BoED: Saint ?!?

[ruleslawyer]

Dying isn't very heroic or noteworthy in D&D. It's like getting a papercut in the real world, except a papercut can't be instantly healed.

D&D manages to drains pretty much all of the drama and sacrifice out of dying for a cause. Most martyrs are probably all "sup d00ds, be back in 5" right before they bite it.

Actually, BoED specifically addresses this by pointing out that dying really isn't particularly high on the list of sacrifices in a world when the party has access to true resurrection. Nonetheless, there are sacrifices that are tantamount to dying in 3e (giving away major magic items, for example!), and there are worlds in which true res isn't so easily available.