Reincarnate: Good spell or best spell?

Fauchard1520 · Feb 21, 2018

First of all, relevant comic.

Secondly, I always thought reincarnate was a slam dunk of spell. For me, it’s the embodiment of the idea that death shouldn’t be permanent, but should have consequences. It's spell-as-RP-opportunity, and for me that's just good design.

Am I alone in this opinion? Has the reincarnate spell seen play in your games? For good or for ill? Let's hear your tales of hill-dwarf turned half-elf!

Warmaster Horus · Feb 21, 2018

To me it can be intrusive on what the player wanted to play. Is it an interesting role-play opportunity? Sure. That works for some players who don't mind a complete turn around in their character concept. For others it's a turn off that breaks their interest in playing that PC.

Gadget · Feb 21, 2018

I'm afraid I agree with @Warmaster Horus on this one. It is a really intrusive spell for some types of players, and really unnecessary when the likes of Revivify & Resurrection are around. While I like the idea of death with a cost, and I could see this spell getting more use in a game with other Resurrection type spells removed, it seems in most situations a player may just decide to roll up a new character, barring a 'must start at first level' rule.

lowkey13 · Feb 21, 2018

*Deleted by user*

Wednesday Boy · Feb 21, 2018

With such delicious randomness, what's not to like?? (Aside from it not being on the wild magic sorcerer's list.)

That said, I too have never seen it used and I think [MENTION=6785438]Warmaster Horus[/MENTION] captures the reasons why perfectly.

Blue · Feb 21, 2018

Warmaster Horus said:
To me it can be intrusive on what the player wanted to play. Is it an interesting role-play opportunity? Sure. That works for some players who don't mind a complete turn around in their character concept. For others it's a turn off that breaks their interest in playing that PC.

I think I'd rather go the full monty.

Reincarnation would allow a full "radiation accident" like in silver age comic books, allowing a full rewrite of the character's abilities. For a player who wanted to redo their character but keep the personality and character arcs going instead of retiring the character and starting from a dead stop. No pun intended*.

* Okay, a little pun intented.

Blue · Feb 21, 2018

lowkey13 said:
In all my decades of playing, across many editions, I have never seen reincarnation used.

I have been reincarnated twice. Once was AD&D 2ed, where my druid was turned into a bullywug. The second was not quite reincarnation, rather it was a "boon" from a DM that actually screwed me over though he didn't intend it. 4e game an I was a dray sorcerer/ex-templar who was into burning things. As part of a boon granted by some ancient DS creature that predated the sorcerer-kings I was made into a creature of fire - a fire gensai by the books. Which took away all of my synergies and actually made me a lot less powerful.

I didn't mind the actual reincarnate - as a player i was given a choice if it would work. The plot-related boon chapped me because I had no say, but I kept playing the character because I enjoyed the personality and group dynamic.

Seramus · Feb 21, 2018

There are some types of players who react very badly to being influenced "Against Their Will". Sometimes that manifests as getting angry if you cast Dominate on them, getting angry if you cut off some fingers (maybe they were thieves), or getting angry because they are now a badger. If those people are also your friends, and you want to continue gaming with them, then you have to make some compromises and not use things like Reincarnation on them.

There have been many discussions about player agency.
My solution was to just find players who have no problems with these kind of things.

ccs · Feb 21, 2018

lowkey13 said:
In all my decades of playing, across many editions, I have never seen reincarnation used.

Up until about 6 weeks ago it'd been many many years since I saw reincarnate used. Then the Witch in our PF game became able to cast it.

The very next session the non-lycanthrope rat-man (whatever their called in PF) rogue was killed & she brought him back as a Tengu (Kenku in 5e).

2 weeks later the Human dragon-blooded sorcerer/fighter fell. The Witch brought him back as a 1/2ling.

The next week? The party finds itself bartering for a McGuffin clue at a fortress that's under siege. Having seen that the Witch can bring back the dead, the fortress commander negotiates a several days worth of Reincarnation efforts on his elite warriors who've fallen so far.
The Witch can cast this spell several times/day, and using her Mythic Power, several more castings per day are possible. 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.

Last session? The rogue got killed again. I wonder what the witch is going to turn him into this time?

Reincarnate has yet to make an appearance in any of my 5e games.

Fanaelialae · Feb 21, 2018

I can't recall the last time (if ever) I saw Reincarnate used.

That said, this is what I use. It's partly because Reincarnate can be kind of concept breaking, and partly because I use a lot of non-standard races in my game, and this is easier than rewriting the reincarnation table every time I add a new race. Note that this isn't mine; I know I found it somewhere (likely these forums) but I can't recall anymore.

Reincarnation
When using Reincarnation, the player whose character is being reincarnated may opt to use these alternate rules instead.

The player may choose 4 races (subject to DM approval). These may include racial classes. Roll a 1d6. On a On 1-4 it is one of the chosen races. 5 is the character’s race (but a new, different body). 6 is DM’s choice.