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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mephistopheles" data-source="post: 4117700" data-attributes="member: 4460">My idea of a simulationist approach to things that don't exist in the real world is that you run a bit of a thought experiment to see how things from a real world perspective would change if it were possible. So with the examples of monarchs you start with the premise that monarchs can arrange to be brought back from the dead and ask things like i) What measures would monarchs take to have themselves brought back? ii) What measures would other parties take to prevent the monarch being brought back if it is in their interest for the monarch to stay dead? iii) What measures would need to be taken in trying to assassinate a monarch or usurp a throne when the aggressors know that the monarch likely has measures in place to be brought back?, iv) What kind of impact on laws and economics are caused by the reagents that are required to work the magic to bring someone back from the dead (eg/ diamonds become contraband for anyone but the nobility, and so on), v) How powerful are religious organizations when monarchs or nobles will rely on them to carry through with having them brought back from the dead?, etc. It's a fun but time consuming process if you're trying to do that for everything that would have this sort of impact.What Keith has said they've done in 4E with resurrection magic is neither for nor against a simulationist approach, it simply changes the thing being simulated. It is a nice short cut around having to explain how these things affect a world or why they don't, so it makes approaching it from a simulationist perspective much easier because it's more narrowly focused. I would prefer they keep this as an option in the DMG but the change does seem to be true to their stated goal of making things easier for DMs. I've played in a few games in previous editions where the DMs took this kind of approach to things like resurrection magic and it was fine in the context of their games.It will mean more work for religious organizations, though. They'll have to start up destiny insurance departments with priests who go around trying to raise everyone who dies to be sure there wasn't some unsettled destiny their deity had planned for them.</blockquote>

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