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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dragonblade" data-source="post: 1097237" data-attributes="member: 2804">There are major balance issues with removing Raise Dead and Resurrection magic without any form of compensation.  It completely changes the feel of a high level game.  But the effect on a low-level game is minimal.A lot of encounters and monsters, particularly high level ones, often involve situations or abilities that require multiple difficult saving throws with each failed save resulting in a severely debilitating condition or death.The result is a D&D game that will burn through PCs like mad unless the DM or the players compensate.  The DM can compensate by removing save or die situations from his game or requiring multiple failed saves for each bad effect instead of just one. This can require a lot of extra work on the DM's part to really "wimp" down the encounters.The players can compensate by being extremely cautious and avoiding most encounters where they don't completely overwhelm their opponents. This tends to eliminate more heroic and cinematic play styles and encourages a more brutal world where watching out for numero uno takes precedence over any other moral or story considerations.Now, if you wish to play a game where you as DM either: a) wussify everything b) discourage heroism c) make your players create new characters every session or d) never advance much beyond level 12, then by all means remove those spells from the game.But, there is an alternative.  I have also removed resurrection spells from my game to make death more meaningful.  But I wanted PCs who were still heroic and who could kick ass and not fear dying from one failed save, yet who were cautious when they fought monsters because they still had all their nasty save or die abilities.The solution was Fate points.  Give every PC and major NPCs a certain number of Fate points.  The number of Fate points you give can serve as a grittiness indicator with less Fate points resulting in a more brutal and gritty game and more Fate points resulting in a more heroic game. During play, one Fate point can be spent to completely ignore any one attack roll, failed saving throw, or other unavoidable death situation.  Though maybe not without penalty.For example, a Dark Knight crits you and takes you to -40 hp.  You'd be dead but spend a Fate point to completely avoid the blow at the last second. Or a Beholder disintigrates you and you fail your save. Spend a Fate point and by some miracle you managed to twist your body out of the way at the last second. Or you are struggling near a precipice and are hurled over the edge.  You take more than enough damage to die from the fall.  Spend a Fate point and you miraculously survive but still have a broken leg or two.Its DMs discretion what happens when a PC spends a Fate point, but it gives the PCs a chance against nasty monsters that would wipe them out in a world without Resurrection magic.Additionally Fate points can have other effects as well, such as turning a missed blow into a hit, etc. This allows you to foster a more cinematic and literary style game that avoids complete dependence on random die rolls.  Nothing is more anti-climactic than to fight the evil dark lord in his throne room after a long campaign and the PCs can't seem to roll anything other than natural 1s and get wiped out.Also you as DM decide how PCs get more Fate points and how many they start playing with.  Do they get them for certain heroic acts? Do they get them for good role-playing? Do they get one per level automatically?  Use them and customize them for your game.</blockquote>

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