Do you allow resurrection-type magic in your campaign?

[MerakSpielman]

People seem very dead-set in their ways on this issue. So I thought I'd make it a poll, and see where we all lie.

Me? I allow it, per PHB rules. Never caused a problem, and I've never seen PCs fear death less becuase of it.

 

[Gothmog]

Nope, I don't allow Raise Dead, Resurrection, True Resurrection, or Reincarnate spells. These spells simply don't fit with the theme and tone of my homebrew, and I've always felt they tend to cheapen death in campaigns when they are allowed. That said, ver rarely (3 times in the last 12 years of the campaign I've been running), I've allowed an NPC to come back from the dead, due to extremely rare/mysterious reasons. Twice were allies of the PCs, once was an enemy (sort of- he served an arch-devil, and his soul was allowed to possess another body). For the most part, dead is dead in my games, and if you do come back from the dead somehow, you AREN'T the same person.

 

[kolikeos]

People seem very dead-set in their ways on this issue. So I thought I'd make it a poll, and see where we all lie.

Me? I allow it, per PHB rules. Never caused a problem, and I've never seen PCs fear death less becuase of it.

just like in the phb for me, though i might change that in the next game i run.

 

[derelictjay]

For raise dead usually have some minor quest. But for higher magic, resurrection or true resurrection, its rarely used because the NPC clerics are rarely that high of level (at least beneficial ones), becomes its own preventer.

Ah, forgot about those darn pesky player clerics. I usually let them use is as PHB. But my groups rarely use the cleric, thats why I forgot.

 

[Crothian]

Raise dead is there but its always at a cost. THe gods pay a big part in my world and the god of the dead does not just let people without receving something in return.

 

[Arnwyn]

Me? I allow it, per PHB rules.

Me, too. Doesn't mean that NPCs will cast it for the PCs, though (and they don't).

 

[MerakSpielman]

Of course, by PHB rules, my bad guys get raised pretty frequently, too. Did you REALLY think killing the High Priest of Vecna would be so easy?

 

[drothgery]

If I don't want D&D-style back-from-the-dead spells in my game, I think I'd play or run something other than D&D, even if it would probably still be d20 fantasy.

 

[ForceUser]

I allow revivification with a few caveats. First, the cermony must take place on hallowed ground appropriate to the resurrecting cleric's deity, or in a consecrated/desecrated place of worship appropriate to the cleric's deity. Second, taking my cue from Steven Brust's Jhereg novels, if someone sticks a dagger in your eye and kills your brain, only a true resurrection can bring you back. Third, since revivification is part of the tapestry of fantasy life, different regions have different customs regarding who can be revived and what their status is upon revival. Fourth, every peasant & blacksmith is aware that killing the brain kills someone for good. Thus, the corpses of knights who fell on the field of battle are often found sans cranium to prevent a revival.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I currently allow it, with lots of strings attached, but I dislike it.

For the next campaign I run, I'm instead going to allow slower deaths (i.e., a deeper negative HP buffer and bleeding out in minutes rather than rounds) and resuscitations (i.e., spells to bring back someone very recently -- like, within 5 minutes -- dead) instead of raise dead and the like.