Returning to life without negative levels


Advice


Hi All,

I need some GM advice for my Pathfinder campaign.

My players are heading off on an especially dangerous quest. To help them along, I'd like to give them a magic item that will allow them to bring a limited number of their fallen comrades back to life, only without permanent negative levels. This could be equivalent to a Resurrection, Raise Dead, or even Reincarnate spell. Unfortunately, all three of those impose negative levels on the target, which is something I'd like to avoid.

I thought about a Ring of Three Wishes, but I don't want them to have carte blanche to order up whatever they like. I want this magic item to be only usable to bring back dead PCs, and only a limited number of times. Does anyone know of such an item, either in the core rules or from some 3rd party sourcebook?

Assuming the answer is "no," I'll have to create my own custom magic item. Something like the following:

Staff of Greater Reincarnation
Aura strong conjuration; CL 16th
Slot none; Price 115,000 gp; Weight 5 lbs.

Description

A staff of greater reincarnation is made of polished mahogany shod in gold and carved with images of various animals. This staff allows use of the following spells:
•Reincarnate (2 charges)
•Greater Reincarnate (3 charges)
This spell functions like Reincarnate, except that the target does not suffer any negative levels.

Construction Requirements

Craft Staff, reincarnate; Cost 90,000 gp.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Chernobyl


Staves can be recharged easily enough, so beware of them if you really want it to be a fixed number of reincarnations. You could just give them a ring of 3 wishes with the limitation that they can only use it to wish for true resurrection.


Custom Staff with a long lost low level spell in it that has 4 charges


BTW, the spells Restoration and Greater Restoration help alleviate the negative level pains.

Fore Restoration, it's only one negative level per week and 1000gp a pop, but at least you know that negative levels are only a temporary setback and not a permanent liability.


The effect you want sounds like True Resurrection. Did you consider the possibility that your PCs might sell your staff / Resurrection item?

A kind of homebrew Contingency - True Resurection might work, but you'll have to tweak it because the two spells are on different spell lists, it technically requires CL 27, and Contingency is personal. On the plus side, your PCs won't sell it.

In my game, I once gave each of my PCs one 'free death', where, if they died, then instead, they suffer a grievous wound, but after a day, they're okay. But that solution was kind of a metagame solution rather than an in-game solution that you're looking for.


Thanks all.

We ended up using a "special" staff of life that didn't impose the negative levels.

Now, after two random encounters, the party has used up all the charges! They're now completely terrified of dying and are being suitably cautious as they proceed through the dungeon. So I'd call it a success.

Regards,
Chernobyl


The psionic equivalents of raise dead and so forth have a shorter window in which you can raise the target, and have no material component cost and inflict no negative levels (unless you are late to the corpse).

See psionic revivify.


Scrolls of True Resurrection?

Sovereign Court

You could give them a few doses of oil of life created from a philospher's stone.


You can always make a desperate temple in the next city that will gladly raise your friend if they will just do a quest in return!
And when the players are higher level they can solve it themselves, so the desperate temple is basically a low level solution


I'd be super wary of giving players an easy or cheap get out of jail free card. Knowing they can resurrect for free will make them less cautious, less tactical or less likely to work together.

Where's the sense in achievement if you do a "tough" quest when you know you're allowed to die multiple times.


Deadalready wrote:
Where's the sense in achievement if you do a "tough" quest when you know you're allowed to die multiple times.

Couldn't agree more!

The Exchange

Well, that depends on how tough we're talking. Some folks seem to feel an adventure isn't "tough" until its body count passes the Battle of Gettysburg. Will there be wandering packs of banshees?

Anyhow: sounds like Ch3rnobyl figured out a way. Personally I rather liked that philosopher's stone idea.


Mess happen! Death is bread and butter of every adventurer. Sounds to me your group might be more inclined playing a different kind of adventure : city setting, social set up, political intrigue or not dangerous at first look underground of slauther.

To the OP, scapegoat : 1 use item that heal your hp fully and get destroy when you die.

And help them out in the dungeon fist : hireling, pet, ally, cohort, summoning, clever illusion, build tactic, diplomacy, stealth, ect. Most importantly RUN AWAY TODAY TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY special divine power of epic lv.

Obviously all those tricks can only be achieved by a high lv (35+) requirering long and sleepless night min-maxer powergaming and exploiting every single typo in the crb. Nah! The lv 0 commoner whit 1 hp and 3 as highest ability can make use of it. Why go whit artifact-like ability magic item for free when the group havent come to simple every day strategy. Speak whit your group and see why they die in the first place. If the dice TPK then : MESS HAPPEN.!


Breath of Life.
Relentless Healing (Su) (Mythic)

You can also give them all the Mythic ability "Hard to Kill (Ex): Whenever you're below 0 hit points, you automatically stabilize without needing to attempt a Constitution check. If you have an ability that allows you to act while below 0 hit points, you still lose hit points for taking actions, as specified by that ability. Bleed damage still causes you to lose hit points when below 0 hit points. In addition, you don't die until your total number of negative hit points is equal to or greater than double your Constitution score."


Divine intervention and keep total control whitout incresing wealth. there was an old artartifact that auto resurect anyone attuned to it ( toutch it ) and on the same plane whitout limit to # of user. Whit the little knack it travel plane now and then never staying for long. Again you control it and no $ bonus and it can make an adventure by itself. Just remember this orb resurect ppls at its area whitout any gear at all.

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