Murder in D&D...

[Rechan]

Isn't sending him to his desired afterlife rather a favor than a crime?

1) Just because the inevitable destination is nice, they may not be chomping at the bit to go. After all, assuming that not every single religion says Suicide is BAD and you are PUNISHED for it, why aren't people killing themselves in droves just so they can go to a nice afterlife?

2) Just because the individual is getting to go, the people they leave behind are impacted. You kill a parent, their children grow up orphans. You kill a priest, the people he could have saved are now lost. You still Impact the World.

3) Their afterlife may very well be merit-based. Meaning, the longer they lived/the more "Works" they did in the name of their god, the better the afterlife is for them.

 

[jmucchiello]

But again, I don't think it's the idea of whether or not it can be afforded. It's just the idea that it's possible. I think that concept would realy have an effect on how people see death, and the impact death has on people.

You also bring up another point. Since the very wealthy can afford ressurections, does that make them trivialize killing more?

Oh I killed your son? Ooops. Well just go have him raised. Why are you looking at me like that?

I think the difference of opinion here is degrees. Sure some people would look at death differently. But I don't think that would bubble down to the average farmer at all. Life on the farms, in the low-class parts of town would be totally unaffected by resurrection. Heck, it would probably be considered myth. "The king is dead, long live the king" might have new meaning. But for the average person, death is death.

The rich could have the exact attitude you wrote. "Why are you looking at me like that?" is awesome.

Unless raise dead is a cantrip, I cannot imagine the world where old age and complete mutilation are the only permanent deaths.