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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deadguy" data-source="post: 1539416" data-attributes="member: 2480">I've always liked playing with the consequences of raise dead type magic in D&D campaigns I have run. In my earlier campaigns I assumed that characters of a level to cast these spells were so rare that the question of what happens had to be dealt with uniquely each time it cropped up. Even PC clerics were reluctant to use this magic on anyone, fellow PCs included!With the advent of 3E I had to reconsider things - these characters are rather more common so the consequences are different. In my first 3E campaign, the Shattered World, I decided to put certain limitations on the magics, both mechanical and social. Firstly, bringing someone back from the dead can go wrong, imbuing the body with either the wrong spirit, or with something altogether darker and more dangerous. Additionally the breach that the spell creates in the Astral Plane draws other entities from the Realms of the Dead. It isn't impossible to be raised then killed again as a powerful undead attacks the clerical party! Consequently, people regard those brought back from the dead with some suspicion; indeed some lands simply treat a rasied person as still dead, with loss of rights and possessions as though they had never been brought back. Others permit the person to continue but as a new individual; assets pass as though they were dead, contracts lapse, and marriages are dissolved. Mechanically, my reworked cleric (the theurge), being more philosophical in bent, is more inclined to multiclass, thus delaying access to these spells. So far, raise dead hasn't been an issue, and I suspect that all the PCs would be reluctant to seek resurrection magics for a fallen comrade.My newest camapign is going to be by the book by and large, so I have to accept that there are a fair few clerics capable of raising the dead in the cities and metropolises. Most cultures will regard resurrection as a natural thing, something else that the wealthy can afford. Will that lead to resentment? Of course. But so too does a full belly and a life of idleness for the rich, so it isn't going to add many new social factors. On the specific point of assassins, the best guilds always include the services of a cleric or wizard who can bring them the aid of a barghest, which certainly slows down the resurrection process. And bodies can be tucked into bags of holding and kept in extra-dimensional spaces to make the cleric's life harder. But yes, assassination isn't necessarily a 'once and forever' action; often the intent is simply to cause disruption at a critical time in your enemy's activities. I intend to include a high level NPC adviser to an important kingdom who is known as Many-Born since he's been killed and brought back so often.Oh and PCat:I like the idea of a statue of limtations! Perhaps some sort of advanced golem that kills people who should no longer be alive? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />Actually, that idea has some potential... flicks through MM looking at the Inevitables...</blockquote>

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