Many thanks. I must say that I don't like them at all, is that allowed here ? Having a PC fail to return due to one die roll seems extremely unjust to me, and I don't see at all how it makes for a better story. Maybe if players start abusing the deat/raise thing, but in 42+ years of fairly heavy roleplaying I have never seen one table where this was taken casually to the point where steps were needed to prevent the use of the spells.
It's about making the other players' contributions meaningful in a mechanical way, and the dice rolls are there to add tension through the possibility of failure (like they do in most of the game). It's not exactly my cup of tea either, but it works for the people at his table and in the end that's what matters. CR doesn't have a lot of PC deaths, so I don't think it has anything to do with curbing abuse.
In Campaign One they had 20 deaths total with 17 attempted resurrection - all succeeded. The 3 deaths were such that they didn't have the time or means to attempt the spell. Not all were the PC's though (I think about 15 were the PCs)
In Campaign Two they had five deaths so far with four succesful attempts at resurrection and one death that happened before they had the access to the spell. The only actual perma death in over 200 episodes.
It creates drama but didn't exactly influence their game so far.
In Campaign One they had 20 deaths total with 17 attempted resurrection - all succeeded. The 3 deaths were such that they didn't have the time or means to attempt the spell. Not all were the PC's though (I think about 15 were the PCs)
In Campaign Two they had five deaths so far with four succesful attempts at resurrection and one death that happened before they had the access to the spell. The only actual perma death in over 200 episodes.
It creates drama but didn't exactly influence their game so far.
Don't know much about campaign one, but other than Mollymauk (which was a special case) weren't all four successful attempts in campaign two Revivify instead of Resurrection? I think that's worth pointing out because Matt has no alternate rules for that spell, it just works as written.
Just pointing out not all resurrections are Resurrections.
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Pardon, but I do not think you understood what I was saying. I was arguing against a gold cost. That is not the same thing as arguing against a cost. Unless the resurrection is a plot element and there is some religion based reason they would simply cast the spell (regardless of who pays the basic casting cost), then some likely extensive quest or other to prove the deceased worthy of such an extreme measure would be in order.
Perfect, it goes in line with what I was saying about the "cost" (not necessarily in gold) being mostly a campaign element. After that, the DM just has to be careful about the consequences for the party. If the only priest available for resurrection is of a specific alignment, and that benefits some characters in the party more than others, it's hardly fair in terms of campaign setting for the balance of permadeath amongst players. Not only that, but what does the deceased player do while the rest of the other players take their characters through the extensive quest ?
Not that it makes it impossible, but it's just needs to be factored in a DM's thinking.
Resurrect the character first, but with some sort of mortgage on their soul. They can either do the quest, or they can face the consequences of defaulting.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
And the GM can impose effects without them having to be actual spells. It doesn't have to be a geas, you just say that the High Priest of Lathander has resurrected you, but in return Lathander commands that you travel to the Valley Of Really Scary Dark Places and slay the vampire Lord Oogabooga The Unpleasant within a year or you'll be un-resurrected. Or have it be something that's tied to the adventure you're running.
And really, there shouldn't be a pressing need for powerful resurrection spells on a regular basis in the first place. If PCs are dying on a regular basis, especially in ways that Raise Dead and Revivification won't work, either you're running encounters that are too dangerous or the players have dump statted INT and WIS.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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In Campaign One they had 20 deaths total with 17 attempted resurrection - all succeeded. The 3 deaths were such that they didn't have the time or means to attempt the spell. Not all were the PC's though (I think about 15 were the PCs)
In Campaign Two they had five deaths so far with four succesful attempts at resurrection and one death that happened before they had the access to the spell. The only actual perma death in over 200 episodes.
It creates drama but didn't exactly influence their game so far.
Don't know much about campaign one, but other than Mollymauk (which was a special case) weren't all four successful attempts in campaign two Revivify instead of Resurrection? I think that's worth pointing out because Matt has no alternate rules for that spell, it just works as written.
Just pointing out not all resurrections are Resurrections.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
He uses the simplified DC 10 roll for Revivify. Not all the time though, I think at least once in combat he just let it pass.
Resurrect the character first, but with some sort of mortgage on their soul. They can either do the quest, or they can face the consequences of defaulting.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
And the GM can impose effects without them having to be actual spells. It doesn't have to be a geas, you just say that the High Priest of Lathander has resurrected you, but in return Lathander commands that you travel to the Valley Of Really Scary Dark Places and slay the vampire Lord Oogabooga The Unpleasant within a year or you'll be un-resurrected. Or have it be something that's tied to the adventure you're running.
And really, there shouldn't be a pressing need for powerful resurrection spells on a regular basis in the first place. If PCs are dying on a regular basis, especially in ways that Raise Dead and Revivification won't work, either you're running encounters that are too dangerous or the players have dump statted INT and WIS.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.