Raise Dead, Resurrection, Reincarnate - Costs?

[Old Fezziwig]

Hi. One of the PCs in my game died last session. The other players have decided to bring him back. Fair enough. I'd really rather it not be cheap and easy.

As for background, it's an FR game and the deceased PC worships Deneir. Currently, the party's in Archenbridge, which only has temples of Chauntea, Lathander, and Tempus (any other faiths present, if any—I haven't decided—don't, IMC, have clergy of a high enough level to raise dead). The dead PC has about 1200 gp to his name. I also have a mid level druid about that the PCs may be able to contact if they ask the right questions of their Harper handlers. The way I'm planning it at the moment, things look like this:

Tempus — will not raise the PC at all because the PC is not (1) a worshipper of Tempus, (2) does not worship an allied god, and (3) is not all that great a warrior. Plus, if the PC were alive, he wouldn't even be allowed into the Shrine of Tempus at Swordpoint more than likely (running with the info in Volo's Guide to the Dalelands).

Chauntea — will raise, but will charge at least 1800 gp (9th level caster * 5th level spell * 4). Resurrection is not available.

Lathander — will raise, but will charge at least 1350 gp (9th level caster * 5th level spell * 3). Resurrection is not available.

Druid — will reincarnate for 560 gp (7th level caster * 4th level spell * 2).

All three of the last temples will also ask for the party (or at least the raised PC) to perform some service for them (small side quest or something or other). Still the monetary cost seems low for something that is, essentially, a miracle of sorts. Anyhow, my questions come down to the following—

How much does it cost PCs to have people raised in your campaign?

Do you even allow interfaith resurrection?

What types of quests would you tag onto a resurrection request (particularly an interfaith resurrection)?

Are there any side effects to resurrection aside from the level loss (for example, I was considering having the raised PC exhibit some sort of cosmetic change based on the faith that raised him—his hair would turn to a golden yellow if raised by the church of Lathander, for example)?

thanks,
tKL

 

[Capellan]

Depends on the campaign, really, and the general availability of (a) money and (b) magic.

In my current game (Company of the Random Encounter), I'd start with [caster level x spell level x 10] as a base cost, then apply a modifier based on the cause of death, the person that's being asked to perform the spell, and the reputation of the party in general and the PC in particular. If the circumstances were good enough, this cost might be waived completely. If they were bad enough, it might be x10 or x15 of the base price.

There would probably be a request for a small task on top of this, and the party would also need to pay the 500 gp material cost of the spell.

 

[Felon]

Issues concerning resurrection are one of the reasons I'm quite anxious for Arcana Unearthed to hit the shelves.

The only house rule that I currently use is that a person must have their 500gp diamond used in the raising spells on his body at the time of death. This is not intended to obstruct the raising of PC's, it's just so that the PC's don't take the lives of innocents for granted (e.g. taking their time rescuing kidnapped children, or allowing hostages to be executed).

I suspect I may consider using Urban Arcana's incantation system at some point, requiring the raising of the dead to be a major undertaking in terms of research, expense, and potential baclash from failing to perform the incantation properly.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Depends on the campaign, really, and the general availability of (a) money and (b) magic.

In my current game (Company of the Random Encounter), I'd start with [caster level x spell level x 10] as a base cost, then apply a modifier based on the cause of death, the person that's being asked to perform the spell, and the reputation of the party in general and the PC in particular. If the circumstances were good enough, this cost might be waived completely. If they were bad enough, it might be x10 or x15 of the base price.

There would probably be a request for a small task on top of this, and the party would also need to pay the 500 gp material cost of the spell.

Good points. I figured the availability of magic won't be an issue, at least not in the FR and not in the largest city in the Dalelands. If we were talking Dagger Falls, then availability of resurrection magic would be an issue. As for money, I think your formula there could work for me. I'll crunch the numbers a bit (looks like somewhere around 4500 gp for raise, 2800 for reincarnate base at minimum caster levels before costs). I'm kind of at the point where I don't want to penalize the party for doing the "right thing." I had forgotten that there're separate costs for casting and materials. Hmm.

thanks, Capellan.

best,
tKL

 

[Old Fezziwig]

The only house rule that I currently use is that a person must have their 500gp diamond used in the raising spells on his body at the time of death. This is not intended to obstruct the raising of PC's, it's just so that the PC's don't take the lives of innocents for granted (e.g. taking their time rescuing kidnapped children, or allowing hostages to be executed).

