good to know! Thanks!

DM Dave1 said:
It just so happens that the 4th level hill dwarf wild magic sorcerer at our table decided to use his Tides on Chaos during a battle with an Ice Maiden (Tome of Beasts), her Mammoth steed, and her pet Winter Wolf. On the ensuing Wild Magic Surge roll, he rolled a 91...

[snip]

Anyway, for our table: reincarnate = fun

That is absolutely delightful!

Blue · Feb 22, 2018

Rossbert said:
Reincarnate will likely only see use if making a new character at the current level is not an option. There is no point to a random race when you can pick one (or just carbon copy the original character). Reincarnation is spiritual remnant of a harder time when you had to take any resurrection option available to you.

That said if your concept is so inflexible it can't survive a minor thing like an in-game justified race shift, you may need to look at it again (character freak-out may be justified).

The big question that may throw things out of whack is if you are allowed to use race-based feats and/or classes. If yes, then no problem (you either learned the techniques already or maybe your souls is strengthened by your experience, whatever), if no, I would absolutely expect a refund of the resources used as well as a brief window to respec the character a little based on his newfound attributes.

I could easily see reincarnate even if you can bring in a equal-level character if you want to preserve your character arcs, personality, relationships with PCs and NPCs, etc.

However, with raise dead and it's more powerful ilk around, I see reincarnate never getting used due to the problems you put out.

It's a permanent change to the PC that could be avoided if they find a different resource to bring them back, which is why it seems to be such a problem.

Rossbert · Feb 22, 2018

Or a party where Druid is their only divine full caster. And magic isn't for sale.

iserith · Feb 22, 2018

I like the concept, but it's something I've never seen used in any edition of the game I've played over 25+ years. I think it's probably best for games where the DM limits revivify and raise dead and pushes reincarnate as being on-theme for the campaign.

I'm actually working on a one-shot game right now where reincarnate features. It takes place in a generically "exotic" land where the predominant people have it as a cornerstone of their culture. It's an option for a player to use if his or her character bites the dust midway through the session and wants to continue to the end. In fact, I'm making a particular combat challenge in the middle of the adventure really difficult in hopes the players will give reincarnation a try... I mean, it's a one-shot, so why not?

Rossbert · Feb 22, 2018

I suppose depending on how you read it, raise dead requires a generally intact corpse while reincarnate just requires a piece, so death by being eaten or rended?

Fauchard1520 · Feb 22, 2018

ccs said:
She was interrupted by the enemy re-enforcements arriving & the next wave of attacks beginning, but in 3.5 days she managed to bring back two-dozen NPCs - as an odd assortment of 1/2lings, gnomes, elves, humans, kobolds, 1 troglodyte, 2 orcs, & 1/2orcs. All in a land that has NONE of these races normally.

That's actually a really badass hook for an unusual setting. The PCs arrive at a fortress town populated by monstrous races only to find out that they're the descendants of the guardsmen where this happened. Everyone lives in apparent harmony, but [insert monstrous horde] is targeting the city for invasion. Have the evil monsters' spies infiltrated this bastion of racial harmony? How to root them out without causing a race riot?

Reincarnate: Good spell or best spell?

Rossbert

Explorer

Swarmkeeper

Hero

Immoralkickass

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5ekyu

Hero

Wednesday Boy

The Nerd WhoFell to Earth

Blue

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Rossbert

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iserith

Magic Wordsmith

Rossbert

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Fauchard1520

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