I have a player in our home game that has a personal quest to resurrect his spouse and children, that have been dead for a few decades.
The party is miles away from being at a level where that might be possible, but I'm planning to reveal a scroll for a modified version of Resurrection that would have relaxed requirements to bring it into their realm of possibility but in exchange pose a hard moral choice.
In particular, I'm thinking of changing this line: This spell closes all mortal wounds and restores any missing body parts.
with something like: This spell restores missing body parts, to the nearest approximation of the used remains. If the body is not decayed it restores it to its original form. If the body is rotten it restores it as a zombie. If the body is decayed, it restores it as an animated skeleton.
The plan is to make the character at least consider the option and wonder. Should I do it? Would my wife accept coming back as a skeleton? How would my family dynamic change with two skeleton children?
The questing character is not a spellcaster so it would need the help of the party. How would they react? Would they help? It's particularly interesting since the wizard of the group had a nasty history with the undead.
Do you have any suggestions for the spell mechanics or any tips for the story element of the spell? Any similar situations you've encountered? How did you deal with it?
Heh. Additional possibility, if you want to really twist the knife.
Rather than requiring the bodies of the creatures being resurrected, the altered spell requires bodies "similar in form" - i.e. a [playerrace] female for the wife, and adolescent bodies for the children. The spell restores the family's souls to the new bodies but does not alter their appearance to match their previous forms.
The decision put on your player is thus: "I can get my family back, fully functional and alive...but not in their original bodies, and I'll have to kill whoever I use as proxies to do it. And not just kill them, but kill them and make it impossible for them to come back because their bodies aren't theirs anymore. Am I willing to do this? Even if I am, can I convince the rest of the party to do it?"
Be prepared for what happens when he says "yes" and resurrects his family at this low level. Most likely, that's the end of his adventuring life, unless the family joins the group, or unless there's another macguffin that he needs to quest for to help them. But even then, he's now more laser focused on that macguffin and less willing to hunt random orcs and bandits that aren't part of that goal.
Leaving Resurrection as a high level spell lets him stay with the party with fewer headaches.
All prepared for. That player is actually moving away and needs a good exit. They'll only join us occasionally via teleconference, so that would be a cool way to integrate family life with the campaign.
For the fresh other bodies option, there can be non-murdered corpses available. Still a gray area for obstructing their return, but waste not want not.
Also seems like an interesting application for assuming someone’s identity or entering witness protection. More like Magic Jar. Probably too many undesired consequences.
I can’t imagine someone bringing back loved ones as skeletons.
Could be he finds a friendly cleric who is willing to cast the spell in exchange for a period of indentured servitude. His time away can be when he’s working for the cleric, and when he can play, he joins the party. Or sometimes the cleric send him with the party as part of the work he owes.
To me the issue would be the age difference. Even if they came back whole, Depending on the race, if it’s been decades and his family didn’t age, would they even work as a family anymore? Would they even recognize this middle aged man? Or would it be more like he goes the tragedy route and he brings them back and let’s them live their life, but he doesn’t try to be a part of it anymore.
I've taken some of your suggestions and came up with this version.
This adds a heavy penalty in exchange for the reduction in difficulty, and it also makes it less likely to pick a random body, which forces that moral conundrum.
Abyssal resurrection
4th-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a diamond worth at least 500 gp, which the spell consumes and a host body for the soul)
Duration: Instantaneous
You touch a dead body and say the name of a creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead. If its soul is free and willing, the target returns to life inside the body you touch and takes permanent hold of it.
This spell requires bodies similar in shape and age as the person being resurrected when they died. It heals injuries and restores missing body parts of the host body, but does not otherwise alter its appearance.
Upon resurrection, the character must roll a Constitution saving throw signifying the chance the soul will reject the new body. Upon failure, the person dies again and the host body is completely destroyed. The saving throw difficulty is at the discretion of the DM but, the more different and damaged the host body is compared to the original body, the higher the chance of failure.
A soul that fails the ritual, cannot be resurrected again for another 10 years.
On success, because the host body is now taken over by the inhabiting soul, the original owner of the body cannot be resurrected except through another Abyssal resurrection ritual.
This spell neutralizes any poisons and cures normal diseases afflicting the host or the target creature when they died. It doesn’t, however, remove magical diseases, curses, and the like.
Coming back from the dead is an ordeal. The target takes a −4 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Every time the target finishes a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.
Casting this spell to restore life to a creature that has been dead for one year or longer taxes you greatly. Until you finish a long rest, you can’t cast spells again, and you have a disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.
