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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Auraword" data-source="post: 5867463" data-attributes="member: 6673843">One area that seems to be overlooked in the discussions about resurrection and raise dead is the effect of character death and these spells on actual table play.Although there may be a plethora of campaign, lore, and style based reasons for these spells to be restricted or to not exist there is also one very big reason to include them.  Character death, especially of the unexpected and random variety remains quite punitive to the actual player of the character and can lead to problems at the table in play.  The reason for the quick return of player characters to life and activity is largely game related: the player needs something to do at the table and a way to continue playing the game during the session - without bogging the flow of the action and story.  The ability to return a beloved character to life also can benefit the campaign's realism: players are going to be inclined to invest in a character and in that character's relationships and the consequences of his or her choices, creating a richer experience than if every character ends up feeling temporary or disposable.Compromises between investment and realism can include ideas like character trees, where a player has a small set of interrelated characters that can benefit from each other's development and step into each others shoes in adventures and stories.  Or placing resurrection completely in the domain of player / dungeon master discussion - an example of which could be seen in Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker novel: certain heroic souls who die before their time are allowed to (conditionally) return to life. I understand the position of those who think that there should be some sort of penalty for failure or foolishness in the world.  Perhaps it would be best in considering the role of resurrection to define death in not one but three ways.A death brought on by stupid decisions and foolish behavior might be one that cannot easily be undone, since fate and the Gods rarely favor idiots.  A death that is simply an accident of combat or the dice might be seen as a slip in the grand plans of destiny and be undone at only a moderate cost, so the player can keep on playing.  And a death at the dramatically appropriate moment might be seen as the completion of a given soul's lessons and the time for that soul to move on to the hands of the Gods, perhaps allowing the player to make a character to inherit the lost character's wealth and legacy.  It could thus be said that for the sake of realism that most souls are content to join the Gods at the end of their natural span, and that even Kings and the greatest men might still have completed their destiny in the world at the time of death and thus not qualify for a resurrection.Thanks for reading.  /love</blockquote>

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