Resurrection Virus
- Thread starter EricNoah
- Start date
wighair
Explorer
maybe its a problem caused when the departed soul tries to re-attach to the body. the virus might prevent/weaken this bond eventually causing the souls to break free. some "bad guys" could be waiting to harvest these souls, perhaps even under the guise of healers. hey - they could even replace the "loosely attached" souls with those of demons or other nasties to run riot in the host bodies.
NB. I'd replace the word virus with plague to keep it DnD speak.
Mel.
NB. I'd replace the word virus with plague to keep it DnD speak.
Mel.
Bastion of Departed Souls
This sounds a bit like the plot line from Bastion of Unborn Souls. Perhaps some sort of entity is trying to become powerful enough to overthrow a certain god and he is siphoning off a bit of the power of the departed souls to boost his power and make sure that the new minions of the god are weaker. The siphoing process leaves its mark on the souls that are resurrected. The gods are similarl prevented from entering the Bastion of Departed Souls because a god there might be able to steal souls destined for another god.
mypetrock
This sounds a bit like the plot line from Bastion of Unborn Souls. Perhaps some sort of entity is trying to become powerful enough to overthrow a certain god and he is siphoning off a bit of the power of the departed souls to boost his power and make sure that the new minions of the god are weaker. The siphoing process leaves its mark on the souls that are resurrected. The gods are similarl prevented from entering the Bastion of Departed Souls because a god there might be able to steal souls destined for another god.
mypetrock
alsih2o
First Post
i could see this as research into the afterlife by a high lvl cleric...he creates this disease, and when you get it you begin to get visions from your brief flirtation with the afterlife.
sorta "i see dead people"...he acts like a caring guy who takes in the poor folks suffering from this terrible mental wasting, but he is actually using them for insights into the necromantic/afterlife scene.
maybe, thru the insights he has gained he has come up with a new way to summon partial undead, n.p.c's who are semi-undead, retaining their skills frm pre-disease, but having certain immunities to turning and such from their half glimpse into the nether realms!
wow, this one could be fun!
imagine being immune to most of the things undead are immune to, but retaining spellcasting abilities, or fighting feats!
sorta "i see dead people"...he acts like a caring guy who takes in the poor folks suffering from this terrible mental wasting, but he is actually using them for insights into the necromantic/afterlife scene.
maybe, thru the insights he has gained he has come up with a new way to summon partial undead, n.p.c's who are semi-undead, retaining their skills frm pre-disease, but having certain immunities to turning and such from their half glimpse into the nether realms!
wow, this one could be fun!
imagine being immune to most of the things undead are immune to, but retaining spellcasting abilities, or fighting feats!
I don't know enough about the specifics of your world to offer speculation about causes that improves on any of the ideas already offered, but I did have some suggestions about plotting.
A significant challenge in any epidemic is to first realize that you have an epidemic on your hands, and then figure out what it is, how it is transmitted, and what could cure it.
Offer a few red herrings about who gets attacked by the plague--if most of the people who get resurrected are powerful and good, then you are talking about a disease that affects the "best and the brightest" of whatever locality you are currently occupying. Suspicion would fall to the usual suspects--enemy necromancers, evil death clerics, political enemies-- especially if someone politically central falls prey to the plague. Several adentures could be very dangerous chases after false leads. It would be refreshing to interject some real mystery into an enemy that all their to hit bonuses are helpless against.
Some other thoughts--this will need to be something that normal divination and curing will not wok against. Maybe, like some viruses, you are dealing with a plague that enacts a slow transformation while tricking the body into thinking it is working normally (way-beyond-D&D-scientific-explanation: it is hijacking the RNA to basically rewrite an organism's genetic code). However, the organism isn't getting sicker, so there is technically nothing to cure--it is just becoming something different.
Perhaps there have been so many resurrections that some sort of cosmic balance is in danger, and the gods have decided not to interfere with this thing and let it run its course. . .
A significant challenge in any epidemic is to first realize that you have an epidemic on your hands, and then figure out what it is, how it is transmitted, and what could cure it.
Offer a few red herrings about who gets attacked by the plague--if most of the people who get resurrected are powerful and good, then you are talking about a disease that affects the "best and the brightest" of whatever locality you are currently occupying. Suspicion would fall to the usual suspects--enemy necromancers, evil death clerics, political enemies-- especially if someone politically central falls prey to the plague. Several adentures could be very dangerous chases after false leads. It would be refreshing to interject some real mystery into an enemy that all their to hit bonuses are helpless against.
