Is RAISE DEAD (etc.) too readily available in most D&D campaigns?

[Valesin]

IMO, raise dead is absolutely too available and the spell should be removed from the spell list completely. Raising a dead companion should be a legendary quest, accomplished only once in any character's lifetime. Also, it should only be available by using major artifacts or by dealing with greater powers. I actually feel the same way about wish, miracle and many similar spells.

Amen brother! (Sister? Not readily apparent from username)

I often allow PCs to come back from the dead, but it is never as easy as having a 7th level cleric cast some spell. Back from the dead at 7th level? 1/3 of the way through standard play? Come on, death should be a big deal, no a throw away condition like blindness or fatigue.

 

[shilsen]

Meaning if you value role-playing there should be no raise dead right? So it's more like real life drama? If it's story, then it's there because of DM mistakes (aka a take-back). If it's "gaming" then it really doesn't matter.

Thoughts?

jh

Not necessarily. I value role-playing and story, so raising from the dead is incredibly rare in my game (which also fits the feel of the Eberron setting, which I use). Combat is also very rough in my game and PCs are dropped to -10 and below fairly often. I deal with that by allowing PCs to survive a killing effect/blow by using action pts, so there's effectively no death for PCs.

 

[Korgoth]

By the rules, it is too readily available. Thus I said "Yes".

It makes some classic adventure or campaign ideas problematic: Good King Bon has been assassinated by a backstabbing spy from Doobaddia. The Kingdom falls into turmoil! No wait, it doesn't. Poof, he's resurrected. No adventure here.

Why are there even tombs of great kings in the first place? I guess they all died of old age.

My fix: I allow the spells, but I require that there be a quest to find the soul of the departed in the afterworld. If the soul can be retrieved (and wants to go willingly) then the spell can be cast with all the usual conditions.

 

[Psion]

It makes some classic adventure or campaign ideas problematic: Good King Bon has been assassinated by a backstabbing spy from Doobaddia. The Kingdom falls into turmoil! No wait, it doesn't. Poof, he's resurrected. No adventure here.

Why are there even tombs of great kings in the first place? I guess they all died of old age.

Well, I did say yes, but this justification isn't why. I'm more concerned about actual play issues.

There are already two rules in here that makes this justification ineffective.
1) Raise dead is good for nothing if you die of old age.
2) Raise dead requires the target to be willing. If you are a king with divine mandate living in the fields of Elysium, then not much chance you will return to the mortal coil unless you have some PC-like motivation. IMC, most good NPCs say no to being restored to life.

As for the assassination plot being foiled... well, I think that DMs who take enough care to understand the consistency of their campaign will not find this a problem. Dragaera was already mentioned as an example... weapons evolve in Dragaera that foil all forms of like restoration. Death effects in D&D foil the simplest and most accessible forms of restoring life.

 

[CharlesDM]

I voted no, in general. However, I view the prevalence and trappings in the use of raise dead to be an important element of campaign building.

For example, in a homebrew campaign I previously played in, raise dead was as available as in the rules as written, but there was a terrible stigma associated with having been raised. Some felt such a person was in defiance of the gods and nature, while others suspected the character was a demon or devil masquerading as a formerly respected hero.

This creates roleplaying opportunities, whether one's character dies or not. It's also an advantage for those already hated or ostracized, e.g. the bad guys, so it's not for every campaign.

 

[Mercule]

Amen brother! (Sister? Not readily apparent from username)

I often allow PCs to come back from the dead, but it is never as easy as having a 7th level cleric cast some spell. Back from the dead at 7th level? 1/3 of the way through standard play? Come on, death should be a big deal, no a throw away condition like blindness or fatigue.

Agreed.

 

[dagger]

I am voting no...not because I think its to readily available, but because in our games no one wants to do it.

For the most part they hate the idea of losing a level. So the groups either try to come up with the money for a True Rez, or they tend to roll up new characters.

I personally would rather have Reincarnate than Raise Dead....

 

[Sound of Azure]

Available, yes. Easily, definitely not.

I allow PCs to use 1 action point/10 hp below zero to stabilise at -9 hp and survive an attack that would kill them otherwise, so deaths aren't as common as in a contemporary game, perhaps.

 

[Quasqueton]

I wonder: Those who want coming back from the dead to be rare/extremely difficult -- is character death equally rare? Is this because your Players are especially good at staying alive, very lucky, or does the DM "cheat" either by fudging directly or by giving the PCs some kind of "get out of death" gimmick (luck/action points)?

I can't imagine a game being fun if death is as common as the "default" D&D game, but raising as rarer/more difficult than the "default" D&D game.

In my experience, character death is not rare (peg it at "uncommon" , so I like to have ways back from death to be available.

Quasqueton

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Depends on the setting.

I agree I'd even go as far as depends on the GM and how he runs his table.

For instance, in my games I let people know that it's possible to be raised from the dead but finding someone who would be willing to do it even for the cash is REALLY REALLY difficult at lower levels. I mean you have to be at least a 9th level cleric to cast that spell and in my games that's one of those spells that your deity has to actually approve of you casting so a NG cleric casting it on a CN rouge better have a really good reason for wanting to do so.