Bringing People Back - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Bringing People Back

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
knight_of_gondor
Dec 11, 2006 21:06:44 question for the gathering: "How does the Dragonlance setting handle, raising/resurecting characters from the dead?" If you look at several of the core novels (what I am refering to the Weis written ones) it seems that much of the drama revolves around the death of one person or another. Given the game's mechanics it would seem that much of the greiving could be solved with a simple spell.

I don't want to refer to any particular novel too much less I give something away, but unless there was an issue with the body destroyed/old age, the lack of divine magic of significant enough level, is there an official reason as why it seems no one ever gets reurrected? I realize the river of souls/soul must go to its place of resting is a significant factor in this series, but does this mean no one comes back?
#2
zombiegleemax
Dec 12, 2006 14:26:17 Thematically, yes.

It would negate the whole heroic death motif if your buds would simply drag you to the nearest temple and toss a small pouch at the high priest to get you back. DragonLance is not about 3 for a quarter play.

YMMV

Oggie
#3
frostdawn
Dec 13, 2006 16:15:15 Thematically yes. But in practice? Bring people back if you want, there's no real limitation on it in gaming terms.
#4
darthsylver
Dec 14, 2006 8:55:46 Yes, resurrections are possible. In the books however only one resurrection has ever been done (as far as I know), and I have read all th enovels to date. The only person that has ever been brought back to life was Cathan Twice-Born and he received a vision of the impending cataclysm.

For Krynn (and personnally, any realm) when considering resurrections one should consider the person's faith (the character to be brought back) and how their god (if they have one) see resurrections and also the cleri's faith (the cleric who will do the resurrection). Good-aligned faiths would probably be really hesitant about doing that, neutral-aligned faiths would have to be convinced that the resurrection served the balance, and the evil-aligned faiths would probably ask the soul of someone as payment.

Now when bringing back really devout characters they would probably resent being brought back as they were probably enjoying their afterlife (depending of course upon their patron god and whether they had served them sufficiently or not). As far as thsoe who do not believe who knows how they would react, but again who it would probably depend upon where their soul went when they died.

So as you can see, while it is allowed by the rules, the ramifactions and factors involved in the resurrection sometimes inhibit it. Even when Beldinas brought back Cathan it was not because he felt that it was something that Cathan wanted he do it because he felt that it was wrong for Cathan to have been killed saving Beldinas and that his death was wrong. It was more Beldinas defing the gods more than anything else.
#5
zombiegleemax
Dec 14, 2006 14:58:54 Adding in that Beldinas is apparently the only one to do this (with his other, er, issues), and you get a fair idea of the true answer to the OP's question.

Oggie
#6
cam_banks
Dec 14, 2006 16:00:52
Yes, resurrections are possible. In the books however only one resurrection has ever been done (as far as I know), and I have read all th enovels to date. The only person that has ever been brought back to life was Cathan Twice-Born and he received a vision of the impending cataclysm.

What, Goldmoon, Riverwind, and Crysania don't count? They all died and came back.

Cheers,
Cam
#7
darthsylver
Dec 14, 2006 21:23:58 Well Goldmoon didn't die, she was saved by Mishakel (and I am not sure how but I would have thought that Mishakel removed her from the material plane of existence) and then send back to bring knowledge of the true gods back into the world, and Riverwind wasn't dead just darned close.

I don't remember Crysania dying.

Besides if it was so easy to do then Goldmoon would have brought Sturm or Flint back, or Verminaard would have been sent back by Takhisis.

What I am trying to say is that resurrections are highly and extremely rare.
#8
falconer
Dec 15, 2006 3:36:48 Two comments:

1) Resurrection in Dragonlance tends to work the way it does in The Princess Bride. A successful resurrection of a dead character creates the effect of "Guess he wasn't Completely Dead after all, just Mostly Dead." For Crysania they called it a death-like stasis. Fine, whatever, they still had to send her back in time in order to get a cleric of high enough level to cast the resurrection.

