Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5006983" data-attributes="member: 8835">I've seen a lot of great ideas for alternate &quot;costs&quot; of ressurection.&nbsp; Many which make greta plot hooks or complications to the story.&nbsp; That's a good thing, as the point of the story is for the hero to overcome adversity.&nbsp; Unless it's one of those &quot;how the hero failed and died&quot; stories...I suspect some of us may have a cultural aversion to resurrection.&nbsp; There's a whole religion based on the idea that it was a pretty rare event.I suspect there's also a logistics problem.&nbsp; Our real world fiction is tied to the idea that death is mostly permanent, unless it advances the plot.&nbsp; In D&amp;D land, there's evidence that it may be &quot;much easier&quot; to get rezzed, so much so that it changes the balance of telling those kind of stories.&nbsp; If it is too easy, nobody who matters has to stay dead.I suspect that there's a split mentality that death is a punishment for the player's choices which is opposing the idea of plot immunity, where if the story is about the PC and he dies permanently, you've just hosed an entire plot line.&nbsp; Plus it's not any fun, and if the party had retreated 1 round earlier, you'd still be alive.Basically, what's the difference in dying and getting rezzed, versus nearly dying and getting healed up?There are plenty of GOOD games being run that have important storylines revolving around characters, such that if one died, the game can crash and not make sense anymore.&nbsp; That doesn't make them a bad game, it's a group preference and risk.There are plenty of GOOD games being run that every session is a test of the player's wits, where failure means end of character and starting over.&nbsp; The player is motivated to be very careful.The answer lies in the middle, not the extreme.&nbsp; I'd be inclined to house rule the RaiseDead/Ressurection spells so they have a consequence that is interesting.&nbsp; Perhaps the effect varies by deity, but one that makes it less likely for an NPC to be raised, thus putting &quot;normality&quot; back into the setting.The PCs being more resourceful, will still be inclined to use it, if they wish to pay the consequences.&nbsp; Basically make the consequence high enough that a PC might pay it, but an NPC (lacking player driven motivation) would probably not.&nbsp; In short, make it easy for the GM/Players to justify using it, or not using it as the story needs.My PCs have rarely died.&nbsp; One was half-orc barbarian and his henchman minotaur fighter.&nbsp; The PC had died, and the henchman (with the party) had traveled to the one cleric in the region who could rez him).&nbsp; They tracked him down to a pinned down position on the battlefield.&nbsp; Then the enemy attacked.&nbsp; My PC got raised in the same round that his henchman was killed while defending him.&nbsp; Then I made the cleric raise the henchman in the next round.&nbsp; Rules aside, that's a bit absurd.&nbsp; It lacked dignity.But on the other hand, I liked that pair.&nbsp; They kicked butt.&nbsp; Easy to drive.&nbsp; We killed a lot of stuff.&nbsp; I probably didn't have plot immunity, as the only destiny I had was the to hit a lot and do mega-damage.&nbsp; You'd be surprised how far you can rise in orc society with the skill of rolling criticals.&nbsp; It would have sucked to start over.&nbsp; I chose fun over verisimilitude.&nbsp; And if coming back had a price, I'd have paid it, because a PC can beat darn near anything the DM dishes out, even death.&nbsp; Or not.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Janx, post: 5006983, member: 8835"] I've seen a lot of great ideas for alternate "costs" of ressurection. Many which make greta plot hooks or complications to the story. That's a good thing, as the point of the story is for the hero to overcome adversity. Unless it's one of those "how the hero failed and died" stories... I suspect some of us may have a cultural aversion to resurrection. There's a whole religion based on the idea that it was a pretty rare event. I suspect there's also a logistics problem. Our real world fiction is tied to the idea that death is mostly permanent, unless it advances the plot. In D&D land, there's evidence that it may be "much easier" to get rezzed, so much so that it changes the balance of telling those kind of stories. If it is too easy, nobody who matters has to stay dead. I suspect that there's a split mentality that death is a punishment for the player's choices which is opposing the idea of plot immunity, where if the story is about the PC and he dies permanently, you've just hosed an entire plot line. Plus it's not any fun, and if the party had retreated 1 round earlier, you'd still be alive. Basically, what's the difference in dying and getting rezzed, versus nearly dying and getting healed up? There are plenty of GOOD games being run that have important storylines revolving around characters, such that if one died, the game can crash and not make sense anymore. That doesn't make them a bad game, it's a group preference and risk. There are plenty of GOOD games being run that every session is a test of the player's wits, where failure means end of character and starting over. The player is motivated to be very careful. The answer lies in the middle, not the extreme. I'd be inclined to house rule the RaiseDead/Ressurection spells so they have a consequence that is interesting. Perhaps the effect varies by deity, but one that makes it less likely for an NPC to be raised, thus putting "normality" back into the setting. The PCs being more resourceful, will still be inclined to use it, if they wish to pay the consequences. Basically make the consequence high enough that a PC might pay it, but an NPC (lacking player driven motivation) would probably not. In short, make it easy for the GM/Players to justify using it, or not using it as the story needs. My PCs have rarely died. One was half-orc barbarian and his henchman minotaur fighter. The PC had died, and the henchman (with the party) had traveled to the one cleric in the region who could rez him). They tracked him down to a pinned down position on the battlefield. Then the enemy attacked. My PC got raised in the same round that his henchman was killed while defending him. Then I made the cleric raise the henchman in the next round. Rules aside, that's a bit absurd. It lacked dignity. But on the other hand, I liked that pair. They kicked butt. Easy to drive. We killed a lot of stuff. I probably didn't have plot immunity, as the only destiny I had was the to hit a lot and do mega-damage. You'd be surprised how far you can rise in orc society with the skill of rolling criticals. It would have sucked to start over. I chose fun over verisimilitude. And if coming back had a price, I'd have paid it, because a PC can beat darn near anything the DM dishes out, even death. Or not. [/QUOTE]

Verification