Resurrection?

[Asperion]

Adventuring is a tough and difficult life for those who desire to take that way. Frequently things will take a turn against the hero and they have a great possibility of death. When that happens,  can they be resurrected? If yes,  what is the method - tech/magic/other? What is the price for being brought back? Are they fully healed or still need healing? Is there a limit to resurrection? Any other problems with this? 

[Sketchpad]

I kind of enjoy the Critical Role take on Resurrections. At it's base, it's a ritual spell that requires those casting to "sacrifice" a few things to appease the gods. Maybe it's a feather, or a nice jacket, or even some coin. A variety of rolls are made based on the offerings by each participant (who also each offer something). If successful, the being is brought back. If the rolls aren't great, maybe they're brought back with a problem, or maybe a pact is made. If failed, the soul is laid to rest and cannot be resurrected in this manner again. 

[unclevlad]

Well, in system terms, Resurrection is just an adder (to Regen) in 5E and 6E.  Your regen remains in place, kicking it at its defined rate.  When you reach positive BODY, or when you're stabilized even tho at negative BODY, you wake back up.  The rules state there should be a method to prevent the resurrection from happening...like the D&D troll, where you gotta burn it.  Or a Highlander...cut off the head.  Otherwise, there's no limit.  The rules (6E1 274) also describe the character's state...no, he's not fully healed, but he starts getting normal Recoveries, and his regen continues.

 

The price, the method...at GM discretion.  It is a STOP sign adder, so even buying it with character points is not a given...especially in 5E, where it's cheaper.  (The Regen itself is MUCH cheaper, the Resurrect less so, but still...it's 6 points less, IIRC.)  To allow someone to resurrect someone else...that's "do what you want."  In my experience, personal regen is *extremely* rare in all genres, for PCs and NPCs.  Some monsters have it, or something close enough to it, but that's pure Plot Device.  It's generally possible only in fairly high-magic fantasy...and even then, I think, it's rare in fantasy literature that isn't tied to, or inspired by, a gaming system.  Garion did it twice in Eddings...once was a horse, which was setting it up so he could do it with Durnik...but that was plot device * prophecy * deus ex machina.  I remember Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series...which had ties to D&D, albeit loosely.  One significant character had to be resurrected, and it was a HUGE!!! deal.  In fantasy, it's usually connected to divine magic...and it's always just about the highest expression of divine power.

 

In supers...geeze, I can remember 1 character whose major power was "personal statis."  He activated the power, and his body simply did not change.  Couldn't get sick, couldn't get poisoned.  Damaged?  FAST regeneration.  Chest blown out...which happened at one point...his whole body would pull itself together in moments.  And it freaked everyone out when it happened.  Construct-style duplicators...not biological bodies, but essentially energy forms...it's the norm that blowing away one of the duplicates means nothing, as the progenitor can always make more.  In Hero, it's easiest to say the dups have Resurrection, but I don't think many of us would consider it's the same thing.

 

In high-tech fantasy...if resurrection is even possible, you're basically playing high-magic fantasy, substituting a blaster for a wand.  Medicine is well-advanced, most of the time...so the notion of "dead" shifts.  Brain death is the key...as it can be even now.  A complete cardiac arrest isn't fatal...until the brain stops functioning.  Before that, it's just dying;  when brain activity ceases, it's Dead.  I can't offhand think of a case where resurrection is possible...unless it's pure plot device, like Tony's Snap, or *maybe* a case where you have a god-like alien, or insanely, ridiculously advanced tech.  (At which point, it's just high fantasy, IMO.)  

 

My preference is, bringing someone back from the dead in a game should be a campaign-level event...it should notably impact the entire storyline from there on out.  If it's easy, and relatively low-cost...then where's the risk?  Where's the dramatic tension?  

[Asperion]

Different games have brought in a different view of how death operates. In the Schlock comic and game,  they have a standard system that allows one to resurrect anyone at anytime. This is in addition to other games that have created other methods that make resurrection possible. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

I really like the Rolemaster version of resurrection.  You can only be raised within a short time of death, before the soul leaves the body.  However, if you use certain rituals, magic, herbs, etc you can extend the amount of time a soul remains in the body before you can be raised again.

[unclevlad]

15 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

I really like the Rolemaster version of resurrection.  You can only be raised within a short time of death, before the soul leaves the body.  However, if you use certain rituals, magic, herbs, etc you can extend the amount of time a soul remains in the body before you can be raised again.

 

Raise Dead in D&D had a limit of 1 day per caster level, and the body had to be whole;  it did NOT regrow missing limbs.  Resurrection was 2 levels higher...and probably should've been elevated even more in 3E, when clerics went from 7 to 9 spell levels, but they probably chose to not break existing characters.  Resurrection worked with any fraction of a body part.

 

Both spells actually were also expensive...even if cast by a party member.  5000 gp for Raise, 10,000 for Resurrect.  This was less than effective in practice, tho, because practically no one used the wealth/treasure rules as written, they gave out more.  And there were rules about getting an NPC to cast spells for the party...it got expensive for normal spells, much less these two.  The rules said, IIRC, that 7th level spells draw the direct attention of the deity, or at least of a high-end servant...who can darn well say NO.  Which is a really good way for the cleric to hose himself...so he may need something more than mere money.

 

There's no uniform approach;  I'd call D&D's a middle-of-the-road approach, where the Schlock might be on the Trivial end, and "no, it can't be done" on the other...IIRC, Shadowrun.