Death in Eberron - What to Do?

[Atavar]

Hello Everyone,

I am currently running a Shackled City campaign set in Eberron. In my last session one of the characters died. The party is 6th-level, so they don't have any in-party raise dead available.

My question is this: What feasible options, if any, does this character have in coming back from the dead? I couldn't find a quote in a cursory search of my Eberron books, but my understanding of the Eberron setting is that the raising of dead characters is a rare event. Not only would one need the money and a powerful-enough spell caster, but the caster (I think) would not even consider raising someone unless he or she were of the same religious faith. The player in question described his character as a "near-atheist" in his in-game beliefs.

I thought perhaps I could have the party find a greedy, corrupt member of a church willing to cast the spell (or create a scroll) for them for a huge markup--perhaps twice the usual cost. However, I also want to keep the verisimilitude of the setting intact, which may mean we just have to bite the sling stone and have the player roll up a new character. The player seems okay with that, but he's really struggling with what to play next.

Anyway, what do you think? Is there a logical, Eberron-friendly way to bring back this character? How do other Eberron gaming groups handle bringing back the dead in their campaigns?

Thanks,

Atavar

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"Insert pithy Latin quote here."

 

[Ozmar]

I think what you really want to consider is what type of campaign do you want to run. Do you want to have resurrection available, even to characters of low resources (i.e., before they can cast it themselves). Do you want to have players creating new characters whenever they die? And what type of game do the players want? One where death is the end, a major inconvenience, or a minor inconvenience.

In Eberron, there are ways to raise the dead. Although it is rare, there are clerics of all major faiths (somewhere) who can access that spell. In Sharn, for example, there are a couple high-level clerics who can raise the dead for the right price. And I think House Jorasco could have access to a relic that enables a dragonmarked scion to raise the dead. (I think that item... a bier of resurrection? was described in the Eberron Campaign Setting.) Clerics of the Blood of Vol would probably not be likely to raise the dead, particularly for someone who doesn't profess their religion, but they might in order to put the party in their debt. The Church of the Silver Flame might also be convinced that the party is acting in pursuit of a noble purpose. Similarly, depending on the mission, a druid might be convinced to reincarnate the departed PC (always a favorite option of mine).

Eberron easily supports so many different options, that I think the best approach is to decide how you want to handle it from a metagame perspective, and then create story elements that support that. If you want resurrection to be very rare, then the few clerics who can cast it don't have any reason to help the PCs, and won't even grant them an audience. If you want it to be available at a high price, then the clerics can be convinced, but will demand a large tithe, or a service (side-quest?) or donation of a magical item - choose something that would further their goals as well as your plans for the campaign.

-Ozmar the Cleric

 

[Grymar]

I think the most available option is for an artificer to make a scroll of Raise Dead. BUT there should be a price...there has to be risk of death for Eberron to work as a game setting.

Possibilities include:
* A chance of failure
* Time in Doluur means some loss of wisdom or charisma
* Good chance of the soul not returning alone...either 1d4 ghosts follow him back, or he is haunted for some period of time

Make it possible, but they have to deal with shady people and make very uncomfortable bargains.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

You could always have him come back mysteriously and explain it later- as I understand STAP, it is going to involve the Outer Planes and extraplanar creatures at some point (including creatures working against the main bad guy in the series), so perhaps some demonic entity or even angelic entity has resurrected the PC for purposes (as yet) unknown. You could gradually reveal the reason for his resurrection to the PC- either openly or covertly- as the STAP goes on.

Of course, this really doesn't work as much more than a one-shot deal, so if anyone else dies, it might not be as viable an option.

 

[Spatula]

Clerics of the Blood of Vol would probably not be likely to raise the dead, particularly for someone who doesn't profess their religion, but they might in order to put the party in their debt.

Clerics/Adepts of the Blood of Vol would be the *most* likely to raise the dead, seeing as they believe that mortality is a curse and they're fighting the good fight against it.

Followers of the Host, the Dark Six, the Silver Flame, and the druid sects shouldn't be interested in bestowing major miracles on non-believers.

The rarity of resurrection should depend more on the type of campaign that you want to run and less on the campaign setting. If you want it to be common, then it's as simple as a trip to a major House Jorasco enclave. The other option is the Daughters of Sora Kell, who perhaps desire the character to live in order to fufill some prophecy, but that's more of a one-time deal. There's also the possibility of Dolurrh being aligned with Eberron, allowing the party to travel into the realm of the dead to rescue the soul of their departed comrade.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure there's an old dragonshard on this very topic, that might help you out if you can find it in the wizards.com archives.

 

[Bagpuss]

The player in question described his character as a "near-atheist" in his in-game beliefs.

If the player describes a character like that and then expects them to be raised from the dead he is just fooling himself. Time to roll up a new character and if he wants even a chance of being raised I suggest he worships a God that is known for raising his followers.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Hello Everyone,

I am currently running a Shackled City campaign set in Eberron. In my last session one of the characters died. The party is 6th-level, so they don't have any in-party raise dead available.

My question is this: What feasible options, if any, does this character have in coming back from the dead? I couldn't find a quote in a cursory search of my Eberron books, but my understanding of the Eberron setting is that the raising of dead characters is a rare event. Not only would one need the money and a powerful-enough spell caster, but the caster (I think) would not even consider raising someone unless he or she were of the same religious faith. The player in question described his character as a "near-atheist" in his in-game beliefs.

Eberron is a big place. Where have you set the Shackled City adventure? That would give an idea for near-by resources.

If it's anywhere near the Eldeen Reaches, you might find a druid will to cast Reincarnate, as that only takes a 7th level caster and there are more of those around. Lessens the idea of death as a mere inconvenience too, as the character is now physically a different person who may not be legally recognized as being his old self.

 

[Wolfwood2]

If the player describes a character like that and then expects them to be raised from the dead he is just fooling himself. Time to roll up a new character and if he wants even a chance of being raised I suggest he worships a God that is known for raising his followers.

This is Eberron. The gods might not even exist, so the attitude of the cleric/druid in question matters a lot more than what some hypothetical god (and only two of the major religions even worship deities in the conventional sense) might think.

 

[Ranes]

I'm not familiar with Eberron but can there be clerics who espouse a philosophy rather than worship of a particular god? If so, that's the cleric your party needs.

 

[MarkB]

Clerics/Adepts of the Blood of Vol would be the *most* likely to raise the dead, seeing as they believe that mortality is a curse and they're fighting the good fight against it.

The Blood of Vol believe that undeath is the path to immortality. They might animate the PC, but they'd be unlikely to Raise him.