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I have a player in our home game that has a personal quest to resurrect his spouse and children, that have been dead for a few decades.
The party is miles away from being at a level where that might be possible, but I'm planning to reveal a scroll for a modified version of Resurrection that would have relaxed requirements to bring it into their realm of possibility but in exchange pose a hard moral choice.
In particular, I'm thinking of changing this line: This spell closes all mortal wounds and restores any missing body parts.
with something like: This spell restores missing body parts, to the nearest approximation of the used remains. If the body is not decayed it restores it to its original form. If the body is rotten it restores it as a zombie. If the body is decayed, it restores it as an animated skeleton.
The plan is to make the character at least consider the option and wonder. Should I do it? Would my wife accept coming back as a skeleton? How would my family dynamic change with two skeleton children?
The questing character is not a spellcaster so it would need the help of the party. How would they react? Would they help? It's particularly interesting since the wizard of the group had a nasty history with the undead.
Do you have any suggestions for the spell mechanics or any tips for the story element of the spell? Any similar situations you've encountered? How did you deal with it?
Heh. Additional possibility, if you want to really twist the knife.
Rather than requiring the bodies of the creatures being resurrected, the altered spell requires bodies "similar in form" - i.e. a [playerrace] female for the wife, and adolescent bodies for the children. The spell restores the family's souls to the new bodies but does not alter their appearance to match their previous forms.
The decision put on your player is thus: "I can get my family back, fully functional and alive...but not in their original bodies, and I'll have to kill whoever I use as proxies to do it. And not just kill them, but kill them and make it impossible for them to come back because their bodies aren't theirs anymore. Am I willing to do this? Even if I am, can I convince the rest of the party to do it?"
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How devious! I like it, though I feel that would need to be at least the same level as Resurrection as it can be used as a normal Resurrection.
Be prepared for what happens when he says "yes" and resurrects his family at this low level. Most likely, that's the end of his adventuring life, unless the family joins the group, or unless there's another macguffin that he needs to quest for to help them. But even then, he's now more laser focused on that macguffin and less willing to hunt random orcs and bandits that aren't part of that goal.
Leaving Resurrection as a high level spell lets him stay with the party with fewer headaches.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
All prepared for. That player is actually moving away and needs a good exit. They'll only join us occasionally via teleconference, so that would be a cool way to integrate family life with the campaign.
For the fresh other bodies option, there can be non-murdered corpses available. Still a gray area for obstructing their return, but waste not want not.
Also seems like an interesting application for assuming someone’s identity or entering witness protection. More like Magic Jar. Probably too many undesired consequences.
I can’t imagine someone bringing back loved ones as skeletons.
Could be he finds a friendly cleric who is willing to cast the spell in exchange for a period of indentured servitude. His time away can be when he’s working for the cleric, and when he can play, he joins the party. Or sometimes the cleric send him with the party as part of the work he owes.
To me the issue would be the age difference. Even if they came back whole, Depending on the race, if it’s been decades and his family didn’t age, would they even work as a family anymore? Would they even recognize this middle aged man? Or would it be more like he goes the tragedy route and he brings them back and let’s them live their life, but he doesn’t try to be a part of it anymore.
I've taken some of your suggestions and came up with this version.
This adds a heavy penalty in exchange for the reduction in difficulty, and it also makes it less likely to pick a random body, which forces that moral conundrum.
Abyssal resurrection
4th-level necromancy
You touch a dead body and say the name of a creature that has been dead for no more than a century, that didn’t die of old age, and that isn’t undead. If its soul is free and willing, the target returns to life inside the body you touch and takes permanent hold of it.
This spell requires bodies similar in shape and age as the person being resurrected when they died. It heals injuries and restores missing body parts of the host body, but does not otherwise alter its appearance.
Upon resurrection, the character must roll a Constitution saving throw signifying the chance the soul will reject the new body. Upon failure, the person dies again and the host body is completely destroyed. The saving throw difficulty is at the discretion of the DM but, the more different and damaged the host body is compared to the original body, the higher the chance of failure.
A soul that fails the ritual, cannot be resurrected again for another 10 years.
On success, because the host body is now taken over by the inhabiting soul, the original owner of the body cannot be resurrected except through another Abyssal resurrection ritual.
This spell neutralizes any poisons and cures normal diseases afflicting the host or the target creature when they died. It doesn’t, however, remove magical diseases, curses, and the like.
Coming back from the dead is an ordeal. The target takes a −4 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Every time the target finishes a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.
Casting this spell to restore life to a creature that has been dead for one year or longer taxes you greatly. Until you finish a long rest, you can’t cast spells again, and you have a disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.