Handing character death
- Thread starter tjoneslo
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I have to say that I'm very surprised at the poll results given the vibe that I have gotten from these boards (ie. I had previously gotten the impression that most would have the dead stay dead.)
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I picked "quest to the temple and pay $" option but none of the options really cover properly how it's handled. If the PC's are still fairly low-level (which is when they tend to die most actually) they can't afford the cost. When they can afford it I tend to get annoyed. You know how it is. But as a result they sometimes have to do favors or even an outright quest to pay for it, but just as often I simply let them pay the money and get on with the game. I tend to be a little haphazard in this, but in MY mind at least the PC's fit a niche that simply isn't seen in the rest of a fantasy society.
PC's are rarities in that though the spells are available to a fairly decent sized segment of population, not just PC's, it's the PC's who are the only ones to really take advantage of it. Not just because they have the cash either, though that too is a factor. PC's have a casual, even cavalier attitude toward death and resurrection that the common man does not.
It's not as big a step as it seems to go from "resurrect me after I die" to "I want to be a lich so I NEVER die." It's just that raise/resur. don't have the nasty negative-energy plane, alignment, and taste for human flesh and halfling blood issues as an annoying aftertaste.
Yeah, it's rather a bit of a handwave, but it works. The alternative is to simply make raise/resur. much more of a pain in the arse than is at all necessary IMO.
PC's are rarities in that though the spells are available to a fairly decent sized segment of population, not just PC's, it's the PC's who are the only ones to really take advantage of it. Not just because they have the cash either, though that too is a factor. PC's have a casual, even cavalier attitude toward death and resurrection that the common man does not.
It's not as big a step as it seems to go from "resurrect me after I die" to "I want to be a lich so I NEVER die." It's just that raise/resur. don't have the nasty negative-energy plane, alignment, and taste for human flesh and halfling blood issues as an annoying aftertaste.
Yeah, it's rather a bit of a handwave, but it works. The alternative is to simply make raise/resur. much more of a pain in the arse than is at all necessary IMO.
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Ssyleia
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I think if a PC dies, s/he should be resurrected or raised within the game session by means affordable to the party. Better yet, everyone is wounded, nobody dies...
Sometimes a PC needs to die (permanently) for dramatic purposes. In this case it is always a PC whose player is dissatisfied with his/her character...
Sometimes a PC needs to die (permanently) for dramatic purposes. In this case it is always a PC whose player is dissatisfied with his/her character...
I allow raise dead to be fairly easily accessable by PCs but it costs slightly more than in the core books.
I've done this since 1E, but over the years I've DMed I've always wondered about the effect resurrection would have on the campaign world. Here's some musings I came up with:
1) Assassinations are now obsolete, or nearly so. In order to TRULY kill someone, an assassin must now: a) use a magical weapon/poison that kills the soul; b) use a magical weapon/poison that prevents resurrection; c) use a magical device that allows him to spirit away the body (destroying the body outright is not a viable option since True Resurrection can counter this).
2) Only priests and the rich have access to resurrection. Having the ability to return life to someone is, indeed, a powerful thing and, if peasants and those not wealthy enough were denied access to this, wouldn't there be a lot of uprisings and revolts?
3) Humanity no longer TRULY fears death. They act with more bravado and recklessness because their friends can simply resurrect them. How does this affect the world? Are there more heroes? Are there more wars?
Anyway, just some thoughts.
I've done this since 1E, but over the years I've DMed I've always wondered about the effect resurrection would have on the campaign world. Here's some musings I came up with:
1) Assassinations are now obsolete, or nearly so. In order to TRULY kill someone, an assassin must now: a) use a magical weapon/poison that kills the soul; b) use a magical weapon/poison that prevents resurrection; c) use a magical device that allows him to spirit away the body (destroying the body outright is not a viable option since True Resurrection can counter this).
2) Only priests and the rich have access to resurrection. Having the ability to return life to someone is, indeed, a powerful thing and, if peasants and those not wealthy enough were denied access to this, wouldn't there be a lot of uprisings and revolts?
3) Humanity no longer TRULY fears death. They act with more bravado and recklessness because their friends can simply resurrect them. How does this affect the world? Are there more heroes? Are there more wars?
Anyway, just some thoughts.
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