MnemonicSync's page

Some alternate requirements/drawbacks to resurrection, all off the top of my head. Some of them are of the "you come back wrong" variety... but, what the heck, here are interesting options anyway:

1) Resurrections require legitimately rare material components: Heart of an old dragon, crystallized god-breath, etc. Let's face it, although acquiring a solid ####gp diamond should be an ordeal, it often isn't.

2) Resurrections require a soul in exchange: The party must find an NPC willing (not magically forced, or coerced) to give their life to save the dead PC. Heroes with good reputations will have an easier time with this, though guilt may be a issue.

3) Resurrections require a special place and/or time of day/week/month to be performed properly: Only during a full moon, on a mountain peak, etc. Should be handled carefully, depending on campaign setting/style.

4) Resurrections require additional cooperative casters depending on number of times the character has died: One caster for first or second death, two casters cooperating for third or fourth death, etc. Basically, people who die often require more casters to petition their god on the PC's behalf.

5) Resurrections after a certain number become Reincarnations instead. Can be a major curve to any PC, though may potentially open avenues of opportunity as well.

6) Resurrections after a certain number begin to erode the character's being, potentially undoing any attribute increases normally acquired every fourth level (or the highest attribute score, if the increases are unknown). This penalty is limited to some extent (at some point, you can't get any worse).

7) Resurrections after a certain number begin to alter the PC: For every resurrection, the PC must change his last feat selection to a feat that he/she has never had before. Penalizes (delays) PCs who are striving for specific builds.

8) Resurrections shorten the PCs lifespan: Whenever a PC is brought back to life, subtract 10% of the PC's venerable age listing in years from the PC's maximum age. For example, a human (venerable age: 70) has 7 years subtracted from his/her maximum age whenever brought back from the dead. When current age exceeds maximum age, further resurrections fail (barring deific intervention). An "invisible" mechanic, but may work for long-term campaigns.

9) Resurrections after a certain number bestow permanent curses upon the PC's loved-ones. No problem for villains, but heroes may wince at the idea.

10) Resurrections after a certain number cause physical manifestations: Eyes become bloodshot, skin turns pale, hair whitens/falls out, etc. More of an aesthetic effect, but NPCs may recognize such symptoms and have superstitions/prejudices about anyone showing them.

11) Resurrections after a certain number cause the PC's soul to become fractured: When the PC is raised, a number of corpses elsewhere (somewhere within the region) become skeletons/zombies/worse which must be exterminated. Until they are destroyed, the permanent negative level upon being raised cannot be removed by any means. The undead should probably have total HD appropriate to be a significant challenge to the party.

That's all I got for now. As a GM, #11 would have the most appeal to me personally I think. Clerics would likely make the party promise to eliminate such threats as a condition to resurrect the fallen hero.

I'd make it a Heal check, rather than a Perception check:

Hmmm, hadn't thought of using Heal. I like it. Seems fitting.

#2. 'cause as the spell is now, you can turn a dead mouse into a dead mammoth with just a few castings.

Or your dead team-mate into a dead Tarrasque, before bringing him back to life...

Good point. Personally, I'd keep it instantaneous; Though I'd add a caveat that further castings are ineffective, unless used to return the corpse to it's original (natural) state.

The spell is clear about Raise Dead and the like though: You would return to life as your original appearance.

As implied in the title, I've been looking over the spell Sculpt Corpse of late, and I must say the rules of the spell seem to fly in the face of how magic "typically" works in the game.

As an instantaneous spell, the magic that alters the corpse to appear as something else has come and gone (ie: the corpse is not subject to an ongoing magical effect after it has been altered). Yet, a Will saving throw is required to notice it has been altered (ie: you must resist a mental/magical effect to notice something is amiss). Maybe I'm a little old-school, but this just feels "icky" to me. Requiring a Will save to notice something like this just seems counter-intuitive.

I have 2 suggestions to "fix" this spell:

1) Ditch the Will saving throw entirely, and replace it with a Perception skill check to notice something awry (the smell is wrong, it's visually off a bit, weight is not-quite-right, etc...). The DC of the check would be what the Will save DC would be (10 + Spell Level + Modifier), or alternately, the DC would be the result of a Disguise skill check made by the caster.

I prefer this solution myself (with Skill Check DC = Will save DC). I would have also alternatively suggested a Spellcraft skill check (to notice something has been altered/created by a magical effect), but apparently that was only a 3/3.5e convention.

2) Change the duration from instantaneous to permanent (so there is actually some magical effect to save against). I might even go so far as to add the Mind-Affecting descriptor, or change the spell type to Illusion (Glamer), though it may not be necessary to do so.

I dislike this solution as it still feels a little clumsy to me, and it adds further complications to the effect of the spell.

Opinions?

BMI ~ 17 is pretty slender (maybe even too slender), true. However, your use of BMI as an indicator inspired me to try out another example for comparison: The elf.

Now, I understand that another race's BMI isn't necessarily something we could guess at accurately (since we only know human BMI values), but it can still be useful as a comparison tool.

A female elf has a BMI that ranges from 15.5 (shortest) to 15.3 (tallest). So, even more underweight (in our terms) than our changeling with a 5'2" base height. In this respect, I suppose 5'2" +2d4 doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me. :)

That's my thinking. I mean, one would think they would at least be as tall as the average of a medium sized race and a hag would be. 4'10" just isn't quite there. I'm thinking it was a minor typo.

Additionally, the only other races to use a +2d4 height modifier are small races (the only exception being dwarves/duergar). My thoughts are at least a +2d6 is more appropriate.

Apologies if this has been previously posted somewhere and I missed it.

I suspect the starting height and modifier for the Changeling race is a little... off. The description of the race suggests they are typically "tall and slender," yet 4'2" +2d4" doesn't quite fit that claim. What would/should the actual height be for a Changeling? I'm thinking 5'2" is likely more appropriate. Thoughts?