2) In the DL literature we almost never see any high-level clerics. DL was designed so that clerical spells would be rare and precious. In both the War of the Lance time period and in the current Age of Mortals, we are dealing with a recent return of the gods, and therefore only newly established clerical orders. If your party's cleric (say, Goldmoon) ever reaches high enough level to cast resurrection, then by all means it is legit. But if you're looking for clerics at the local village chapel, you're SOL. The only other cleric you're likely to run into is your archnemesis cleric of opposite alignment (your Verminaard or Wyrllish). Regards.
#9
valharic
Dec 16, 2006 23:06:59
Well Goldmoon didn't die, she was saved by Mishakel (and I am not sure how but I would have thought that Mishakel removed her from the material plane of existence) and then send back to bring knowledge of the true gods back into the world, .

Yeah, she died. It was a very symbolic death and resurrection thing (comparable to Christ) that was a testement to the return of the gods.

I don't remember Crysania dying.

She died in the first Legends book when Soth Powerword Killed her. At the time no one was powerful enough to resurrect her, and that knowledge hadn't returned to the world. So they sent her back in time to be resurrected by the Kingpriest.

***********************************************

Yes, resurrection should be a rare thing. In my game they have the power of healing, but any resurrection is impossible, short of divine intervention. They must quest to discover this power and I have a whole thing layed out for them.

