What's the point

[wildoxmoan]

In KotS Sister Linora has access to rituals including Raise Dead. She is a non-heroic priestess. According to the rules rituals must be cast by someone of equal or higher level than the ritual so she really can't cast the ritual according to the rules. One of the characters has died in the keep and now the party is in a quandry as to how and where to raise their fallen comrade.
I've had two responses so far one stating that NPC's might be able to do things that PC's can not. The second response suggested that the adventure KotS is just a training module to familiarize the players with the rules of the game.
Silly me, I took the adventure as just that, an adventure to be used in conjunction with other adventures of the same ilk to be taken as written. So I'm asking the community if I've missed something in the rules that precludes the ability of non heroic (formerly known as 0 level) NPC's from doing things that the PC's can not.

 

[Cadfan]

NPCs aren't characters. If the rules say that an NPC can cast Raise Dead, then the NPC can cast Raise Dead. It doesn't matter if she's a higher level NPC than the ritual.

 

[Milambus]

One of the reasons for the Ritual System was to allow NPCes to be able to cast "spells" that they would normally not be allowed to.

So, the "correct" answer is that NPCes do not have to follow the same rules that PCes do, and that she can cast the ritual.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

NPCs don't follow the same rules as PCs.

Therefore even a lowlevel NPC might be able to cast a powerful ritual which the PCs couldn't cast.

It's a plot device. Enjoy it!

Feel free to charge some money for raising a dead PC or request a service/task.

 

[Ryujin]

Not sure where you're getting that Sister Linora is a "zero level", a la the old games. If she's a "non-heroic" character that doesn't necessarily imply that she's without power or ability, so much as it does that she's not prone to go running off on some adventure, to the detriment of her flock. That's what heroes (PCs) are for.

Unlike in the old game, I see no reason why a sedentary NPC should be without power. In 4e it seems to me that they can have many abilities, but perhaps no particullar combat capabilities. They don't need to be 1HP wonders, but then again the existence of Minions points to the possibility of creatures with a lot of hitting power, but who drop if spat on.

 

[Nail]

In KotS Sister Linora has access to rituals including Raise Dead. She is a non-heroic priestess. According to the rules rituals must be cast by someone of equal or higher level than the ritual so she really can't cast the ritual according to the rules. One of the characters has died in the keep and now the party is in a quandry as to how and where to raise their fallen comrade.

The module says:

She doesn't have access to cleric powers, but she does know the following rituals: gentle repose, cure disease, and raise dead.

Most of that is clear enough. Sister Linora knows those rituals. She can cast them. If the PCs need those rituals to be cast, they go to her.

If your concern is "But she's not high enough level to cast them!", my response will be: "The adventure doesn't give her a level, as she's a non-Heroic priestess. (Non-heroic NPCs don't have levels.) If a ritual requires a skill check (like Cure Disease), you'll have to make something up."

 

[Obryn]

In KotS Sister Linora has access to rituals including Raise Dead. She is a non-heroic priestess. According to the rules rituals must be cast by someone of equal or higher level than the ritual so she really can't cast the ritual according to the rules. One of the characters has died in the keep and now the party is in a quandry as to how and where to raise their fallen comrade.
I've had two responses so far one stating that NPC's might be able to do things that PC's can not. The second response suggested that the adventure KotS is just a training module to familiarize the players with the rules of the game.
Silly me, I took the adventure as just that, an adventure to be used in conjunction with other adventures of the same ilk to be taken as written. So I'm asking the community if I've missed something in the rules that precludes the ability of non heroic (formerly known as 0 level) NPC's from doing things that the PC's can not.

As everyone else has said, 4e is not a symmetric system in regards to PCs and NPCs. NPCs are built more like monsters, if they will be in combat; or not at all, if they won't. They don't need to follow the PC rules - if you need your dwarven blacksmith to use Enchant Item rituals, *poof* he can! Ditto, Sister Linora and, presumably, other priests elsewhere in the game world. She's not even zero-level; she doesn't have a level, much like your average farmer, scribe, and blacksmith.

As for now, and I expect for the immediate future at least, there are no rules for non-heroic characters. They quite simply can do whatever you need them to do and whatever you find reasonable.

-O

 

[Nail]

They don't need to follow the PC rules - if you need your dwarven blacksmith to use Enchant Item rituals, *poof* he can!

BTW, let's clean something up here:

If - in 3.xe - the DM needed the dwarven blacksmith to be able to enhance weapons, *poof* he could!

That's not a 3.xe to 4e change. What NPCs could do was ALWAYS under the perview of the DM. In 3.xe the DM would have to work longer than in 4e to get the same result - adding levels, attributes, feats, and skill points, but in the end the result was exactly the same, at least from the player's perspective. 4e has just cleared away the underbrush, and made the process simpler.

 

[Gruns]

Obviously, "non-heroic" means she is Paragon or Epic!
Later!
Gruns