D&D 5E Disintegrations

[Celebrim]

In 1e if you were disintegrated, all of your gear (magical or otherwise) would have to pass an item saving throw versus disintegration or be likewise disintegrated. Since item saving throws versus disintegration tended to be 17's or better depending on the material in question, most of your gear was going *poof* as well. Not having the magic items effected is pretty much a mercy rule.

 

[jayoungr]

But this scenario is one of the reasons I don't care for the beholder zombie ... if you don't run a killer campaign I have a hard time justifying things that for a high level party would be an inconvenience that with a lower level party is PC ending.

I know what you mean, but on the other hand, Ravenloft is supposed to be dangerous. And the players weren't really taking the beholder zombie seriously; they're experienced players, so they don't have much excuse. They were leaving the beholder zombie for last while working on fighting the ogre zombies accompanying it instead, while it whittled down their hitpoints with its enervation ray, to the point that the disintegrate would kill a PC. At full health, they could each have taken a max-damage disintegrate blast and survived.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Answering before I read the thread... I'll probably make a fool of myself...

disintegrated in the process.
I now have two questions:

1) Did all of the PCs' magic items get disintegrated as well? Or are they lying on the ground, coated in the dust of their former wielder but otherwise fine?

You could go with the old Item Saving Throw paradigm. The PC failed his save, so each of his items must also save!

2) Is resurrection good enough to restore a disintegrated person back to life or is true resurrection required?

Depends on how you interpret "/body/ of a dead creature" ("remains" would have been more favorable to the possibility, IMHHO) and "restores any missing body parts."


But, really, the Disintegrate spell, itself, kinda spoils your fun...

A disintegrated creature and everything it is wearing and carrying, except Magic Items, are reduced to a pile of fine gray dust. The creature can be restored to life only by means of a True Resurrection or a wish spell.

...but you can always rule the Beholder's Ray works a tad differently.

(Honestly, I'll be surprised if you didn't get that, 1st reply.)
Edit. Checked. Not surprised.

 

[MarkB]

The traditional halfway-house for this sort of scenario is Reincarnate. It provides a new body, so the sticking point is whether the pile of dust counts as "a piece of a dead humanoid".

 

[Oofta]

I know what you mean, but on the other hand, Ravenloft is supposed to be dangerous. And the players weren't really taking the beholder zombie seriously; they're experienced players, so they don't have much excuse. They were leaving the beholder zombie for last while working on fighting the ogre zombies accompanying it instead, while it whittled down their hitpoints with its enervation ray, to the point that the disintegrate would kill a PC. At full health, they could each have taken a max-damage disintegrate blast and survived.

Sadly, there is no "save vs bad tactics".

 

[jayoungr]

The traditional halfway-house for this sort of scenario is Reincarnate. It provides a new body, so the sticking point is whether the pile of dust counts as "a piece of a dead humanoid".

I would think this might be a possibility with the zombie beholder. It wasn't even a full-strength zombie beholder, so maybe its eyebeam isn't the equivalent of a full-strength disintegrate spell.

I think what I'm going to do is offer my player three possibilities, each with a trade-off of PC coming back quickly versus PC coming back unchanged:

1. PC could come back very quickly but with a Dark Gift that will require a greater restoration spell to remove (the higher-level spell requirement is a reflection of the fact that the PC was disintegrated, not just dead).

2. The rest of the party could scoop up the dust and find a druid to cast reincarnate; the PC would come back with no negative effects but in a different body. In the meantime, assuming the player doesn't want to roll up a temporary character, the PC would be a ghost with limited abilities.

3. Player waits until the party finds someone who can cast true resurrection or wish, getting the PC back in her original body and with no negative after-effects. The player will definitely need to make a second character in the meantime.

 

[ccs]

I know what you mean, but on the other hand, Ravenloft is supposed to be dangerous. And the players weren't really taking the beholder zombie seriously; they're experienced players, so they don't have much excuse. They were leaving the beholder zombie for last while working on fighting the ogre zombies accompanying it instead, while it whittled down their hitpoints with its enervation ray, to the point that the disintegrate would kill a PC. At full health, they could each have taken a max-damage disintegrate blast and survived.

So why are you bothering to worry about how to give the players character back?

Experienced players playing poorly deserve what happens to them.

 

[jayoungr]

So why are you bothering to worry about how to give the players character back?

Experienced players playing poorly deserve what happens to them.

Because I don't believe in PC permadeath unless the player is ready to retire the character. Having the PC come back changed and/or having to wait out the rest of the campaign before being able to play the character again is "punishment" (consequence) enough, IMHO.

 

[Raunalyn]

https://j.gifs.com/68JY4N.gif

 

[WaterRabbit]

I would think this might be a possibility with the zombie beholder. It wasn't even a full-strength zombie beholder, so maybe its eyebeam isn't the equivalent of a full-strength disintegrate spell.

I think what I'm going to do is offer my player three possibilities, each with a trade-off of PC coming back quickly versus PC coming back unchanged:

1. PC could come back very quickly but with a Dark Gift that will require a greater restoration spell to remove (the higher-level spell requirement is a reflection of the fact that the PC was disintegrated, not just dead).

2. The rest of the party could scoop up the dust and find a druid to cast reincarnate; the PC would come back with no negative effects but in a different body. In the meantime, assuming the player doesn't want to roll up a temporary character, the PC would be a ghost with limited abilities.

3. Player waits until the party finds someone who can cast true resurrection or wish, getting the PC back in her original body and with no negative after-effects. The player will definitely need to make a second character in the meantime.

So the thing with Ravenloft if the character isn't willing to be brought back by a Dark Power, then they are probably out of luck. About the only real option is the ghost doing possessions since the body is destroyed. Since it is the Amber Temple, you could drop in a Sword/Ring of Wishes which could allow the player to be brought back. However, something has to be granting the wishes and it is going to be a dark power.

This was probably a place where the character should have used their inspiration to avoid that fate.