Last night a paladin was paralyzed and then coup de grace'd (71 hp damage). The paladin originally had 124 hp but was now dead. The cleric attempted Breath of Life (BoL). The gm and party were perplexed.
One person thought the paladin was alive having life "breathed" back into him. (New hit point total: 124 hp minus 71 damage but healed for the BoL amount). Another person thought the paladin was alive but with zero hp plus the BoL. A third thought the paladin was alive but minus his constitution plus BoL (too bad his con was high).
The GM ruled the paladin remained dead because the save was the equivalent of a "death effect". It was PFS play so the paladin used prestige points for a raise dead. The coup de grace was merely weapon damage, not a spell-like or supernatural effect that rips the soul from the body.
Having re-read raise dead, that doesn't work on "death effects."
Question: Does raise dead bring a character killed by a coup de grace back to life?