d20UTH - Death Penalties
My group had its first death in 4e. Since this is a fairly rare occurrence in one of my campaigns I wasn't up to speed on the rules regarding dying and being brought back in 4e.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw how little bite death had. It basically boils down to a -1 penalty for three milestones (6 encounters) and an inexpensive ritual (500gp for the materials).
I think dying should have a little more consequence than that, plus raising the dead has never been as convenient in my campaign as in most.
As for the "bite" part, that's easy crunch to implement. When a character is brought back from the dead, they lose 1 Constitution point. Sound familiar?
The rest of it is campaign "fluff". In my world, only the priests of the god of death, Ardduin, can use the Raise Dead ritual. They charge a 100% mark up over the components and you have to make a case as to why the deceased deserves to be brought back. (Yes, it is a role-playing game after all). Ardduin isn't keen on people going back and forth from the Realm of the Dead. But that doesn't mean just people that save puppies and orphans get to be brought back... think more along the lines of unfinished business and great destiny kind of stuff. Ardduin tends to be N-LN under the old alignment system.
Of course, the deceased could always take his chances with a druidic Reincarnation ritual. I still have that table somewhere.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw how little bite death had. It basically boils down to a -1 penalty for three milestones (6 encounters) and an inexpensive ritual (500gp for the materials).
I think dying should have a little more consequence than that, plus raising the dead has never been as convenient in my campaign as in most.
As for the "bite" part, that's easy crunch to implement. When a character is brought back from the dead, they lose 1 Constitution point. Sound familiar?
The rest of it is campaign "fluff". In my world, only the priests of the god of death, Ardduin, can use the Raise Dead ritual. They charge a 100% mark up over the components and you have to make a case as to why the deceased deserves to be brought back. (Yes, it is a role-playing game after all). Ardduin isn't keen on people going back and forth from the Realm of the Dead. But that doesn't mean just people that save puppies and orphans get to be brought back... think more along the lines of unfinished business and great destiny kind of stuff. Ardduin tends to be N-LN under the old alignment system.
Of course, the deceased could always take his chances with a druidic Reincarnation ritual. I still have that table somewhere.
posted by Oz at 2:48 PM
1 Comments:
I don't think it's a coincidence that it's easy to raise the dead and that it's the first time you've had a character die in a while. Near-death and death are the stuff of semi-fluff gaming.
PS come over soon. I need to brew beer.
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