As others have said, returning dead characters to life kind of takes away any tension that might be created by death-defying actions. Further, to me, it's way too "magical." Were spells like these readily available, the entire civilization which had access to them would be different. In D&D, it's not. In Eberron, it is a bit, but I don't think it takes it far enough.

I don't like it as a GM because it does not convey the atmosphere I prefer for my games. I don't particularly care about it as a player, but it seems kind of "over the top."

Quote from: CyberzombieWhen I read this topic title, I thought it meant "How do your characters feel when they are brought back to life?"  

Peckish.

Quote from: cranberryPeckish.

I would imagine, yes.  


I like the concept of easy resurrection magic -- and of simple ways to expand lifespan, like every fucking edition *except* 3e has had.  It does, however, mean that the world is going to be totally different than the real world.

Just take succession in kingdoms -- the eldest son of a king could reasonably expect to succeed when he was in his prime (25-35) because his dad would most likely kick the bucket then.  Not so in a fantasy world with D&D magic.  You could expect something like the Realm in Exalted, where the Empress ruled for 750 years or so before she disappeared.  While most rulers wouldn't manage to avoid getting killed permanently that long, they could easily expect reigns of a hundred years or more with potions of longevity and raise dead spells.

I'd really like to see a setting that logically followed from the abilities available in D&D, but it would be so alien it's hard to even imagine.  

Quote from: ElidiaI don't really dig it. One of my favorite moments was when there was a group arguement over raising a PC and we finally decided to do a "speak with dead." His response was that he "liked it here and we could fuck off."

 Love it

I personally don't like the idea.  I think it is used too often and to easily there is not enough penalty for resurrection and it becomes a saftey net that takes something away from the game.

That being said I have always tried to run a game that is fun for my players... they all love their characters and would prefer to run the same one for an entire campaign, so I allow it and everyone still seems to have fun.

Quote from: Dire WolfI personally don't like the idea.  I think it is used too often and to easily there is not enough penalty for resurrection and it becomes a saftey net that takes something away from the game.

That being said I have always tried to run a game that is fun for my players... they all love their characters and would prefer to run the same one for an entire campaign, so I allow it and everyone still seems to have fun.

Wouldn't it make more sense to change the rules so they aren't getting killed, but just incapacitated?  If you think about it and change 'dead and need a raise' to 'badly wounded and need powerful healing' things don't need to change much at all mechanically.

Quote from: MaddmanWouldn't it make more sense to change the rules so they aren't getting killed, but just incapacitated?  If you think about it and change 'dead and need a raise' to 'badly wounded and need powerful healing' things don't need to change much at all mechanically.

I think that's an excellent idea. There's actually a mechanic in Conan where one can spend an action point (or whatever it might be called--book's not handy) to be "left for dead." It's a great option rather than having characters brought back to life, and it fits into the narrative structure of heroic fantasy (and action movies, for that matter).

I'm OK with resurrection magic, but I prefer it to be a conscious inclusion. I don't like as a rule games where it is present but doesn't have any societal repercussions. A lot of good ideas already presented, I'd add making the resurrection an adventure in and of itself to the list. If raising the dead requires an encounter with Cerebus that explains why frequent resurrections haven't messed with the culture.

I generally ban it in my games, or at least have RP reasons as for why it is really rare. As a player I generally refuse to return from the afterlife if someone casts it on my dead character.

Not fond of it.  Actually, I don't mind something like Orpheus tried to do, but a quick spell (even with XP costs) is too easy.  Walmart should not be stocking "1-ups".
 
I actually generally like the 3E mechanics, but the magic is a bit high in a few places, this being one of them.

I like it when its well done via story, I don't like it when the setting/story ignores what people would actually do with the power.

Assasination in a standard D&D campaign involves destroying the persons soul if you don't actually want them coming back.  Yet, assassins exist that just stab/poison people.  It just doesn't mesh.  

I haven't come up with a generic way of having people return in a game.  It always has to be story specific or it just feels cheap to me.

I like resurrection as a player more than I like the artificiality of "Hey here's a new guy in the dungeon who could sure use rescuing.  Guess what? He lost his whole team and should join with you!"

But I'd rather have varying power levels in my games too, as it's more realistic.  I don't use this when I run a game, as I don't know a player who'd like it except for me.  If I'm fifth level and I die, I'd love to come back as a 1st level character!

I my current group, I don't think we have ever had anyone resurrected. I like it that way. IMO resurrection should only happen via divine magic or extremely powerfull arcane magic. So unless you have a very powerfull cleric or mage or if you are in real good with the gods resurrection won't happen in our group.

Personally as a player I don't mind if my characters die, but if they do it's cool if the GM works with me to make them go out in style.

Quote from: McrowI my current group, I don't think we have ever had anyone resurrected. I like it that way. IMO resurrection should only happen via divine magic or extremely powerfull arcane magic. So unless you have a very powerfull cleric or mage or if you are in real good with the gods resurrection won't happen in our group.

Personally as a player I don't mind if my characters die, but if they do it's cool if the GM works with me to make them go out in style.

hmmm, head exploding fumbled firebreath spell...That's one toasty Kolba!

Bill

Quote from: HinterWelthmmm, head exploding fumbled firebreath spell...That's one toasty Kolba!

Bill

Yeah, fumbling a fire breath spell  is bad! Well it made the session interesting for me atleast. I think he was at 5th level or something like that @ the time. Ohh well, it's not every day you get to see a Kolbas head blow up like framing balloon.