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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5867416" data-attributes="member: 3192">Let's talk PC-Only rules. Things like -10 HP and you're dead (only PCs). Or XP = full XP gained (PCs-only, NPCs get 50%). -10 hp to die made the game a lot less lethal at lower levels. You may have only 1 hp, but even the nasty ogre really needed max damage to do 12 hp of damage to kill you outright. (Also, if you have 1 hp and are going toe-to-toe without heavy armor+shield against an ogre, you may want to rethink your plan).Remove the -10, a house rule so ubiquitous it's often assumed core, and the game really doesn't change that much. The thing is, -10 became far less useful, gradually, as PCs went up in level. 10 hp wasn't so much of a buffer anymore for the damage / rd they might face. So low level play would be more lethal, if you weren't careful, but not much else would change. Players who like 0 = dead want that lethality. They have enough confidence in their own playing ability that they believe they can avoid death. They just want the jaws of death to be "real" again.There have been a few long-lasting methods of character resurrection in D&D. If we're really going to umbrella all of them, then we need to account for our offering of all of them. Getting rid of the possibility of resulting poor choices, like that quoted above, is a good start.What happens to the world if we make resurrection PC-only? Part of the early resurrection rules was that they applied to all characters equally. PCs weren't a special case. If your death was never permanent, neither was your reviled enemy's.  If only PCs could ever be resurrected, then can they not bring NPCs back to life either? Presumably at some point an NPC would be important enough to be brought back from death. How are we going to ensure potential lethality for PC allies and cared for NPCs? No resurrection for them makes the game harder. No possibility of their loss takes away any reason for protecting them. I think this is why resurrection was rare and expensive, but possible. Resurrection worked like the opposite of the -10 rule. It was possible for every character, but it was very hard and rare for lower levels. If you've only played your PC a few hours or sessions, they are probably going to stay dead unless you have some very powerful/rich and kind PC allies. As any character rose in level however, being resurrected became easier. That 10th level Cleric wasn't unheard of, you could now afford him or her possibly, and at high levels that person could even be you. Permanent death was still possible though before natural death occurred. Death still meant paying a price in base Constitution (prior to modification) and coming back had a limit.I think death and resurrection should affect PCs & NPCs in the same manner, but that's a campaign decision. Whether we use my preference or any other, the books need to inform DMs what the consequences are to their game and setting. Perhaps no resurrection is possible for anyone? Perhaps no one ever dies? Both are interesting options, but the repercussions of big choices like these need to be addressed directly.</blockquote>

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