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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cyraneth" data-source="post: 1117339" data-attributes="member: 1199">I'm happy you agree, but I want to take that extra step you're apparently afraid of, 'cause you think it might demoralize players. (I'm sorry if I'm assuming too much here.) Most death effects cannot be countered by a raise dead, requiring the higher-level resurrection. This means death will be a hindrance to all but the highest-level characters, and they will use any means to avoid it. If you "cheapen" death by tossing scrolls of resurrection left and right, I see your problem.But lower-level characters can still be brought back, thereby not necessitating the end of a great character concept or storyline. Just have the local high-level cleric require a quest in return. And if you don't feel like leaving the dead PC out of the quest, just resurrect him before it and have him accept a geas/quest spell. Or don't use a geas/quest and let the cleric trust them, branding them betrayers of the faith if they abandon their promise.But if you also keep the players from being the targets of death effects, you're clearly favoring them. No wonder they become the heroes of your story. Don't heroes become heroes 'cause they prevailed where everyone else failed? Including death effects? Or overcoming a failed save against a death effect by paying the price of coming back to life?If you don't like the "gritty" version of death, just view death as a more severe kind of curse. It takes more than a remove curse to "cure" but also restricts the player more severely. On the other hand, it also takes more than a bestow curse to cause it, and when players meet that kind of enemies, they should have the resources to "counter" it, sooner or later.While death from damage is easier to regulate (and thus more popular among DMs fearful of single rounds being too consequencial), it is in reality just a row of dice rolls than in the end result in either party's demise. A finger of death spell speeds this up, so to speak. Instead of many rolls, it's just one roll, but about the same. If the players plan an excellent strategy and use every tactical advantage, they'll still fail if every roll's a failure, which will most likely result in their deaths. So, theoretically, you could call it a combat resolver used during the resolution of combat... And don't worry about monsters being too tough 'cause of this ability to "resolve combat quickly." It has been calculated into their CR.- Cyraneth</blockquote>

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