Quote from: King_StannisI believe resurrections should only happen when it furthers the story - and it should be treated like the miracle it would be.

This is how I feel about the subject as well. I'm playing a 13th lvl cleric right now, and our group is now free to take more risks because I can bring em back (although they'll hafta pony up the loot for it), and it's become just another task, or "role" of my cleric...although it has made the group even more protective of me

I would prefer for the ability to return the dead to life to be more on par with granting wishes....rare, wonderous, and not always guaranteed...maybe even potentially hazardous. I think that along with being difficult, expensive, and rare, the ability to bring back the dead should entail a (albeit small) risk of actually bringing back maybe an undead spirit or even a demon/devil instead of the soul that actually belongs to the corpse.

Quote from: SigmundI would prefer for the ability to return the dead to life to be more on par with granting wishes....rare, wonderous, and not always guaranteed...maybe even potentially hazardous. I think that along with being difficult, expensive, and rare, the ability to bring back the dead should entail a (albeit small) risk of actually bringing back maybe an undead spirit or even a demon/devil instead of the soul that actually belongs to the corpse.

I concur. I also think there should be some physical toll on the cleric - he should at the very least fall into a slumber for a time - perhaps a week or two.

Haveing been dead a few times I can say that I LOVE being brought back to life. Being dead is boring.

Quote from: King_StannisI concur. I also think there should be some physical toll on the cleric - he should at the very least fall into a slumber for a time - perhaps a week or two.

I'ld rather it not be available at all to my cleric than have players pressuring me into using a spell that is going to enforce downtime on my PC.

Quote from: Bagpussand yet other people would winge that the DM was railroading their character. :rolleyes:

If the player could have his character refuse either the offer, or refrain from completing it- there would be no railroading involved.

Railroading has nothing to do with presenting choices, it has to do with forcing them.

I don't think that bringing a dead character back to life kills the game in anyway, but of course there are several ways of doing it. If there is a cleric (or equivalent) in the group he could cast a raise dead spell (or equivalent) and that has been done in my campaign on several occasions.

Actually, I created an epic campaign where the gods played an active role in the story and plot-line, and the players knew that there were a big chance that their characters could be brought back to life, at least once. However, it came with a price, and some where not prepared to pay that price. Death should not kill a story, but bringing back dead characters shouldn't kill the tension and excitement either.

- Brek

Quote from: CleanCutRogueI had a pacifist character who was killed - and the GM made him stand before the god of the dead.  The god (whoever it was - can't 'member) sent me back to mock my beliefs, and told me that for one year I had to send one soul to him per day or he would take an innocent person for that day's kill... starting with those closest and dearest to me.  Amazing roleplaying experience... my character ended up a sociopath cold-blooded killer after sending 365 people to their doom.  It started with people who deserved it... but towards the end he really didn't care who he sent.  Went from Lawful Good to Lawful Evil in a game year.

When he finally died again - long after all of this - he was put in a special hell where he was tormented for all time by the souls of those people he killed.  Ironic...

Did the DM clear that by you ahead of time?  'Cause if not it seems like something of a dick move.

Quote from: gleichmanIf the player could have his character refuse either the offer, or refrain from completing it- there would be no railroading involved.

Railroading has nothing to do with presenting choices, it has to do with forcing them.

Right his choice was between him killing someone or the God killing a loved one. Not much of a choice, hence the railroading. Personally its the sort of railroading I would like. It's not like we don't get railroaded in real life every now and again by the situation we find ourselves in.

Got no problem with raising, as long as it's done with style. In fact, in my CORE setting the high priests of the god of treasures, riches and materialism make quite a good summ with it.

Once in awhile I like it a lot, in the course of regular D&D I hate it.  I'm fond of things like clones and simulacrums, or finding a scroll to it, but I wish it was never in the hands of PCs, a hell of a lot more rare and expensive than it is, and all in all less accessable.

The RPing angle of it has always felt like a cop-out for an overused mechanic, but there isn't another easy way to handle it quite often.