As a house rule, including other settings we play in, you can only be resurrected a number of times equal to your CON bonus, minimum one time. Unless the death is so symbolic and meaningful that it would harm the story, then we deny even that. Sturm's death for example. His death unified the Solamnics. If he could've been resurrected and done so, his death would have not meant much.
#10
zombiegleemax
Dec 22, 2006 12:24:42 Didnt Goldmoon also get killed by that guy that got turned into a shadow dragon?
#11
darthsylver
Dec 24, 2006 23:05:31 IIRC Dhamon attempted to strike down Goldmoon but Jasper jumped in the way.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 knight_of_gondor Dec 11, 2006 21:06:44	question for the gathering: "How does the Dragonlance setting handle, raising/resurecting characters from the dead?" If you look at several of the core novels (what I am refering to the Weis written ones) it seems that much of the drama revolves around the death of one person or another. Given the game's mechanics it would seem that much of the greiving could be solved with a simple spell. I don't want to refer to any particular novel too much less I give something away, but unless there was an issue with the body destroyed/old age, the lack of divine magic of significant enough level, is there an official reason as why it seems no one ever gets reurrected? I realize the river of souls/soul must go to its place of resting is a significant factor in this series, but does this mean no one comes back?
#2 zombiegleemax Dec 12, 2006 14:26:17	Thematically, yes. It would negate the whole heroic death motif if your buds would simply drag you to the nearest temple and toss a small pouch at the high priest to get you back. DragonLance is not about 3 for a quarter play. YMMV Oggie
#3 frostdawn Dec 13, 2006 16:15:15	Thematically yes. But in practice? Bring people back if you want, there's no real limitation on it in gaming terms.
#4 darthsylver Dec 14, 2006 8:55:46	Yes, resurrections are possible. In the books however only one resurrection has ever been done (as far as I know), and I have read all th enovels to date. The only person that has ever been brought back to life was Cathan Twice-Born and he received a vision of the impending cataclysm. For Krynn (and personnally, any realm) when considering resurrections one should consider the person's faith (the character to be brought back) and how their god (if they have one) see resurrections and also the cleri's faith (the cleric who will do the resurrection). Good-aligned faiths would probably be really hesitant about doing that, neutral-aligned faiths would have to be convinced that the resurrection served the balance, and the evil-aligned faiths would probably ask the soul of someone as payment. Now when bringing back really devout characters they would probably resent being brought back as they were probably enjoying their afterlife (depending of course upon their patron god and whether they had served them sufficiently or not). As far as thsoe who do not believe who knows how they would react, but again who it would probably depend upon where their soul went when they died. So as you can see, while it is allowed by the rules, the ramifactions and factors involved in the resurrection sometimes inhibit it. Even when Beldinas brought back Cathan it was not because he felt that it was something that Cathan wanted he do it because he felt that it was wrong for Cathan to have been killed saving Beldinas and that his death was wrong. It was more Beldinas defing the gods more than anything else.
#5 zombiegleemax Dec 14, 2006 14:58:54	Adding in that Beldinas is apparently the only one to do this (with his other, er, issues), and you get a fair idea of the true answer to the OP's question. Oggie
#6 cam_banks Dec 14, 2006 16:00:52	Yes, resurrections are possible. In the books however only one resurrection has ever been done (as far as I know), and I have read all th enovels to date. The only person that has ever been brought back to life was Cathan Twice-Born and he received a vision of the impending cataclysm. What, Goldmoon, Riverwind, and Crysania don't count? They all died and came back. Cheers, Cam
#7 darthsylver Dec 14, 2006 21:23:58	Well Goldmoon didn't die, she was saved by Mishakel (and I am not sure how but I would have thought that Mishakel removed her from the material plane of existence) and then send back to bring knowledge of the true gods back into the world, and Riverwind wasn't dead just darned close. I don't remember Crysania dying. Besides if it was so easy to do then Goldmoon would have brought Sturm or Flint back, or Verminaard would have been sent back by Takhisis. What I am trying to say is that resurrections are highly and extremely rare.
#8 falconer Dec 15, 2006 3:36:48	Two comments: 1) Resurrection in Dragonlance tends to work the way it does in The Princess Bride. A successful resurrection of a dead character creates the effect of "Guess he wasn't Completely Dead after all, just Mostly Dead." For Crysania they called it a death-like stasis. Fine, whatever, they still had to send her back in time in order to get a cleric of high enough level to cast the resurrection. 2) In the DL literature we almost never see any high-level clerics. DL was designed so that clerical spells would be rare and precious. In both the War of the Lance time period and in the current Age of Mortals, we are dealing with a recent return of the gods, and therefore only newly established clerical orders. If your party's cleric (say, Goldmoon) ever reaches high enough level to cast resurrection, then by all means it is legit. But if you're looking for clerics at the local village chapel, you're SOL. The only other cleric you're likely to run into is your archnemesis cleric of opposite alignment (your Verminaard or Wyrllish). Regards.
#9 valharic Dec 16, 2006 23:06:59	Well Goldmoon didn't die, she was saved by Mishakel (and I am not sure how but I would have thought that Mishakel removed her from the material plane of existence) and then send back to bring knowledge of the true gods back into the world, . Yeah, she died. It was a very symbolic death and resurrection thing (comparable to Christ) that was a testement to the return of the gods. I don't remember Crysania dying. She died in the first Legends book when Soth Powerword Killed her. At the time no one was powerful enough to resurrect her, and that knowledge hadn't returned to the world. So they sent her back in time to be resurrected by the Kingpriest. *********************************************** Yes, resurrection should be a rare thing. In my game they have the power of healing, but any resurrection is impossible, short of divine intervention. They must quest to discover this power and I have a whole thing layed out for them. As a house rule, including other settings we play in, you can only be resurrected a number of times equal to your CON bonus, minimum one time. Unless the death is so symbolic and meaningful that it would harm the story, then we deny even that. Sturm's death for example. His death unified the Solamnics. If he could've been resurrected and done so, his death would have not meant much.
#10 zombiegleemax Dec 22, 2006 12:24:42	Didnt Goldmoon also get killed by that guy that got turned into a shadow dragon?
#11 darthsylver Dec 24, 2006 23:05:31	IIRC Dhamon attempted to strike down Goldmoon but Jasper jumped in the way.