The imprisonment, consumption & obliteration of souls and the campaign’s tone

[frankthedm]

The imprisonment, consumption & obliteration of souls and the campaign’s tone

In much fantasy fiction and previous editions of the D&D game, mortal souls [and spirits for elves and non demi-humans] were semi-regularly at grave risk; death effects, becoming undead, energy drains, water weirds slurping the souls of those they drown, dying to the claws of outsiders, being sliced with the one of those black bladed swords, evil magic users stealing souls for eternal youth… etc, all meant no Raising, Resurrecting or afterlife. Even in 3e, in which Resurrection could now restore a victim after Death effects and undeath, The Manual of the Planes specified several ways of souls not reaching the afterlife.

Only in the 3.5 Complete Divine was it claimed virtually all souls make it to their eternal reward without a Wish/Miracle getting involved. I assumed this was done to set a brighter, more heroic, tone on what is usually the darkest subject in D&D and fantasy fiction. But now it looks like not all wotc staff feel that way. While looking over one of the new MM4 undead monsters, I noticed this delightful ability. While it does not explicitly put Soul Food back on the menu, it is a step in that direction.

Steal Face (Su) If a defacer's slam attack kills a creature with an Intelligence of 3 or higher, or if the defacer touches the body of such a creature within 1 day of its death, the defacer steals its face as an immediate action. This physically erases the facial features of the body, including bone structure, mouth, and teeth, leaving a smooth and blank surface. Attempts to cast speak with dead on victims of this attack always fail.

This defilement of the corpse also draws the soul of the creature to the defacer, and it becomes one of the keening faces that whirl about the defacer's head. This prevents the soul from reaching the afterlife, becoming undead, or being raised or resurrected. Nothing short of destroying the defacer restores a corpse's face and frees the soul.

So I ask, how do you DMs out there run this subject?
Do those souls of the slain always make it to where they belong?
Do those prayers that wish a safe journey to the afterlife really matter?
Is the mortal soul a tasty snack to unnatural monsters as it was in editions past?
Do evil soul sucking monsters burst into a torrent of now freed souls once defeated?
Is it easier for magical attacks to kill the soul rather than the body?

 

[Sarellion]

Souls are pretty much inviolate in my game. Besides a few very powerful artifacts and effects the soul journeys to its appointed place.

You can sell it though if you really want to and are not forced to it.

 

[el-remmen]

One of the PCs in my "Out of the Frying Pan" campaign had her soul obliterated when she was absorbed into my version of a Protein Polymorph. Only a wish could bring her back.

 

[Shemeska]

My campaigns have been incredibly dark at times, and yes, the destruction and consumption of souls has been there.

Some fiends use petitioners, stretched out and nailed to iron frames, as a sort of living parchment, burning words onto their flesh and impressing it into their minds at the same time. Such as this...

I've had souls bottled in gems, I've had fiends devouring souls in larval form as nourishment or simply for pleasure, because they can. I've had mile high and wide towers constructed from tens of millions of wriggling, writhing, screaming souls that have been used as living bricks. I've had PCs deal in souls, but they've always been sullied by the act, no matter what the reason for doing so.

It might be common on the lower planes if the PCs travel there, but it never becomes something that seems normal, seems anything other than one of the worst, most depraved acts that exists.

And for what it's worth, I had one PC whose souls was trapped in a gem and partially consumed by a starving, insane member of the Incanterium.

 

[Nightfall]

Souls and blood makes the grass grow green and black, while Orcus feeds them to himself to start his war against everyone.

All hail Orcus!

 

[Felix]

A soul is the man's own. He can trade it away, keep it for himself, or give it in trust to another. His fate after death is determined by his own choice of how he appoints his soul in life.

So the only way to keep a dead man's soul from reaching the afterlife, or to recall it back from the afterlife, is to imprison it: Animate Dead, Soul Bind, Create Greater Undead, and Trap the Soul all serve those purposes.

