Resurrection of a Deva

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

Dear all,

I'm currently palying a campaign which has as a main theme the discovery of what happened to the gods, who apparently left the world to its misery.

One day I'll post something about this to share with those like me who like 4e but are mising some older, more unbalanced, more magical things what I hope is an interesting way to work in the campaign the recovery of such lost magic.

One of the main characters is a deva paladin, previously a human reskinned, who lived in the past and fought by the gods in their last battle.

Now, this matches very well with the new devas, which I like a lot.

BUT

what happens if the dva dies? In my campaign, I have an idea there, but what I'm interested in is hearing what's the "correct" way to handle devas resurrection.

I like that they pushed the line by introducing a race that actually can't truly die, but unless I misinterpreted something the fluff states that when a deva dies he is instantly reborn somewhere else, someone else.

How could you resurrect such a character with the resurrection rituals?

Also: what happens to the body?

 

[Dice4Hire]

There is nothing I see in the PHBII that talks about them being instantly reincarnated a the very moment of death.

I would treat it as a real death, with a rotting corpse and all the usual detrius left behind. After a period of time (at least a week, or even years) the Deva is reborn in some location as it says in the book, probably with normal clothing and the like, but at first level and with no real equipment.

That lag time would give time for them to be brought back with full knowledge and powers.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well in the campaign setting I am using the race I am using based on the Deva have a more possession-oriented aspect to their resurrection.

They possess others, usually the process of this possession takes various amounts of time. During this period the person suffers wanderlust leaving their past life behind and are usually drawn to spirit-ridden lands where the possession can become complete.

The Deva's personality is a combination of the past lives/personality and the new personality of the one he possessed. So a Deva will never have one personality for his whole resurrecting existence.

As for resurrection, it essentially draws the possessing spirit of the Deva out of the body and back into its old body. This usually is somewhat traumatic as some memories of the new body is left. The person being possessed leaves his/her wanderlust but has lingering memories as well but of the Deva.

As for the body, well if it doesn't become resurrected then it rots per normal. Since it is a normal body then.

Now obviously this isn't the "official" Deva, but it is how I am running them.

 

[HardcoreDandDGirl]

At my local table we joked about Dr Who… and time lords in general.

 

[thundershot]

Oh, we SO want to go Doctor Who the Devas...

The questions came up for us as well, when reading it:

When do they resurrect?

Do they look different? (I know ours won't)

How much memory do they retain? (We'll probably go Doctor Who with this too)


The Devas are going to become the D&D answer for the Time Lords. At least in my campaign...

 

[Remathilis]

I'd assume the process isn't instantaneous; there's probably a few weeks/months between death and rebirth (to allow ressing).

I have a feeling we'll be seeing an "Ecology of" the Deva sooner rather than later.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of a Dr. Who styled Deva.

IMO, Beholders could make excellent stand-ins for Daleks.

 

[Bold or Stupid]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of a Dr. Who styled Deva.

IMO, Beholders could make excellent stand-ins for Daleks.

Don't be ridiculous beholders have no issues with stairs.

 

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

Thank you all, I guess timing is the right answer

I'll do something more spectacular, but by the rules I think that's the correct answer.

Xps both to Dice4hire and Fallen Seraph, the one for the answer, the second for the flavor and for being clearly one with personal experience with angels becoming mortals

 

[defendi]

In Japanese culture they believed it was 40 days. I'd go with that. I remember the warm, fuzzy feeling up epicness when my fellow samurai and I looked at a foe we knew would be instant death, then at each other. I said, "See you in 40 days, my friend." He nodded, and we charged. That was a great moment.

But beside the point. Still, it's why I'd go for 40 days.