Death in Eberron - What to Do?

[Spatula]

"Seekers maintain that blood iteself is the 'soul' of life... In the mindset of most Vol cults, creatures that know nothing of blood - constructs, plants, oozes, and the like - are thus removed from true divinity. Vol doctrine holds that blood truly is life, and that without it, there is no real life at all...
"The high position of undead within the church might surprise those outside the faith... The Seekers believe that the intelligent undead have made this terrible sacrifice to overcome mortality and to serve the sect... The undead are champions of the church, guiding the people of Vol to their true destiny, but few who follow the faith would make that terrible choice." - Faiths of Eberron pg 75-6

Also see Keith Baker's dragonshards and his posts in the old "Ask Keith" threads on the WotC boards.

 

[Atavar]

Thanks for the great replies everyone.

To answer a few things raised above:

What kind of campaign do I want? On this point (character death), I want to handle character death in an "Eberron canon" manner, if there is such a thing. My original post states my current understanding of what that is. I plan to look more closely at my Eberron books (and online) when I get a chance, but I also wanted to get the fine opinions of all y'all.

Where within Eberron have I set this campaign? I have set this campaign in Q'Barra (sp?). It seemed out-of-the way enough and jungly (is that a word?) enough to fit my idea of SCAP without throwing the whole thing in Xen'Drik.

Oh, and the party cleric is a generic, non-Sovereign-Host, worshipping-an-ideal type of cleric. So, he can raise whomever he pleases. Once he's powerful enough, of course. He's only 6th level at the moment.

I have also heard that "Eberron canon" on this matter may have changed as more source books came out. The idea of a Jorasco relic that raises people would've seemed totally out of place given my impression of the role-playing complications of raising the dead as posited in the main Eberron campaign setting book.

As always, Thanks!

Atavar

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"Senior Mutant Ninja Turtles--Dealing With Life Changes!" - Robot Chicken

 

[Atavar]

A Possible Answer....

Hello Again,

I found the following Dragonshards article on Religion in Eberron:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20040705a

The last section is interesting, especially the last paragraph:

"There is a notable exception to this rule [that clerics don't sell divine magic]: corrupt clerics. Especially in Breland, there are priests who are more interested in lining their pockets than serving the faithful. If you can find such a cleric, you can purchase any spell he can cast, at standard prices."

Can anyone find something else that contradicts this that would still be considered "Eberron canon?"

Thanks,

Atavar

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"Can God create a rock so heavy that even He cannot lift it?"

"Yes. And He can lift it anyway."

 

[ValhallaGH]

House Jorasco is probably the best bet, as they are willing to heal for cash and they can Res characters using a Jorasco Resurrection Altar (see the Magic Items section of the ECS).
However, I doubt they have such an artifact in Q'barra.

Honestly, your player will probably have to roll up a new character. Given where you've placed it, unless you have his body reanimated by a Quorii mind monster (which he doesn't need to know about until it's time for him to betray the party ), there are really no options for local resurrection. If it where Sharn ... but it's not.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I would say:

A corrupt and dissipated cleric from Breland would be GOLDEN ... find him somewhere in a back alley, guided there by shady characters and asking uncomfortable questions near rough looking folks. "The Father" or something like that ... "The Doctor", "The Priest" ... something with quotes. An alcoholic or drug addict of some sort, not the kind of guy you'd expect to have any sort of access to the magic ... a Silver Flame guy, for instance.

Or, same thing, but it's either an alcoholic old Artificer that can sell them a questionable scroll that he's "pretty sure" is a Raise Dead ... or was that one Animate Dead ... eh, it's from the Mournlands anyway, but it should be okay. Or a shady and entirely untrustworthy-seeming artificer: "Yea, yea, I got one a' dem, yea. Have I got what YOU need, my fine upstanding fellows. Raise your friend right up with this one, no problem at all!"

--fje

 

[Kishin]

Your most likely chance for resurrection in Eberron is through House Jorasco, be it a Resurrection Altar or a particularly talented member of the House. I believe there's a woman in the Jorasco enclave in Fairhaven (capital of Aundair) who is specifically mentioned in Five Nations as being capable of casting resurrection. This of course, may be a bit out of the way for your party, although perhaps you could have them charter an airship from Cauldron? That may be difficult, though, considering Q'barra is reasonably far from true civilization (ie. the former Galifaran nations), but Cauldron itself is a relatively remarkably city, and perhaps Lyrandar would send a vessel out there once in a great while.

Or, if you want to divert them a bit from the main plotline, you could send them into Haka'torvahk in search of an artifact with which to raise the character, of even Rhashaak's aid...

 

[Wolfwood2]

Thanks for the great replies everyone.

To answer a few things raised above:

What kind of campaign do I want? On this point (character death), I want to handle character death in an "Eberron canon" manner, if there is such a thing. My original post states my current understanding of what that is. I plan to look more closely at my Eberron books (and online) when I get a chance, but I also wanted to get the fine opinions of all y'all.

Where within Eberron have I set this campaign? I have set this campaign in Q'Barra (sp?). It seemed out-of-the way enough and jungly (is that a word?) enough to fit my idea of SCAP without throwing the whole thing in Xen'Drik.

That's neat. I ran a Q'Barra campaign for a short time. (Before I realized that I do not have it in me to run long term games.)

There are a lot of lizardmen in Q'Barra, and what is a Lizardman's favorite class? Druid. Going back to my druid suggestion earlier, I bet there's a Druid lizardman out there who's 7th level and badly needs some quest or other taken care of.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

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.

This is good. Except he is running the SCAP not the STAP!

Olaf the Stout

 

[Cthulhudrew]

This is good. Except he is running the SCAP not the STAP!

So... you're saying it won't work?

D'OH!!!! (Time to go join that RIF program.)

 

[Glyfair]

Can anyone find something else that contradicts this that would still be considered "Eberron canon?"

Nope. The biggest problem with raising the dead in Eberron is the lack of characters who can cast the spell. NPCs rarely have high levels in PC classes (usually less then 5 levels, although there are rare exceptions). Clerics rarely are in churches, the heads of churches are usually experts and occasionally an adept. A high level adept is your best best, and maybe a key House Jorasco enclave with the altar of resurrection (which they probably charge extra for, and require some sort of service for its use).