Alternate penalty for raise dead? Instead of level loss?

[Lord Wyrm]

I remember the old ays when you lost a point of Con each and every time you were raised. With the level loss mechanic I am perfectly pleased, especially since players who decide to make new characters are forced to enter play at (Average Party Level)-5

 

[Nim]

You're bringing new characters in at average character level minus 5? Must be a fairly high-level game. No other way they're managing to survive

 

[melkorspawn]

We had a similar problem with the monk in one of my campaign (The silly idiot thought he was a front line fighter). He didn't change his tactics after numerous deaths because they were in character for the personality he had moulded. So, his dead body was taken by an NPC. We had to fight to get it back, (with him as a new PC that joined party), then we had to track our way through a den of evil clerics... where eventually (read... a month of real time... probably triple that in-game), we found his character... true resurrected, but alignment shifted... and several levels higher (A level above the rest of our party... with levels of fighter making up the difference.) We fought him to the death, clockwork oranged him back to normal... and after all that, the player decided that the tank he'd been playing for the last month was more fun for him. Go figure.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Often, at least in the campaigns I play and DM, death is caused not by the individual who dies, but by the rest of the party not providing adequate support. Therefore punishing the guy who carks it is usually punishing they guy who stuck his neck out for the party.

I don't want that.

Oh, and the idea of reducing constitution is a really bad one. It's basically "it's not worth resurrecting your character, make a new one".

And given that most of the benefits of resurrection are for a DM (ie - he can keep stories going despite deaths), it seems stupid to try to get rid of it.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

No penalty, but grant a Will save to see if the PC WANTS to come back. I imagine an old warrior, having seen many long battles, and having fallen in yet one more, might find the afterlife quite comfortable.

Set the DC based on their alignment and their god. Raise Dead gives a save, Res gives a bonus, True Res gives a choice to come back, no save.

 

[Edheldur]

Well, there's this variant rule by Andy Collins that I've been using in my games and so far it's turned up quite nice.

 

[Shin Okada]

In my playgroup, level loss is making no problem. If a character is a level or two behind others, he gets more XP from the same encounter. So he soon catch up with others.

 

[Lord Wyrm]

You're bringing new characters in at average character level minus 5? Must be a fairly high-level game. No other way they're managing to survive

Surviving? Who said anything about surviving.

 

[wedgeski]

No penalty, but grant a Will save to see if the PC WANTS to come back. I imagine an old warrior, having seen many long battles, and having fallen in yet one more, might find the afterlife quite comfortable.

The PC can always decide whether or not he wants to be raised. Raise Dead SRD:

You restore life to a deceased creature. You can raise a creature that has been dead for no longer than one day per caster level. In addition, the subject’s soul must be free and willing to return. If the subject’s soul is not willing to return, the spell does not work; therefore, a subject that wants to return receives no saving throw.

 

[KenM]

In my playgroup, level loss is making no problem. If a character is a level or two behind others, he gets more XP from the same encounter. So he soon catch up with others.

Thats they way its suposted to work. But when you are the only PC in the game that has dies and came back, AT ALL. And it happened to you 3 times, you do fall behind. Thanks for the ideas, everyone.