Resurrection Quest (Advice Wanted)

[Allistar1801]

So in our last session my players were fighting an abominable yeti. They damaged it pretty badly, but they ended up needing to run away. In order to make sure they could one of the players decided that he would sacrifice himself for the rest of the party (He was also going to be gone for nearly 6 months so he fully went in on this). It was an epic moment and the rest of the party couldn't bring themselves to do it, but at the last moment while the yeti was charging he pulls out his spear and says "You're all idiots,but you're all men I am truly proud of. Now GET OUT OF HERE!" As they're running they hear the final trading of blows. The party returns some time later to find the corpse of their comrade underneath the body of the yeti. They each pledged to bring him back no matter what it takes and thus embarked on their first grand adventure.

Now the payers have a goal and I have a plot, but I'm not entirely sure how to go with this. For the level they're at I'm going to have to come up with a few McGuffins that they would have to gather for a
resurrection ritual and was wondering what a few fun ones could be.

I don't have much but I like the idea of having the tears of an angel and the bones of a storm giant be a part of the components.

 

[Arvok]

I don't see why the players would need to collect the components for the ritual. If they seek out a cleric of the same religion or alignment as the dead PC (sounds like LG to me, based on his dying actions), that cleric would be glad to resurrect the player. That doesn't mean he would do it for free, or that he would necessarily take the other players' word for what happened. He could very well require the players to go on a quest or two to prove they are worthy. Depending on the level of magic/power in your world, the PCs might have to undertake a minor quest just to get to a cleric who is high enough level to cast the necessary spells.

This opens up all kinds of possibilities. Maybe the nearest cleric is a dwarf and needs the PCs' party of mostly humans for a diplomatic mission (substitute whatever race combinations are appropriate for your campaign). Maybe he has just received a vision from his god about a group of chosen heroes needed to complete an important quest (this one really puts the spotlight on the PCs and makes them feel special).

This might be the opposite of what you were looking for: a whole slew of new things to consider instead of help

 

[Draegn]

How do your players like moral dilemmas? If one of the components needed is a heart of an unborn son. Do your players murder hobo expecting women to find a male to take his heart, or do they find an alternative such as grave robbing and taking from corpses of women who died during or before childbirth?

Calling on a death god to release their friend's soul could be very horrific.

 

[Allistar1801]

I don't see why the players would need to collect the components for the ritual. If they seek out a cleric of the same religion or alignment as the dead PC (sounds like LG to me, based on his dying actions), that cleric would be glad to resurrect the player. That doesn't mean he would do it for free, or that he would necessarily take the other players' word for what happened. He could very well require the players to go on a quest or two to prove they are worthy. Depending on the level of magic/power in your world, the PCs might have to undertake a minor quest just to get to a cleric who is high enough level to cast the necessary spells.

This opens up all kinds of possibilities. Maybe the nearest cleric is a dwarf and needs the PCs' party of mostly humans for a diplomatic mission (substitute whatever race combinations are appropriate for your campaign). Maybe he has just received a vision from his god about a group of chosen heroes needed to complete an important quest (this one really puts the spotlight on the PCs and makes them feel special).

This might be the opposite of what you were looking for: a whole slew of new things to consider instead of help

Well its about the time constraints of each of these spells. They are well past the minute for Revivify, and they're quite far away from civilization + quests take quite a bit of time so they would 100% be behind the 10 day limit of something like Reincarnation. I'm only semi familiar with the spells of 5e but are there more resurrection spells?

 

[Allistar1801]

How do your players like moral dilemmas? If one of the components needed is a heart of an unborn son. Do your players murder hobo expecting women to find a male to take his heart, or do they find an alternative such as grave robbing and taking from corpses of women who died during or before childbirth?

Calling on a death god to release their friend's soul could be very horrific.

Nice suggestion, I'll have to think about that!

One of the things that went through my mind while thinking of materials was a cartouche from an ancient pyramid of the tomb lords(basically a mummy kingdom that was covered by the shifting sands of the desert). They could take it to the spirit realm and the anubus of their religion for a "blessing" that may help in summoning his soul.

 

[Blue]

One thing to think about is the precedent you are setting - do you want / expect the characters to go through this when they reach high level and can cast these spells (assuming a default world).

That said, I love the mythic implications of a hero quest to bring back someone, and don't mind modifying some of the default assumptions of the world. Leave revivify in, because once the players can cast it that's 80% of what they need, but the other spells -- if they exist and aren't just big ritual -- require something big. Be it specific components, or a journey like Orpheus' to the underworld to bring back the soul.

As a side note, after such a heroic action, I'd bring him back at the same level as the party so he can adventure with them. Real Life pulling you from gaming for six months is it's own punishment already. Let all of the player celebrate by having him adventure with them.

 

[TarionzCousin]

How do your players like moral dilemmas?

I love moral dilemmas as a DM. They serve three main purposes, IMHO:

1. Get players to talk/argue in character.
2. Get players to define their characters' wants and opinions more clearly.
3. Give you the DM time to sit back and watch the game unfold.

 

[Allistar1801]

One thing to think about is the precedent you are setting - do you want / expect the characters to go through this when they reach high level and can cast these spells (assuming a default world).

That said, I love the mythic implications of a hero quest to bring back someone, and don't mind modifying some of the default assumptions of the world. Leave revivify in, because once the players can cast it that's 80% of what they need, but the other spells -- if they exist and aren't just big ritual -- require something big. Be it specific components, or a journey like Orpheus' to the underworld to bring back the soul.

As a side note, after such a heroic action, I'd bring him back at the same level as the party so he can adventure with them. Real Life pulling you from gaming for six months is it's own punishment already. Let all of the player celebrate by having him adventure with them.

I mean they're level 5 right now but we don't have a cleric, only a druid who could at level 9 take reincarnate and proform the ritual, but again time limits.

The precedent that I'm trying to set isn't "This is what needs to be done to res someone every time", it's "Even if you pass the time limit on these two already extremely powerful spells, there is still a way that you can come back."

There's problems with that either way because it makes death seem even less scary once you get farther up the chain, but maybe In order to make this stuff feel special though I'm thinking I impose a 1 time res for the big ol' questing res