Hi, Felon. I agree with this—and I really like the idea that they have to have the 500 gp diamond on their body at the time of death—but I'm not running the show entirely in this campaign (three co-DMs rotating adventures), so it's not up to me alone. Luckily, I think I can count on the inherent good nature of the PCs to not exploit the lives of the innocent (no baby-shields for Greenwood Traders ). I think I will, however, borrow this house rule for my homebrew game.

best,
tKL

 

[Old Fezziwig]

*bump*

 

[Technik4]

Seems to vary game to game. A few options I've used in one way or another:

1) The quest. The church is fully willing to raise dead a foolhardy adventurer, as long as the next thing on said adventurer (and his group's) list is the church's quest. Depending on relative allegiance to the church, cost may be waived or halved.

2) By the book. 9th level caster casting a 5th level spell is 450 gp. Add the 500 gp diamond, and you have 950 gp. Granted this is a low cost, but to a low level party I would not do anything harsher. Repeat risers are frowned upon however, I would state that each adventuring group can get that price only once per town (or faith). After all, dying a lot can be a portent of its own. In FR, I would require at least one of the party members be within one step of the church in question, this would be the go-between.

3) Change of Faith. Some churches actively recruit for their faith. Some may do it out of a feel for obligation (if the tenets of the faith are likely to rebuke the adventurer's former "livin' on the edge style") or more nefarious faiths as a way to corrupt good individuals (which may not be apparant at first...). Such a faith would commune with the dead at no charge to speak with the dead PC. If they were willing, the raising is free (so to speak).

Some combination of the preceding has also happened. A PC once got raised by lathander and promptly changed faiths. Later his hand was cut off and we rushed him back to the church, who was happy to heal him (for the usual price) because he was a member of the faith.

I wouldn't deviate too far from the basic formula presented in the PHB. The phb also states that any spell costing more than 3,000 would be hard to come by, which implies raise dead certainly should not be. Raise dead, of course, has its own cost which is enough incentive for most to try and stay alive, the -1 level loss.

Technik

 

[hellbender]

Although by now you may have already addressed this issue, this is what I do in my campaign:

Resurrection is a summoning spell that conjures an arbitrator that governs the flow of souls to the afterlife. This arbitrator race is rather cold an not all that willing to return souls to the Prime. This causes the PCs to work much harder to get other party members brought back, this also discourages 'disposable heroes' mentality.


hellbender

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Originally posted by Technik
Change of Faith. Some churches actively recruit for their faith. Some may do it out of a feel for obligation (if the tenets of the faith are likely to rebuke the adventurer's former "livin' on the edge style") or more nefarious faiths as a way to corrupt good individuals (which may not be apparant at first...). Such a faith would commune with the dead at no charge to speak with the dead PC. If they were willing, the raising is free (so to speak).

I actually used this in game, last night. One of the other PCs is a Tempus-worshipping barbarian, so the party went over to the Shrine of Swords in Archenbridge. The barbarian managed to talk the attending priest into at least considering raising the other PC. They were pretty annoyed when the priest cast speak with dead to see if the dead PC would be willing to convert to the worship of Tempus. They ended up raising the bard at the Temple of Lathander.

Originally posted by Technik
I wouldn't deviate too far from the basic formula presented in the PHB. The phb also states that any spell costing more than 3,000 would be hard to come by, which implies raise dead certainly should not be. Raise dead, of course, has its own cost which is enough incentive for most to try and stay alive, the -1 level loss.

I ended up charging 2000 gp, plus a small service due at some point in the future. The bard had 1200 alone, so the party didn't have to fork out much, but the raised PC is completely broke. Again, the barbarian managed to talk the Lathanderians down from a rather high price.

Originally posted by hellbender
Resurrection is a summoning spell that conjures an arbitrator that governs the flow of souls to the afterlife. This arbitrator race is rather cold an not all that willing to return souls to the Prime. This causes the PCs to work much harder to get other party members brought back, this also discourages 'disposable heroes' mentality.

I like this a lot. It's a really neat idea.

Best,
tKL