Well, as we all know and as I'm sure most of us have read before, certain spells in D&D can really change things. This can be good or this can be bad. Things like Teleportation, Invisibility and Resurrection can truly make some elements of the game not as epic.
With that, I just recenelty brought this down upon the heads of my players. I was looking for some thoughts on it.
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Ok, first and foremost. The spells Raise Dead, Resurrection, and True Resurrection are no longer the way they read in the Players Handbook.
What does that mean?
Raise Dead is now a spell specific for creating undead. When you raise dead they are converted to a basic undead type (zombie for example) and the spell is available one spell level sooner. For people want to dabble in the arts of Necromancy, this is a great change.
Resurrection can still be learned and used. However, it can be learned one spell level sooner then before and it is no longer a permanent effect. Instead, when a Cleric uses Resurrection he brings the dead back to life for 1d6 days + the level of the caster. The previously dead person now has those number of days to reach one of the reviving temples and ask the gods to make this spell permament. Along with that change, this spell carries no GP or XP cost.
True Resurrection is gone as a learnable spell. Instead, True Resurrection can be gained as a quest by the gods or from a holy book that teaches you the spell. This only difference between this quested/learned version is that it requires no GP or XP cost.
Ok, now my high level cleric sucks. Thanks.
Well, not exactly. You can cast these spells a lot easier then before as they don't carry with them such extreme costs and the spells can be learned one spell level sooner. Also, since Clerics are the only class that can use Resurrection, I have worked out an additional benefit for them. Clerics and only clerics, are now able to cast their healing spells at a range. (I'll give these ranges on or before our next session.)
Ok, so why the change? What is wrong with the way it works now?
First off, I hate things costing XP. I think it was an easy fix to certain complex situations (see Item Creation). This changes all these spells so no XP is required in the casting of these spells.
Second, I have always and I mean ALWAYS hated the way "life" and "death" are handled in D&D. Death is never considered an extreme thing. At certain levels people have so much money that they simply drag their fallen party members to Father McDouchebag, the towns local priest and pay the rez cost. That isn't very epic and the concept of death being a bad thing is quickly lost.
Death SHOULD be a bad thing. I know everyone is looking for something easy, but this isn't an MMORPG, this is an outlet for story-telling. Part of great stories are the cost associated with death. Look at any of the great movies out there and you'll know what I mean. How much would have been lost had Aragorn walked up to Boromir and said "Don't worry, we'll drag you along until we get to Father McDouchebags Resurrection Factory."
Ok, now that I'm done ranting about that, let me breakdown the negative and positive changes to try and give a bit of perspective on all this.
Negatives:
Taking away the ability for Clerics to immediately bring someone back to full life.
Taking away the random Father McDouchebags of the world that can bring people back for the right price.
Temples aren’t immediately known by all (as of right now).
Positives:
Clerics can heal at range.
Raise Dead is given one spell level sooner then before and acts as a much easier spell in the creation of undead (great for necromancers).
Resurrection is available one spell level sooner but with a change to make it temporary.
Resurrection cost no GP or XP.
There is no GP or XP cost associated to bringing someone back via a Reviving Temple.
Once you find the temples you will always know where they are.
Clerics can feel truly god like by getting True Resurrection and being one of very few who ... like the gods ... can bring people back to life.
----
One part that isn't completely explained here is that in the world we are playing in there are four Reviving Temples where the gods can bring people back. They can simply say yes and rez or they can so no, OR they can say yes, but complete this quest first. The temples themselves aren't common knowledge, but with a bit of time involved in determing there location they can be found.
So I'd like to hear from fellow DMs and Players on this method.
With that, I just recenelty brought this down upon the heads of my players. I was looking for some thoughts on it.
---
Ok, first and foremost. The spells Raise Dead, Resurrection, and True Resurrection are no longer the way they read in the Players Handbook.
What does that mean?
Raise Dead is now a spell specific for creating undead. When you raise dead they are converted to a basic undead type (zombie for example) and the spell is available one spell level sooner. For people want to dabble in the arts of Necromancy, this is a great change.
Resurrection can still be learned and used. However, it can be learned one spell level sooner then before and it is no longer a permanent effect. Instead, when a Cleric uses Resurrection he brings the dead back to life for 1d6 days + the level of the caster. The previously dead person now has those number of days to reach one of the reviving temples and ask the gods to make this spell permament. Along with that change, this spell carries no GP or XP cost.
True Resurrection is gone as a learnable spell. Instead, True Resurrection can be gained as a quest by the gods or from a holy book that teaches you the spell. This only difference between this quested/learned version is that it requires no GP or XP cost.
Ok, now my high level cleric sucks. Thanks.
Well, not exactly. You can cast these spells a lot easier then before as they don't carry with them such extreme costs and the spells can be learned one spell level sooner. Also, since Clerics are the only class that can use Resurrection, I have worked out an additional benefit for them. Clerics and only clerics, are now able to cast their healing spells at a range. (I'll give these ranges on or before our next session.)
Ok, so why the change? What is wrong with the way it works now?
First off, I hate things costing XP. I think it was an easy fix to certain complex situations (see Item Creation). This changes all these spells so no XP is required in the casting of these spells.
Second, I have always and I mean ALWAYS hated the way "life" and "death" are handled in D&D. Death is never considered an extreme thing. At certain levels people have so much money that they simply drag their fallen party members to Father McDouchebag, the towns local priest and pay the rez cost. That isn't very epic and the concept of death being a bad thing is quickly lost.
Death SHOULD be a bad thing. I know everyone is looking for something easy, but this isn't an MMORPG, this is an outlet for story-telling. Part of great stories are the cost associated with death. Look at any of the great movies out there and you'll know what I mean. How much would have been lost had Aragorn walked up to Boromir and said "Don't worry, we'll drag you along until we get to Father McDouchebags Resurrection Factory."
Ok, now that I'm done ranting about that, let me breakdown the negative and positive changes to try and give a bit of perspective on all this.
Negatives:
Taking away the ability for Clerics to immediately bring someone back to full life.
Taking away the random Father McDouchebags of the world that can bring people back for the right price.
Temples aren’t immediately known by all (as of right now).
Positives:
Clerics can heal at range.
Raise Dead is given one spell level sooner then before and acts as a much easier spell in the creation of undead (great for necromancers).
Resurrection is available one spell level sooner but with a change to make it temporary.
Resurrection cost no GP or XP.
There is no GP or XP cost associated to bringing someone back via a Reviving Temple.
Once you find the temples you will always know where they are.
Clerics can feel truly god like by getting True Resurrection and being one of very few who ... like the gods ... can bring people back to life.
----
One part that isn't completely explained here is that in the world we are playing in there are four Reviving Temples where the gods can bring people back. They can simply say yes and rez or they can so no, OR they can say yes, but complete this quest first. The temples themselves aren't common knowledge, but with a bit of time involved in determing there location they can be found.
So I'd like to hear from fellow DMs and Players on this method.
