Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 18, 2003 2:52:16	Though it may happen less frequently in many circles, I consistently have the problem of having a character finding his demise at the end of a Orc's mattock. Though the character himself has died, many times the party will seek a means of resurrecting their comrade. While they may succeed in returning their friend to life, does the experience not mean anything more? Did the character visit a new plane of existence? Did he look a death god in the eye and become judged during his stay? Did he see friends and loved ones? Did his god give him any messages? And, even more important, did he see where his fate lies, and decided that he doesn't want to end up in a hellish nightmare or in a state of limbo? Frankly, death is just another tool for the DM to use. However, a character may make use of this (and he had better consult the DM on this too) to change his character's entire personality. A once confident cleric of destruction and war may now feel disillusioned by these ideas and second-guess himself. This may ultimately lead to his change to Healing and Protection. To make matters worse, there is Reincarnation. This differs from resurrections in that an entirely new body is made. The once deadly assassin who slew the king and is known through out the land for her beautiful looks may come back in the body of an Ogre. She would have to change her entire lifestyle around being an ogre now instead of a tempting seductress. What you decide to do with death in your campaign is up to you, ultimately, but you may now want to consider the ideas of dying as much as the idea of living.
#2 zombiegleemax Nov 18, 2003 21:32:12	IMC, dying and coming back does leave a "mark" even once the XP are re-earned. First, I don't impose the "drop 1 level to mid-range" penalty since that impacts very differently depending on where you are in current level. In my setting: If a character loses a level, their loss is calculated in Experience Points - the number between being halfway through their current level and halfway through the level a fixed level loss would produce. This experience is lost, and the character becomes whatever level their new experience dictates. Next, some causes of death cannot be remedied: Magic cannot defy the natural order of death, it can only restore that natural order where it is disrupted. No magic will restore life to those who have died after living out their allotted years of activity (natural age of death). Not just old age, but all mundane death is not capable of being remedied by magic. Disease, falls, murder by mundane creature with mundane weapon all these are sources of permanent death. Magic can remedy death if the victim was killed by magic, by a supernatural creature (aberration, construct, fey, magical beast, outsider, undead, summoned creature or elemental - anything except an animal, humanoid, plant or vermin), a magical weapon or by a supernatural disease. This includes indirect mechanisms to kill if the initiator is supernatural ~ if a demon pushes someone off a cliff or holds their head underwater until they drown, they have still been killed unnaturally. The supernatural cause must still be proximate with no mortal free will intervening. If a demon orders a mortal follower to create a mundane trap, which then kills someone, they are truly dead (for the mortal follower had free-will to choose to create the trap or not). Every execution by mundane means, at the order of a mortal ruler, through trial that did not involve magic, after an apprehension that did not involve magic, is a final death. Creatures themselves supernatural (including PC's becoming 'native outsiders') are always subject to supernatural return to life. And, of course, whatever the source of death, that doesn't stop people being animated as zombies or becoming ghosts. Lovelorn young lads and lasses who cast themselves to their deaths from atop cliffs still have a way of coming back. Deities also remember who receives such benefits, and check to see whose similar aid has been accepted in the past. The latter is part of judging worthiness. Just as being a member of a religion helps obtain miracles from its priests, accepting aid of this nature also marks a character as affiliated with its source. Marking by divine powers means if a Quest need comes up, a raised character can be called upon as a member of the religion. This connection can become a curse if the character affronts the faith in question. Those who dislike a particular religion may decide to prevent its furtherance by eliminating the potential quester. No deity respects suicide and Divine magics will not restore a suicide to life. Changes to those who return: Those who have died and been resurrected are often viewed and think of themselves differently. “The Risen” or “The Returned” as they are called are also changed. The bodies and minds of the returned reflect their path through death and life becoming hardier and developing strange affinities. A character who dies and is returned must take their next normal level progression feat from among “Returned” feats. All “Haunted Past” feats are eligible as are the following (so long as any prerequisites are met): Endurance, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Remain Conscious (Masters of the Wild, Sword and Fist), Skill Focus (Intimidate and Knowledge - Planes), Spell Focus (Necromancy), Toughness (including Dwarf’s, Giant’s, Dragon’s). These all reflect the changes to body from dying and returning or changes to soul and spirit from sojourning "beyond" and returning. If a character dies and returns to life again before fulfilling this obligation, an existing feat is changed to be a Returned feat and the next feat gained is still to be a Returned feat. If all a character’s feats are already from this list, there is no further effect. Feats gained as class features are not subject to being changed or replaced. Haunted Past feats are only available to "Risen" characters; they can be taken as normal feats only after dying and coming back. They include (these are from Ravenloft and other sources): Cold One; Dead Man Walking; Ghostsight; Haunted; Incorporeal Spell Targeting; Incorporeal Target Fighting; Past Life; Requiem; Scent of the Grave; Transdimensional Power; Transdimensional Spell.
#3 zombiegleemax Nov 22, 2003 4:39:03	One of the strangest occurrences in campaign was the death of a character who had "married" another player's character. The two were an inseparable team, until Rurin the Fighter was killed by an Illithid and his body wasn't recovered. Suffice it to say, Rurin's player wasn't happy that his 7th level fighter was now toast after so many playing sessions. Therefore, I had to make a decision regarding Rurin. I decided that Rurin, since he was a lawful good fighter, became an Archon. I allowed his character to take the celestial-creature template and to come back into the party. He's a little more cautious now though, because he is an extraplanar outsider now and can't be resurrected on the Material plane. He's still more powerful than what he was before. What actually did kill him ended up making him stronger. But now I've got the task of some of my PC's wanting to die to acquire either the fiendish or celestial templates. I decided that I won't let this happen again, unless there is a good reason for the Character to come back. In the case of Rurin, the strong factor to return to life was the grieving of his wife, Shard. Now I have an interesting hook for more adventurers. Rurin is a warrior for the forces of good on more than just one plane of existence. He will have to face demons, monsters, and maybe an evil god or two if he's really unlucky.