Now, were you to hold a soul hostage, either in an undead or in a gem, you might ransom it's freedom for something you want. And if you want that soul's eternal allegiance, well, it looks like you might have an up-and-coming demon on your hands.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

IMC it is impossible to destroy a soul, capture yes, but destroy no. That is one of the reaons I DESPISE Planescape, the whole soul and individuality destroying bit is the main reason I hate the setting.

 

[Shemeska]

IMC it is impossible to destroy a soul, capture yes, but destroy no. That is one of the reaons I DESPISE Planescape, the whole soul and individuality destroying bit is the main reason I hate the setting.

Soul and individuality destroying bit?

If you're talking about the fate of petitioners, they're only destroyed if killed off of their native plane. And they don't lose individuality, they just (normally) lose their memories of mortal life. Ultimately they merge with their plane or deity, but it's what they want, what they strive for, and part of their spiritual evolution after death. Petitioners of individual deities of course might be granted memories, but normally these memories are an impediment to their progression towards unity with that deity.

In any event though, you must likewise hate 3.x then, because that how things are now too. I assumed that's the stuff you didn't care for.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Soul and individuality destroying bit?

If you're talking about the fate of petitioners, they're only destroyed if killed off of their native plane. And they don't lose individuality, they just (normally) lose their memories of mortal life. Ultimately they merge with their plane or deity, but it's what they want, what they strive for, and part of their spiritual evolution after death. Petitioners of individual deities of course might be granted memories, but normally these memories are an impediment to their progression towards unity with that deity.

In any event though, you must likewise hate 3.x then, because that how things are now too. I assumed that's the stuff you didn't care for.

I just dont like THAT whole bit. It bothers me. Memories are not an impediment, but an enricher. IMC souls do not merge with their deity, they just hang out with them for an eternity. It is a feature I do not like in 3.X, so I dont use those monsters that have those kinds of attacks.

This is one of the reasons I like Dragonlance. Souls keep their memories, and maybe even their mortal class levels when they move on. But in DL the souls generally do not stay with their deity, but move through the Gate of Souls, where they go from there is left to the reader to decide. I like to think they go on to have more adventures in other worlds.

 

[Sammael]

1. All souls come to the Prime Material from the Positive Energy Plane, through the Ethereal. Although it happens very rarely, it is possible for a soul to become lost (such as when it is somehow unable to reach the body, e.g. childbirth is taking place in a forbiddance or similar effect). Lost souls sometimes return to the Positive Energy Plane, and sometimes become infused with negative energy or shadowstuff and turn into weak undead beings.

2. Souls of mortals born on the Outer Planes are reincarnations of those who died but are not yet ready to become petitioners (for whatever reason). Thus, the source of those souls are the planes themselves, which is why planar mortals are connected to their plane of origin.

3. Under normal circumstances, the soul of a mortal who dies passes on to the Outer Planes through the Astral. In FR, all souls first travel to Kelemvor's Crystal Castle to await judgment. Again, if there are some planar anomalies that prevent access to the Astral, souls may become lost on the Prime Material. Because of their previous connections to the Positive Energy Plane, such souls may again enter the Ehtereal and try to return to their source (so to speak). As in (1), some of those souls become incorporeal undead, such as ghosts, wraiths, spectres, and shadows.

4. A mortal can sell his soul to a fiend. This results in the soul traveling to an appropriate Lower Plane upon his passing.

5. Mortal souls can be captured using powerful magic and/or creature abiltiies. If released, such souls travel to the Outer Planes as previously described.

6. Evil gods have a claim on the souls of mortals who are ritually sacrificed to them. Their fate is decided on a case-by case basis, depending on individual piety.

7. Once a soul is dead and reaches its destination plane, it usually transforms into a petitioner. Some are reincarnated as planar mortals instead. Petitioners are outsiders, so they can only be truly killed on their home plane. Some varieties of evil petitioners, however, aren't bound to a particular plane. Larvae are an example of this. Thus, larvae can be taken to (and destroyed on) any Lower Plane.

8. Otherwise, petitioners often lose all memories of mortal lives and begin anew. As Shemmy said, many petitioners strive to become one with their plane and/or deity. This is completely individual and depends on both the petitioner and its deity.