Creative way to bring back dead PC?

[rgard]

Probably not all that helpful, but...

In 1E when a PC died it was usually a race after the encounter to see which other PC brought the dead one back from the dead.

One PC was a Cleric who could cast Raise Dead and the other was a Magic User who could cast Reincarnate.

The 1E Magic User Reincarnate spell had orcs, goblins, trolls and other as reincarnate possibilities. Nothing funnier than having the 'too handsome for his own good' paladin come back as a gnoll.

We updated the Magic User Reincarnate to 3E when we converted and the fun continued.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Rel]

Had a PC die relatively early (around 3rd level I think) in my last campaign. I really liked the PC and so did the player so I wanted to bring her back.

I ended up having the body stolen while the party wasn't looking. She was then raised by an NPC who wanted to interrogate her and decided that she was who she said she was (there were doppelgangers about). He then provided critical information about the party's current goal and the fact that things were not as they appeared (doppelgangers again). They raced to rendezvous with the rest of the party and the previously dead PC made a dramatic entrance to the scene of a big combat.

Honestly it worked out better than I could possibly have imagined and was one of the more memorable moments from that campaign. Very cinematic.

So I tend to see a PC death as an opportunity for cool plot twists rather than a hassle to be overcome.

 

[theskyfullofdust]

I've just finished watching the old Conan movie, and in that there is a scene where Conan lies pretty much dead, and the magic user uses magic to bring him back... but first, Conan's allies have to fight off undead ghosts that are trying (I presume) to drag him off to the realm of the dead.

So, you could have them attempt a Raise Dead spell, but at the crucial moment they have to fend out an attack by reaper-like undead; maybe combine it with a skill challenge that acts out the final stages of the ritual.

 

[jcayer]

You could always do something with the revenant race from DDI. Since he obviously has unfinished business, the description of the revenant sounds pretty spot on.

Edit: My bad, I missed it was a 3E thread. Sorry, but you could do something like the revenant if you have access to DDI.

 

[Cyronax]

That sounds like a great opportunity for some introduction of an important outside group.

Since you're using 3.5, try some combination of warforged (Eberron) or half-golem rules (see 3.X MM2). Maybe the dead elf returns with a golem-arm and a new lease on life thanks to some group of evil artificers or hextor-cultists (see Blood Golem of hextor).

Alternatively, you could do a little research into comic book deaths and returns from the dead. I can think of no genre (other than daytim soaps) with more of a revolving door of life and death.

Following on my particular advice regarding the golemization of the elf, I would look to how Marvel comics handled Captain America's sidekick Bucky's return as Winter Solider.

List of dead comic book characters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The link above takes you to a wiki page about dead comic book characters. Most of them returned later, all in creative ways.

C.I.D.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

No coins for the ferryman - crappy other party members stripped the character of everything they could sell and did not leave the two coppers to pay for the boat ride.

I am SHOCKED, I say SHOCKED that you would make that assertion, sir!

That kind of thing NEVER happens in OUR game group.

(fingers crossed, tongue in cheek, rolling eyes)

I've just finished watching the old Conan movie, and in that there is a scene where Conan lies pretty much dead, and the magic user uses magic to bring him back... but first, Conan's allies have to fight off undead ghosts that are trying (I presume) to drag him off to the realm of the dead.

So, you could have them attempt a Raise Dead spell, but at the crucial moment they have to fend out an attack by reaper-like undead; maybe combine it with a skill challenge that acts out the final stages of the ritual.

That is something that anyone who saw the movie would thing was C O O L!!!

 

[Shemeska]

Let him come back as a minor fiend who managed to retain his living memories by raw force of will. Imagine an imp showing up with the dead PCs mannerisms, claiming to be him, etc.

Adjust for whatever alignment the PC happened to be (minor demon, devil, daemon, protean, axiomite, archon, agathion, or azata).

 

[Stormonu]

Here's one you've probably never seen...

He's already been "born again", but without the tormentful memories of his old life. To get him back to his original body, they'll have to seek out his new body and kill it so they can return his soul to the original body.

 

[Aeolius]

Perhaps the PC cannot return, because their soul was hijacked: used as the driving force in the creation of an intelligent magic weapon.

Perhaps the spell to return them to life partially fails, returning the PC to life as a simulacrum. They must then quest to find their true soul, now discarded as a reflection on a faraway sea.

 

[Mournblade94]

You could always have the cold, grey body found, and then pump billions of GP into having automatons regenerate the body. The only thing the body will ahve to show that it was brought back is glowing gold scars that will increase in intensity with each evil or renegade choice the character makes.

Miraculously the character will retain all memories from before the death. This would work best if the PC brought back was a Shepherd as a profession.