Some other thoughts--this will need to be something that normal divination and curing will not wok against. Maybe, like some viruses, you are dealing with a plague that enacts a slow transformation while tricking the body into thinking it is working normally (way-beyond-D&D-scientific-explanation: it is hijacking the RNA to basically rewrite an organism's genetic code). However, the organism isn't getting sicker, so there is technically nothing to cure--it is just becoming something different.
Perhaps there have been so many resurrections that some sort of cosmic balance is in danger, and the gods have decided not to interfere with this thing and let it run its course. . .
CRG
First Post
I think if it merely changed the person's "type", that would be significant.
(ahem ... excuse me for what I'm about to do)
But on the surface, that is similar to what happened to the Buffy character in this year's season on BtVS. She dies. She's brought back. Formerly bad vampire who's brain has been altered so that causing harm to humans / the living is able to hurt her.
(ahem...thanks and excuse me once again)
Anyhoo, maybe the type of the person is changed from humanoid to outsider (simple adjustment) with some freaky but not game-balance-shattering changes (no CR adjustment or abilities that merit it).
Then again, maybe the virus really changes their "blood" makeup - they may look like an elf or an orc but now are a "resurrected one" and are not treated as an elf, orc anymore...as such, new racial modifiers / conditions / abilities. Maybe some change in the god of healing's pantheon (be it a corruption thereof, etc.) or whatever your ressurection mechanism has caused it.
And maybe, just maybe, this is the way the world worked all along, but no one knew. Once you get to the point where you can be resurrected, who really notices the small details?
Or, maybe this is an evil plot by bad guy X who wants to cripple upper echelon of power. Some disease-worshiping, contagion-spreading Incabulus-wanna-be.
Or, even better, maybe its a neutral-selfish plot by a talented yet powerful greedy guy who wants money. Not as much power, but money (plain and simple). The virus/whatever is part of an elaborate sham to essentially sell snake-oil or something similar. I mean, those folks who got ressurrected, they surely got the funds to pay, right?
(ahem ... excuse me for what I'm about to do)
But on the surface, that is similar to what happened to the Buffy character in this year's season on BtVS. She dies. She's brought back. Formerly bad vampire who's brain has been altered so that causing harm to humans / the living is able to hurt her.
(ahem...thanks and excuse me once again)
Anyhoo, maybe the type of the person is changed from humanoid to outsider (simple adjustment) with some freaky but not game-balance-shattering changes (no CR adjustment or abilities that merit it).
Then again, maybe the virus really changes their "blood" makeup - they may look like an elf or an orc but now are a "resurrected one" and are not treated as an elf, orc anymore...as such, new racial modifiers / conditions / abilities. Maybe some change in the god of healing's pantheon (be it a corruption thereof, etc.) or whatever your ressurection mechanism has caused it.
And maybe, just maybe, this is the way the world worked all along, but no one knew. Once you get to the point where you can be resurrected, who really notices the small details?
Or, maybe this is an evil plot by bad guy X who wants to cripple upper echelon of power. Some disease-worshiping, contagion-spreading Incabulus-wanna-be.
Or, even better, maybe its a neutral-selfish plot by a talented yet powerful greedy guy who wants money. Not as much power, but money (plain and simple). The virus/whatever is part of an elaborate sham to essentially sell snake-oil or something similar. I mean, those folks who got ressurrected, they surely got the funds to pay, right?
Gavin
First Post
Edit: Uh...this only works if the virus causes resurrection. Which, after carefully reading the thread (oops) is not what you're talking about.
Have you read the "Endymion" books by Dan Simmons?
SPOILER
Its a complicated setup, but it boils down to the Bad Guys introduce the ability to resurrect people. Lots of people use it. The Bad Guys are hooked into the human brains and when they die the brain has a burst of creativity that the AIs can harness. Then the humans are resurrected so they can die again. The Bad Guys promote resurrection (and wars so there will be lots of dying and rising).
Wow. Two posts in an hour. I better take a breather.
Have you read the "Endymion" books by Dan Simmons?
