The Immortals

[Crimson_Blade]

Recently, one of my players said that he didn't think that the characters should ever really die. While he was just whining of course, that comment and one of the better CRPGs Planescape:Torment gave me an interesting idea...

What if, for some strange reason, none of the PCs could die? How could I make this especially important, plot-wise and character-wise? Obviously, it couldn't really work like Regeneration without drastically changing the game, so I was going to assume it was more of an automatic True Res a few minutes, hours, or days later...whatever is dramatically appropriate.

Are there other immortals besides the PCs? Is there a way to permanently finish off an immortal? I'm really trying to avoid making this like Highlander where immortals kill each for power in special ways. Ugh.

I was thinking of having immortal characters be a very recent development, and none of the PCs knows that they cannot die.

Any thoughts or comments?

 

[Tonguez]

Acquired Divinity: the PCs are the chosen "avatar" of some natural (non-sentient) phenomena - only problem is noone has told the PC!

So say you've got a Gnome Barbarian who just happens to be the avatar of 'Sunsets' - he can't die or else 'Sunsets' will cease to exist and in fact he is 'reborn' everytime a sunset occurs (because he has to be there!)

As the PCs carry on their adventuring dying and waking up with headaches they start to notice strange anomalies and perhaps gain new powers related to their 'domain' (perhaps the avatar of Sunsets gets the power to cause darkness) - or perhaps they slowly acquire some template

Anyway as to plots what if somebody IS trying to kill these avatars?! They have to figure out just who they are, keep themselves alive and try and figure out who is targeting them and why

 

[Gaiden]

Acquired Divinity: the PCs are the chosen "avatar" of some natural (non-sentient) phenomena - only problem is noone has told the PC!

So say you've got a Gnome Barbarian who just happens to be the avatar of 'Sunsets' - he can't die or else 'Sunsets' will cease to exist and in fact he is 'reborn' everytime a sunset occurs (because he has to be there!)

As the PCs carry on their adventuring dying and waking up with headaches they start to notice strange anomalies and perhaps gain new powers related to their 'domain' (perhaps the avatar of Sunsets gets the power to cause darkness) - or perhaps they slowly acquire some template

Anyway as to plots what if somebody IS trying to kill these avatars?! They have to figure out just who they are, keep themselves alive and try and figure out who is targeting them and why

That is an absolutely brilliant idea Tonguez. Consider it plagerized.

 

[LostSoul]

You will want to set the focus of the game to character development (not levels & xp, but personality) and interaction with NPCs. Challenges are not going to be that big of a deal, because you can just wake up the next day, right as rain. But... you can't stop the bad guys from killing your pop. You can't make Lady Jade fall in love with you. You can't help people see that they are headed right for destruction.

It sounds like it would be a gritty campaign where PCs struggle against the world and their inability to change things for good.

And, when the PCs think they can't be hurt, have the bad guys bury one of the PCs alive. Can't move when a mountain's on you, or you're wrapped in chains in a sealed lead box at the bottom of the ocean. There are fates worse than death.

 

[Hammerhead]

A great idea...

If the PCs are immortal, combat probably shouldn't be the main focus of the game. At the very least, combat should involve more than your own personal survival, and the consequences of losing should be greater than a temporary inconvenience.

Use the immortal death as a plot device, similar to the old poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where the GK lets his head be chopped off, only to regrow it so that he may, in turn, strike off one Gawain's head.

Questions you may wish to consider are where does such immortality come from? The effects of some magical process or influx of positive energy may make sense, as would divine sponsorship or descent for certain types of characters. It may also come from the blood of a long-lost race, or some extraplanar creature. The ability to be immortal may also come from the very strength of one's soul, or its unique essence.

The idea of divine blood fits particularily well using standard D&D cosmology. Deities are never really killed, merely drained of all power and left to float in the Astral Plane. PCs with such a gift may draw small amounts of divine power to True Ressurect themselves at the appropriately dramatic time unknowingly, or it may be a special gift of the deity.

Other special abilities may accompany this immortality. For example, if you get your immortality from an influx of positive energy, then abilities like turning undead, healing, fast healing, and the ability to raise others may be appropriate. If your power comes from an arcane ritual or process, other cool abilities might come with that.

An idea might be to give the PCs all Fast Healing or Regeneration, for a very combat effective type of immortality. Make all damage subdual. Furthermore, to prevent enemies from chopping PCs legs and arms off, the ability to regenerate limbs is necessary. Also, make all permanent level loss and ability damage temporary as well.

 

[Jakathi]

hmm

in some of the fanfics i've written, i've created a character that is actually a half-goddess (daughter of rayden), reincarnated spirit (ruler of limbo through isis and osiris).
She's immortal, but more on the lines of highlander type immortal.
The downside of this is that she can't die. But more powerful entities can trap her and if they break her, all of that yummy power will belong to them.
being immortal is great, but having enemies who know you're immortal is bad.
In fact, she was buried alive and had to fight her way out (took her a year) when she came out, she was properly insane for a bit and destroyed a few cities before she came to herself.
She now has half of hell on her tail, at least three hell gods, most of the Aztec patheon hates her and the first evil wants her head for a pike ornament.

