D&D 5E In our last session... some bits and bobs.

[DND_Reborn]

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, I was thinking about our last session and wanted from POV from other people. We already played and "ruled" about things at the time, but I am interested in how you might have done things differently since item #1 led to #2 and then #3.

1. A character lost his eyes (I won't go into details, it was grusome) and is now blinded. Our DM decided only a Regenerate spell would restore his eyesight, but I was thinking maybe Lesser Restoration might do it. After all, it removes a condition, and Blindness is one. Also, Cure Blindness was only 3rd level in prior editions, so Lesser Restoration is more on par with that level. But the DM decided Lesser Restoration would not work on this blindness since the character actually lost his eyes (not just his sight).

2. Now, since Regenerate is 7th level, which we didn't have access to. Our druid offered to use Reincarnate to create a new body for the blinded character. The new form is created, so it stands to reason that the new body would have its eyes. The blinded character killed himself (yeah, drastic, I know...) and was reincarnated from a human to a high elf.

3. This prompted another player whose character lost his arm (he was a TWF fighter/rogue) to do the same, regaining his arm (now her arm LOL!), and becoming a drow elf from a half-orc.

Of course, having a character kill themselves to gain a new body is pretty extreme, so I am curious on what people think about it all.

 

[iserith]

This all seems fine to me.

 

[cbwjm]

I can't imagine a character casually killing themselves to get a new body but it does work.

 

[Oofta]

Well, if you have a campaign where people are regularly losing body parts and eyeballs, having other shenanigans is par for the course. In my own campaign people have been maimed - but for all practical purposes it didn't affect their ability to function as they intended.

In my campaign, coming back from the dead is not that simple. Someone killing themselves? It may not even be possible and would probably be an evil act and they'd become an NPC. I don't want to glorify suicide, even in a game.

Instead I would have had them spend the thousand gold to hire someone to cast the spell for them.

 

[DND_Reborn]

First, people don't regularly lose body parts. Its the first time in over a year of playing it happened (after the party was captured by drow). A wizard blinded, a fighter/rogue losing his right arm, a sorcerer with his tongue removed, and worse.

So, when I said we didn't have access, I mean not only could we not cast it but we had no one who could have, even if we offered to pay them.

Now, this brings up another point for Reincarnation. The DM feels you have a new body, but ruled you have the exact same ability scores. IMO a new body would require rolling new scores, etc. but that might have been removed for the sake of simplicity.

 

[Oofta]

The spell isn't particularly clear what "retains capabilities" means, but I agree. At the very least they need to apply racial bonuses of the new race after removing the old bonuses.

 

[Oofta]

Oh, and I guess if removing body parts was part of the game I'd also have some way of recovering, perhaps with a cost other than gold, perhaps not right away. Especially if this was not the result of a series of mistakes on the part of the PCs.

But it's not my story to tell. I just wouldn't tell it that way.

 

[DND_Reborn]

The spell isn't particularly clear what "retains capabilities" means, but I agree. At the very least they need to apply racial bonuses of the new race after removing the old bonuses.

Yeah, we reverse-engineered the scores to the originals and then "re-built" the character applying the feats, ASIs, and racial modifiers.

Oh, and I guess if removing body parts was part of the game I'd also have some way of recovering, perhaps with a cost other than gold, perhaps not right away. Especially if this was not the result of a series of mistakes on the part of the PCs.

But it's not my story to tell. I just wouldn't tell it that way.

Sadly, we could have played with the challenges the loses created, but one character was taken by the drow and any chance of likely recovery of her demands not only speed but also that we are as strong as possible, even if it means extreme measures.

 

[Prakriti]

1. A character lost his eyes (I won't go into details, it was grusome) and is now blinded. Our DM decided only a Regenerate spell would restore his eyesight, but I was thinking maybe Lesser Restoration might do it. After all, it removes a condition, and Blindness is one. Also, Cure Blindness was only 3rd level in prior editions, so Lesser Restoration is more on par with that level. But the DM decided Lesser Restoration would not work on this blindness since the character actually lost his eyes (not just his sight).

I agree with your DM here. Lesser Restoration would restore sight to blind eyes. It wouldn't restore the eyes themselves.

2. ... The new form is created, so it stands to reason that the new body would have its eyes.

Yeah, I don't see why not.

Of course, having a character kill themselves to gain a new body is pretty extreme, so I am curious on what people think about it all.

I'd think some characters would object to the process for some reason or another. If the players aren't even considering their characters' religious/personal/spiritual stances on reincarnation, then yeah, it's pretty munchkinny behavior, and I would find it tiresome as a DM.

Some questions that arise...
1. What are the gods' stance on suicide in your world? Would they allow a soul that committed suicide to reincarnate?
2. Does a character reincarnated as a drow interest Lolth in any way? Does she consider that character her property now? Did she "allow" the reincarnation to take place? Does she get the character's soul after its death? Does she consider the whole thing an affront to her? Is she now plotting the character's death?
3. What does the druid's circle and patron god think of this behavior? Is it a misuse of the druid's powers?

On the other hand, Reincarnate requires a 1,000 gp spell component, so I'm not sure I'd try to restrict or punish this behavior in any way. In most campaigns, the cost is punitive enough already.

 

[Inchoroi]

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, I was thinking about our last session and wanted from POV from other people. We already played and "ruled" about things at the time, but I am interested in how you might have done things differently since item #1 led to #2 and then #3.

1. A character lost his eyes (I won't go into details, it was grusome) and is now blinded. Our DM decided only a Regenerate spell would restore his eyesight, but I was thinking maybe Lesser Restoration might do it. After all, it removes a condition, and Blindness is one. Also, Cure Blindness was only 3rd level in prior editions, so Lesser Restoration is more on par with that level. But the DM decided Lesser Restoration would not work on this blindness since the character actually lost his eyes (not just his sight).

2. Now, since Regenerate is 7th level, which we didn't have access to. Our druid offered to use Reincarnate to create a new body for the blinded character. The new form is created, so it stands to reason that the new body would have its eyes. The blinded character killed himself (yeah, drastic, I know...) and was reincarnated from a human to a high elf.

3. This prompted another player whose character lost his arm (he was a TWF fighter/rogue) to do the same, regaining his arm (now her arm LOL!), and becoming a drow elf from a half-orc.

Of course, having a character kill themselves to gain a new body is pretty extreme, so I am curious on what people think about it all.

As the DM, I'd probably have somewhere that has a scroll of regenerate. Alternatively, some weird magic item--like, a drow had a set of eyeballs that were enchanted by an illithid that allowed them to function as eyeballs for anyone that wears them but they're horrible wiggling things rather than eyes--that I'd put nearby, somewhere else in the dungeon or area, where they can be found. My players would trust me enough that there'd be some way near that might be able to help.

I'd probably be a little miffed about the suicide thing, but also probably wouldn't stop them. I might choose a specific race, depending on the characters; like, if you're a cleric and you kill yourself to reincarnate, your god decides to punish you by putting you in a totally inappropriate race. But I doubt it. Depends on my mood that day, I guess.