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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 5038228" data-attributes="member: 32740">There shouldn't be a roll in the first place, IMO.  Resurrection exists in the game PURELY for meta-game reasons.  Whoever first introduced it, Gary, Dave, whoever didn't include it because they wanted NPC's to keep coming back from the dead - it exists in the game ONLY because it serves to keep PLAYER CHARACTERS coming back. Now, if you accept that that is its purpose then it's stupid to make that an arbitrary roll.  You either want to allow players to bring their dead characters to life or you don't.  Obviously it shouldn't be without cost or penalties of some kind, but even those shouldn't be too onerous because again - you either want to allow players more than one shot with unfortunate characters or don't. It's probably safe to say that a LOT of 1E games had house rules to circumvent the consequences of failing the resurrection roll.  Why would they do that?  They do it because having to make the roll defeats the purpose of allowing characters to be raised AT ALL.  Still, removing the survival roll entirely is also not without unintended, undesireable consequences. Even under strict 1E rules, players of fighters (who always have high Cons for logical reasons when players are allowed to place scores as desired) would often display a too-cavalier attitude towards death.  When the BTB strictures were eased with house rules then that attitude become more frequent.  In 3E when it was removed entirely I personally found it to be a significant, chronic problem.  Also, when every NPC uses resurrection as frequently and freely as PC's then the logic surrounding simple life and death crumbles and the entire game world doesn't make sense. First, NPC's should EXTREMELY rarely, if EVER, return from the dead.  Death = paradise, and the only people who anybody typically hears about returning from the dead would be... someone with an unfulfilled destiny.  Well the DM ALWAYS has control over NPC's in that regard.  With the rarest of exceptions dead NPC's STAY DEAD.  The choice of bringing a PLAYER character back from the dead is simply a meta-game choice for the player - do I want to run this character more or just roll up a new one? Yet clearly, characters being raised over and over and OVER (for ANY reason) quickly begins to destroy verisimilitude and a proper roleplaying attitude regarding a characters own death.  Now the number of times that a DM cares to allow a PC to be raised should be up to the DM but it should be an IDENTICAL limit for all PC's given that it IS supposed to be a meta-game mechanic.  I'd suggest that your 3rd resurrection by any means - including Wish - is your LAST.  There has to be fear of death and even for a players favorite PC's a FINALITY to death.  Exceeding that limit should be up to a DM and for meta-game reasons - NOT up to the arbitrary results of the dice and not favoring one class of character or higher ability score over another.</blockquote>

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