(I am an evil person. lol)

 

[Steverooo]

In a Pre-3e, Non-AD&D Campaign, I invented my own form of "Pseudo-Immortality" power. It did grant regeneration, but in each case, the PCs had an unknown Achilles Heel. When they acquired this power, they had it at "Skill Level 0", and could raise it to level 10. Autoregeneration was a task, requiring a roll. I also had them roll 1D10 on a table to determine how their Pseudo-Immortality could be defeated...

1) Piercing the Medula Oblongata (base of the skull).
2) Piercing the Pituitary Gland (middle of the forehead).
3) Beheading (Neck, with a slashing weapon).
4) Psychic attacks.
5) Piercing the Heart (Chest).
6) Removal of a specific organ (As specified).
7) Drowning.
8) Burning.
9) Suffocation.
10) Something even more unusual

Some of the original material (Copyright SteveC 1998-2003. All rights reserved) is included, below:

Pseudo-Immortality

Description: Pseudo-Immortality (unless killed, the Psionic will live forever, and even killing them is tougher)! This psionic science includes improved versions of Autoregeneration and Immunity to Age, and increases the Pseudo-Immortal's chances of curing themself of both poisons and diseases.
Range: Self, only.
Area of Effect: Self, only.
Duration: Constant.
Acquisition: Requires finding a teacher, being trained by them, a high Psychological Strength, one or more other *** capabilities, and a lot of luck. If you want a Highlander-style campaign, this is a fun one to spring on your PCs unaware, only informing them of it when it saves their life. The Referee can assume that a few individuals every millenium or so have this as a naturally occurring ability.

For game balance, Pseudo-Immortality confers no protection against some other form of less traditional slaying (although the Referee need not reveal this to the Psionic PC's player). Pseudo-Immortals slain in this fashion are permanently dead, regardless of their abilities of Autoregeneration. The Referee can choose an appropriate type for NPCs or critters, or have the PC roll 1D10 to determine the type of damage that ignores the Pseudo-Immortality: 1 = Piercing of the Medula Oblongata (base of the scull), 2 = Piercing of the Pituitary Gland (middle front of the head), 3 = Beheading (neck), 4 = Psychic Weaponry and psionic attacks (anywhere), 5 = Piercing of the Heart (Chest), 6 = Removal of a Specific Organ (As specified), 7 = Drowning, 8 = Burning, 9 = Suffocation, 10 = Other (In some rare cases, the Referee may want to make the PC who rolls a 10 vulnerable to something really unusual, besides weapons; pure or salt water ("I'm melting!"), pollution, smog, garlic (or some unearthly, local weed, probably from the Pseudo-Immoortal's world of origin), etc. Use your imagination.

=================================

You will no doubt notice that I drew heavily from myth, legend, and modern TV to make this chart! #1 comes from the X-Files ETs. #2 I created, based on Psi fiction. #3 is obviously from The Highlander. #4 is, again, Psychic. #5 is from Brahm Stoker. #6 from many a legend. #7 is the opposite of #8, which is how the Trolls die. #9 (like 7) is another way to die, and #10 explains the remainder of the Vampire legends (they have a very poor form of Pseudo-Immortality)!

Naturally, other ways to die, permanently, include starvation, poison, disease, caustics, electricity, cold, level draining, etc., etc., ad nauseum. I'm sure you can extend the chart to 20 types, if you prefer...

Once you know what will kill the PC, keep it secret from them! ;-P

This can also produce some interesting effects, such as when I generated an aquatic creature who could only be permanently slain by Drowning! (Basically, this lucky critter WAS Immortal!)

One thing I had that 3.xe doesn't, though, was a method for determining where a blow struck... Otherwise, you will have to create a "Called Shot" rule, to determine if the MO or PG, Heart, etc., gets hit...

 

[Sertimon]

Here are a few random thoughts:

I agree with LostSoul, a campaign dealing with immortals would probably be more focused on the development of characters, rather than combat. Of course, there should be some kind of limitation to how many times one can be reborn. Like in Planescape Torment; the immortal loses a piece of his memory each time he dies (either translated into losing a level or simply forgetting everything that has transpired the last few days). Other ways to handle this is that constantly being reborn drives the immortal to insanity. Or perhaps the death of the immortal takes the life of an innocent mortal instead. Could a character that truly considers herself 'good', live with the fact that every time she dies, so does another? Maybe they're even haunted by visions or memories of those that die in their place, constantly being reminded of their 'curse'. This would partly prevent players from 'dieing' on purpose or not caring about death and rebirth.

You might want to check out a MMORPG called Mythica. It deals exactly what you're describing: all characters are immortals. You could probably get a few ideas from there.