D&D 5E How common is resurrection in your game?

[dave2008]

In 30 years of gaming we have had 9 deaths and no resurrections. We did have one player come back as a ghost in 4e.

 

[Maxperson]

In 20+ years of gaming, I have never seen a character resurrected in a home game.

Interesting. I've been in games where raises are almost impossible, and in games where death is a revolving door. Heck, in one game where they were almost impossible we actually managed to find a rod of resurrection(2e) and my PC came back 5 times in one fight going against priests of Set. Freaking poison saves! I also gave our paladin of Horus-Re a crisis of faith, because I didn't have the good grace to stay in the afterlife like I should.

 

[Maxperson]

For numbers of deaths, I typically run a campaign from 3rd level to 16-20. During such a campaign, I'll see 0-2 deaths usually, with probably 80% of my campaigns only seeing one death. Usually they stay dead.

 

[merwins]

I'm curious how common resurrection is assumed to be. Out of every N deaths, how often can characters expect to be raised? Does it vary for you by tier?

N

Keyword "can." It's ALWAYS possible, no matter the level.

My campaign is built so any character can be brought back. Characters can also change class if they want. Or pretty much whatever.

Players (usually) invest some time and energy in their character. IME, they generally try to make reasoned or in-character decisions, either for color, or for survival, or both. When they hit 6th level, its quite a let-down to die, let alone have to start from square one, and in the groups I play in, its cheesy to just roll up a high-level character they didn't have to "work" for.

(Class changes are a serious matter, but still possible. The lower level you are, the easier such an endeavor might be. The biggest issue is that if you haven't "worked" for your class, it's likely you won't know how to maximize your potential at higher levels of ability.)

Anyway, we decided early on that for my campaign, almost anything was possible.
For a price.
And we're not talking just gold.

Internal consistency and RAW are important. We discuss options when a character is in a tight spot.
The player ALWAYS has a choice. Come back RIGHT NOW, and experience Consequence A. Roll up a temporary character or play an NPC until you can be brought back at a more opportune moment, and experience Consequence B. Have a party member bring you back and experience Consequence C.

Not everything is perfectly laid out, but the general parameters are clear enough.

For example, a player had their warlock PC keep the entire party alive through what was going to kill several characters, including the warlock. As a result, the patron infused some of its essence into the warlock to give him enough power to keep the party alive by passing through the patron's native habitat -- normally not survivable for the PCs. From that point on, the patron could spy on ANYTHING the warlock did, and manipulate events in its direction.

It's very difficult to juggle an evil patron and party loyalties. Sooner or later something's going to give. And the stronger the hold the patron has on you...

 

[MiraMels]

I've never had a PC come back from the dead, since I don't kill characters without their player's express permission, so


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[Caliban]

In my home game, it's available but hasn't been used yet. One PC died around lvl 3, they didn't have the funds to get him raised, so the player created a new character. Since then, no PC has died. They are now lvl 7.

In another game I was in that recently ended, the barbarian in the party died twice (raised both times) and the warlock died once (body was unrecoverable) and the player brought a new character.

In Adventure League, I haven't had a character die yet, but I've been involved in one near TPK (my character and one other fled, everyone else died), and heard of a couple of more TPK's of low level groups.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Raise Dead or Resurrection are as common as PCs need it to be. If they want their beloved character to return, there will be a priest that can cast the spell. But such services come at a price, which is generally some sort of perilous quest. I take death as an opportunity to tell new adventures.

This is how we usually play (though once the PCs have enough money they can just cast it without a quest if they are in a city big enough to have the components). If the player wants the character's story to continue, then it does. I mean, we're not kicking anybody out of the table because a character died. They're going to have another character. If they really want the same character, they'll just build the same character. Just save time and make it part of the game.

 

[ccs]

It's assumed to be part of the setting/lore. The PCs have all heard tales/believe this is possible.

But in practice? It hasn't really come up yet - the PCs aren't high enough lv to cast these type of things themselves, & they aren't important enough/rich enough for an NPC to bother doing so.
The only way an NPC would ever cast this for a PC is if they're of the same religion (and likely had a lot of $ as wll.)

 

[mrpopstar]

Can you make a rough guess how many you've seen die?

Only five or six.

One per major campaign.

 

[mrpopstar]

Interesting. I've been in games where raises are almost impossible, and in games where death is a revolving door. Heck, in one game where they were almost impossible we actually managed to find a rod of resurrection(2e) and my PC came back 5 times in one fight going against priests of Set. Freaking poison saves! I also gave our paladin of Horus-Re a crisis of faith, because I didn't have the good grace to stay in the afterlife like I should.

Sounds fun!



Seems like my groups have treated death rather gravely.