Dead Devas

[Serpens]

The fluff for Devas states that as soon as they die, they are reborn somewhere else, as essentially a new person with only dim memories of their previous life (lives). But what does that mean, crunch-wise? Is a PC Deva that dies basically screwed, as they are unable to be Raise Dead'ed, etc? Do they "have" to start a whole new Deva character from level 1? It seems kind of unfair to have one race for which death is a much heftlier, permanent penalty than it is for other races.

Are Devas really stuck forever in "Hardcore" mode?

This question has actually been on my mind from the first moment I read the Deva fluff, I jsut haven't gotten around to asking it yet. Sorry if it's been answered here already, but I can't search

 

[im_robertb]

Crunch-wise, I think it has to mean nothing, for the sake of game balance. So, we must build the fluff around it.

Idea: When a deva is raised, its spirit is pulled from the newborn child it is in and returns to continue being its old self, with perhaps some difficulties in memory. The newborn child will then, over the course of its youth, develop a new deva spirit. This is the only known way that a new deva spirit can be created.

DM: You can work this into a prophecy of some kind. You can also have the PCs meet the child or the family of the child, and maybe have some sort of resonant connection between the raised deva and the child.

 

[Piratecat]

Note that when reincarnated, devas don't return as infants; they materialize in a sacred place as a full adult.

There's no official rule about it that I know of, so I'm handling it like this:

- A dead deva's soul can wander for a bit before it reincarnates. This means that the party has time to raise them if they want to. If they prefer not to, the deva instinctively reincarnates.

- A dead deva can choose to reincarnate at the same level he was at before he died, unless he has reached his potential (ie, he hit lvl 30 and the campaign is ending).

- A deva gains more karmic credit if he doesn't do this (thus explaining all those lvl 1 devas), but his current adventuring party may be more important in the short run than his eventual transcendence.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Yoink!

 

[MrMyth]

While the Deva fluff in the PHB2 does somewhat make it sound like they are reborn instantly, the ecology article on the Deva actually says this isn't usually the case. Their essence instead floats amidst the spirits of the world ("the bodiless dreaming", as they call it), for what is usually at least a year. (And sometimes far longer.)

To quote the article directly: "During this time between incarnations, a dead deva can be raised from the dead if he or she is willing and if the ritual is powerful enough. Rituals also exist that allow a ritualist to speak to a departed deva’s wandering soul."

 

[Kwalish Kid]

There's no official rule about it that I know of, so I'm handling it like this:

- A dead deva's soul can wander for a bit before it reincarnates. This means that the party has time to raise them if they want to. If they prefer not to, the deva instinctively reincarnates.

Almost exactly what the Dragon article says.

 

[Klaus]

While the Deva fluff in the PHB2 does somewhat make it sound like they are reborn instantly, the ecology article on the Deva actually says this isn't usually the case. Their essence instead floats amidst the spirits of the world ("the bodiless dreaming", as they call it), for what is usually at least a year. (And sometimes far longer.)

To quote the article directly: "During this time between incarnations, a dead deva can be raised from the dead if he or she is willing and if the ritual is powerful enough. Rituals also exist that allow a ritualist to speak to a departed deva’s wandering soul."

The usual length of bodiless dreaming mentioned in the Article is 7 years.

 

[Byronic]

I actually came across this problem when redesigning Eladrin months ago and came to the following solution:

Their bodies don't reincarnate yet. They just stay there for a few eeks before dissolving away.

It would fit with Deva's as well.

 

[Plane Sailing]

They just stay there for a few eeks before dissolving away.

So how long is an eek? Some mouse-related measure of time?

 

[DracoSuave]

An eek is 1/20th of an ook, which is best described as an orangatan minute. Not -quite- the same, but close enough for beans.