tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197678759994283970.post8284086221993259936..comments2024-03-19T00:05:32.681-04:00Comments on Applied Phantasticality: Why Resurrection Is Bad for D&DGordon Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12907319916602597979noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197678759994283970.post-63989112206681771862012-07-28T14:32:41.042-04:002012-07-28T14:32:41.042-04:00That is an excellent point. Taken in that context,...That is an excellent point. Taken in that context, few in heaven would willingly return.<br /><br />It makes me wonder, though, what <em>is</em> the point of enabling clerics to resurrect the dead if their religion's cosmology includes a heaven? Wouldn't it be considered a questioning of their god's judgment? Plucking a soul from its deserved afterlife would be an act of theft, in a way, and clearly an act of defiance against the will of one's deity. One could argue that one was only <em>borrowing</em> the soul for a time, but it's still a matter of contradicting the ultimate power and authority of the gods, which clerics may not do. That's another reason why I don't like that ability to exist as a spell. It's an open invitation for clerics to disobey their patron deity.<br /><br />As for those pantheons in which only certain gods determine the fate of the soul, it would still stand as an act of defiance against "the gods" as a whole. Then again, if it were in the interests of one god to dispute the fate of a soul, a cleric could be used as a pawn in such a game of cosmic politics, but I still think it would be better implemented as a one-time gift bestowed to a cleric (or a champion, or a blind seer) rather than a reusable spell.Gordon Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12907319916602597979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197678759994283970.post-85188231424311719132012-07-26T06:11:51.051-04:002012-07-26T06:11:51.051-04:00If you apply the rule that the person being resurr...If you apply the rule that the person being resurrected must want to come back to life and further posit that most people have gone to their greater reward in Heaven, then it becomes less disruptive - adventurers and other crazies may want to come back (and evil types who have found themselves in Heck, I suppose), but not the population at large.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197678759994283970.post-44170493346607585212012-06-05T00:11:59.501-04:002012-06-05T00:11:59.501-04:00As an ultra-rare event that entails an epic advent...As an ultra-rare event that entails an epic adventure in itself, I can see allowing it. I just don't want spells that cheapen the concept.<br /><br />On a personal level, having a player character resurrected diminishes the enjoyment I derive in playing that character. I've only ever had one character resurrected, and it made me feel guilty (both for the trouble the party took to accomplish it and for the fact that my character deserved his fate because of his foolhardiness). Had the character <em>not</em> deserved his fate, dying heroically to save others, I think the resurrection would have lessened the impact of his sacrifice. I'd rather let him pass into history. That's just my personal take on resurrection with regard to my characters. As a referee, I allow my players to seek it if they wish, with the understanding that resurrection in my game worlds is never a matter of shelling out gold pieces to a willing cleric.Gordon Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12907319916602597979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1197678759994283970.post-34342114935075668782012-06-04T22:05:33.531-04:002012-06-04T22:05:33.531-04:00I think the effect is somewhat important for a tra...I think the effect is somewhat important for a traditional D&D game though. Which is not to say that it should be easy to acquire, common, or without risk. Make it a quest, or a pact with the devil, or a boon only granted by Orcus.<br /><br />Not that there's anything wrong with variant games that lack raise dead, but there's also no need to take things to their logical conclusions (I mean, think of the logical conclusions of reliable continual light spells; that way lies Eberron or other "magitech" type settings).Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.com