Increased cost for Raise Dead at higher levels

[Jürgen Hubert]

As PCs advance in tier, the Raise Dead ritual becomes more expensive - 500 gp for the heroic tier, 5,000 gp for the paragon tier, and 50,000 gp for the epic tier.

The meta game reason is, of course, that characters at higher levels become rich enough that the cost of the ritual would become negligible if it stayed constant. But I want to develop an in-game justification for the increased prices.

So, what kinds of rationales can you come up with for these increased prices?

 

[Jack99]

The more powerful the soul, the more residuum is needed to power the ritual that draws it back from the Shadowfell.

 

[hafrogman]

Gathering the souls of dead heroes is the way that gods and demons gain power. Each wishes to acquire as many powerful souls as they can so as to become more powerful than their rivals. But weak souls (heroic-tierl) have little power, and many must be gathered to equal the power of a single truly heroic soul (paragon or epic).

The more powerful a soul in question is, the more the being that controls it will try and hold onto that soul. A weak soul is easy to remove, true, their loyalties may shift, and control may be lost. . . but there is also the chance that they will become a more powerful, famous hero, granting far more power when they eventually die once more. But an already epic soul? Why risk losing it by letting it return?

Still, no soul can be truly held from returning, if it so desires. The cost of the components represents the increased amount of energy that must be expended to prise the soul from the grasp of the being that controls it.

 

[S'mon]

The God of the Dead charges according to Tier.

 

[FireLance]

House-rule it a bit and it makes enough in-game sense for me.

Regardless of tier, your first Raise Dead costs 500 gp. Your second costs 5,000 gp. Your third and subsequent Raise Deads cost 50,000 gp. This is because the more you die, the harder it is to call you back (to a point).

 

[phloog]

This quite obviously could be tied to the Toltec concept of the (translated from the Nahuatl language) 'Soul Hole'.

As the warrior defeats other enemies, he gains a bit of power, and his soul becomes heavy with the trophies of his prey, which are draped over him as one might drape the skins of the leopard.

When a warrior falls in combat, he literally falls into the earth, and the depth of his fall is impacted by this weight, in the same way that a large stone will cause a deeper depression.

The advanced cost of raising from the dead could be explained as being due to the requirement of more, or a larger, cuacuaplatchtilocatl, or (again translated roughly from Nahuatl) "Spiritual Big Friggin Shovel".

The Toltec also had a number of beliefs about the presence of the tlachotuacatlimabob, which were small green lions that smelled of fried corn, but I can't see how that would impact this particular discussion.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

This quite obviously could be tied to the Toltec concept of the (translated from the Nahuatl language) 'Soul Hole'.

As the warrior defeats other enemies, he gains a bit of power, and his soul becomes heavy with the trophies of his prey, which are draped over him as one might drape the skins of the leopard.

When a warrior falls in combat, he literally falls into the earth, and the depth of his fall is impacted by this weight, in the same way that a large stone will cause a deeper depression.

The advanced cost of raising from the dead could be explained as being due to the requirement of more, or a larger, cuacuaplatchtilocatl, or (again translated roughly from Nahuatl) "Spiritual Big Friggin Shovel".

The Toltec also had a number of beliefs about the presence of the tlachotuacatlimabob, which were small green lions that smelled of fried corn, but I can't see how that would impact this particular discussion.

You must spread some Experience Points around before giving it to phloog again.

Dang!

Fascinating example. Mythology is... fascinating, varied, bizarre.

 

[Lacyon]

You must spread some Experience Points around before giving it to phloog again.

Gotcha covered.

 

[Thanee]

So, what kinds of rationales can you come up with for these increased prices?

None. Same as with the crazy magic item price increases.

It's purely a meta-reason.

Since you shall not have more, but you gain more, everything has to cost more.
This way you feel as if you earned more, while actually you didn't.

Bye
Thanee

 

[phloog]

None. Same as with the crazy magic item price increases.

It's purely a meta-reason.
snip
Thanee

There was a tiny bit of seriousness in my Toltec post, but in all seriousness I don't think it has to be all meta, and I don't think it has to be ONE reason. Perhaps like all economies, it is a complex system where it is often hard to explain WHY something costs what it does without knowing many, many factors:

- Churches do a LOT of charity work, and it doesn't take long to realize that Legendary Grubbins the Gonkerator can afford to pay huge bucks for the service - - yes, it seems like socialism, but it could happen this way. See it like a tax system, and high levels as the million dollar salary folks. Sort of religious "from each according to their ability"

- The weight of the soul idea - expressed seriously: What if the number of creatures you destroy, and their relative power, becomes a weight on your soul, and the raise dead must overcome this added weight. If you've only had three bar fights, quick and easy...if you've destroyed thousands of creatures, including Mighty Campulflip, it's tougher

- The opposing forces idea - mentioned above.

- The Game of the Gods concept - - the players and villains are like pawns in an elaborate game, the rules to which man has no access. But it is clear from what is required to raise higher level characters that one of the rules is that for God XYZ to get his rook back from the discard bin, it must cost more than to retrieve a pawn.

Frankly, the first one (economics) seems like it would be possible with no goofiness.

There are a lot of things in 4e that I think are difficult to not leave ambiguous and meta, but I don't think this is one of them