Ressurection: Limit of Level...or Limit of 5?

[Stalker0]

Resurrection says it has a limit equal to your level of castings (so 7 at the minimum level you get the spell).

However, at 5 castings you die, and cannot be resurrected. So what is the point of the level limit on castings?

 

[Nikosandros]

The point is that, once you cast it, you must gain a new level before casting it again.

 

[RangerWickett]

Yeah, "once per level" here is the same as "once per year." I get to throw a birthday party once per year. That doesn't mean I can save up my birthdays by not having parties for a while, and then have multiples in the same 365 period.

Though that would be awesome.

 

[GX.Sigma]

So you have to level up between castings, and you can only cast it five times in your lifetime? That's a pretty interesting way of limiting it.

 

[Stalker0]

Ok it makes sense now. So technically you can only cast res 4 times in your career (at 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th). Which is why the 5th casting mentions some special object, GM fiat, etc.

 

[MerricB]

So you have to level up between castings, and you can only cast it five times in your lifetime? That's a pretty interesting way of limiting it.

It gets even more interesting: each time you cast it, it's more difficult and the side-effects are more severe.

It's a brilliant working of the spell.

 

[Blue]

It gets even more interesting: each time you cast it, it's more difficult and the side-effects are more severe.

It's a brilliant working of the spell.

To quote the book: and that's the GOOD news. If the recipient has had more resurrections then you've cast it, there's a 50% chance you use their number. So even if it's your first time, if it's your target's fourth time there'sa 50/50 chance you die. So no bringing in a new cleric for more get-out-of-jail-free castings.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

If I understand the spell correctly, there is no upper limit on the number of times a particular character can be resurrected. But going that route is likely to cause horrific attrition on the population of high level clerics.

So methinks powerful clerics need to hide their skill level. A deceased person with sufficiently loyal and resourceful and ruthless acquaintances could easily be tempted to kidnap a cleric, and force the attempt at the point of a poisoned crossbow.

 

[Nikosandros]

If I understand the spell correctly, there is no upper limit on the number of times a particular character can be resurrected.

Not really. There is this snippet at the end of the spell:

The bad news is that if the target of your resurrection spell has been resurrected more times than you have cast the spell, there is a nasty 50% chance that the experience will play out using their higher number of resurrections instead of the number of times you have cast the spell.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Exactly. So how many times the target has been resurrected in the past has only a 50% chance of mattering. Read it carefully.

It may not be practical to keep at it, say, 9 times, but the rules allow the possibility.