SPOILER
Its a complicated setup, but it boils down to the Bad Guys introduce the ability to resurrect people. Lots of people use it. The Bad Guys are hooked into the human brains and when they die the brain has a burst of creativity that the AIs can harness. Then the humans are resurrected so they can die again. The Bad Guys promote resurrection (and wars so there will be lots of dying and rising).
Wow. Two posts in an hour. I better take a breather.
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Gavin
First Post
More on topic perhaps.
If it is a magical virus, maybe it slowly brings symptoms/effects of the thing that killed you.
For example you were burnt by a dragon's breath. You are whole when you resurrect, but your skin slowly starts to blister and blacken. Starts like a minor sunburn, but eventually your eyes melt and you die.
Or the wounds that kill you reappear. Slowly starting as bruises or scratches, but eventually ending up as deadly wounds again.
Perhaps you could also have the virus automatically cause resurrection. After a few rounds of dying/rising the person would realize that they are going to die again and they only have a certain amount of time to figure out a cure before they die/res/ and start dying again. Or perhaps the only cure is to die the True Death. That seems a little harsh, though.
If it is a magical virus, maybe it slowly brings symptoms/effects of the thing that killed you.
For example you were burnt by a dragon's breath. You are whole when you resurrect, but your skin slowly starts to blister and blacken. Starts like a minor sunburn, but eventually your eyes melt and you die.
Or the wounds that kill you reappear. Slowly starting as bruises or scratches, but eventually ending up as deadly wounds again.
Perhaps you could also have the virus automatically cause resurrection. After a few rounds of dying/rising the person would realize that they are going to die again and they only have a certain amount of time to figure out a cure before they die/res/ and start dying again. Or perhaps the only cure is to die the True Death. That seems a little harsh, though.
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When I first read the post, I thought of Monte Cook's Banebrute creatures from his latest pdf "Banewarrens." This disease or virus is changing raised creatures into something else entirely, days after the ressurection event. They are then mysteriously lulled to an unknown location, and for what grand unknown purpose...
The PCs are dragged into the event because, as adventurers, most if not all of them have been raised at one point or another.
The creatures created do not have to be "brutes", but there are slight physical changes and an allofness about them. They may even seem to say they are in charge, but their actions dictate otherwise. Groups of disparate creatures that normally don't work together do so, unconscciously, without even needing to share a language.
In their investigation, they find a group of evil cultist, who kill innocents in order to raise them up, to add to the army of unliving.
From various contacts, the PCs learn that, this virus is affecting people eqi-distant from an epicentre at the same time. There is a centre. an emanating spot of this horror.
What will they find? An evil cult? A group of necromancers using a true ritual, one that all lesser raise deads/ressurections are based on and can thus pervert? An good aligned undead priest frozen in time, unturning a creature of great power? An astral gate, which should be sending souls into heavens, is spewing forth this virus? Or an epic druid, tired of the reckless use of raise dead and the havoc caused to nature casting an epic spell of vengeance. Or something truely unique... a Poisoned Wel of Life. A cursed fey mound? An inverted altar of birth and resurection?
Thanks for the great idea EH! I'm not sure what you will do with this, but I know my players will eventually face this.
The PCs are dragged into the event because, as adventurers, most if not all of them have been raised at one point or another.
The creatures created do not have to be "brutes", but there are slight physical changes and an allofness about them. They may even seem to say they are in charge, but their actions dictate otherwise. Groups of disparate creatures that normally don't work together do so, unconscciously, without even needing to share a language.
In their investigation, they find a group of evil cultist, who kill innocents in order to raise them up, to add to the army of unliving.
From various contacts, the PCs learn that, this virus is affecting people eqi-distant from an epicentre at the same time. There is a centre. an emanating spot of this horror.
What will they find? An evil cult? A group of necromancers using a true ritual, one that all lesser raise deads/ressurections are based on and can thus pervert? An good aligned undead priest frozen in time, unturning a creature of great power? An astral gate, which should be sending souls into heavens, is spewing forth this virus? Or an epic druid, tired of the reckless use of raise dead and the havoc caused to nature casting an epic spell of vengeance. Or something truely unique... a Poisoned Wel of Life. A cursed fey mound? An inverted altar of birth and resurection?
Thanks for the great idea EH! I'm not sure what you will do with this, but I know my players will eventually face this.
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