I had a PC get killed during the battle to save farshore. He was the party cleric...thus no more ressurection spells What I'd like to do is stage a sidequest adventure of somekind that will allow the PC's to have the cleric brough back to life. I'd really like to involve the Olman gods (Zotzilaha?)and perhaps tie it into the storyline of the STAP somehow...you guys have any ideas??? Have any of you done anything like this for one of your dead PC's?
thanks in advance.
thanks in advance.I had a PC get killed during the battle to save farshore. He was the party cleric...thus no more ressurection spells What I'd like to do is stage a sidequest adventure of somekind that will allow the PC's to have the cleric brough back to life. I'd really like to involve the Olman gods (Zotzilaha?)and perhaps tie it into the storyline of the STAP somehow...you guys have any ideas??? Have any of you done anything like this for one of your dead PC's?
thanks in advance.
bah, the funky board ate my first (lengthy) brainstorm.
this one will be shorter...
for one, yes we do this (almost) regularly, since (in our little campaign world ) raising the dead is usually defiance of fate, hence the gods, and their will be "feedback" (often of a most displeased kind ).
The Olmani have a pretty spiritualistic mindset, and although I would count out Zozihlla (unless you are looking for a sizable funeral pyre ) on this one, the Olmani afterlife should work fine
- Escort the soul of a great olmani (warrior ?) who has recently passed on, but not reached the afterlife (much to the relevant powers chagrin ) yet. They send angry dreams to the olmani shaman,who find that this soul needs to be escorted to the shores of the Styx, for a plethora of reasons (say a curse, a vow it took in this life, the manner of its death ). The lands bordering on the "Afterlife" (demi-plane ? Linking to the Styx perhaps ? ) are taboo for the Olmani, so the characters look like the logical choice.
What follows is finding the soul and what is keeping it tied to this world or hinering its passage, then escorting to down, and negotiate an exchange of souls with Charon or whoever is guarding tha gets of Olmani afterlife. Have them have a harrowing jounrey back into the real world, "rebirthing" their slain comrade in return. this may involve great personal risk to his recuers, including permanent physcial/spiritual loss, change, curses or even part-time poesssion
- Waking the Dead. The Olmani are unable to help the PCs directly, but tell them of an old, ill-reputed shrine where the Olmani powers of Life, Death and Rebirth were venerated once and are still strong. The characters must bring their comrade there, and guard his body for three consecutive nights underground.... asssailed mercilessly by ghoul hordes, creeping vermin, swarms of bats, muttering Allips and murderous plant-life/fungi trying to infest the body of the Dead. Include a final test to make sure the right soul returns with the body =) And don't make the outcome obvious.....
- Placating the Spirits. Go for a reincarnation by the Olmani (yes, there will be level loss, and a strange body...). Then tag on a quest for reuniting the reborn character with his "old self", or generate a merger of the two. Possibly involving the concept of self-sacrifice to prove one's worth to remain in "this world" for some more time (this may prove awkward depending upon the clerics portfolio ).
- Return of the Unliving Dead - the cleric character will be "raised" by the Olmani spirit shaman and necormancers, but his body will still be dead. He now has a short timespan, to find the hidden path to the "fountain of rebirth", and have his crumbling body rejuvenated, before he dies again. The problem ? The excessive lifeforce near that fountain (possibly on a demi-plane, to which the shamans send the group to find the fountain ) makes for all manners of strange occurences, like the positively charged lifeforms from the planar handbook. ...and these don't really like the "unliving" entity entering their realm... plus, the sheer power of the lifeforce, starts having strange effects on the characters living companions, possibly warping /marking them permanently, un-aging them (slowly turning them into children ? ), making growths or fey-aspects erupt from them
etc etc etc. ?
I hope this proves inspirational
I don’t have any suggestions for your “current” predicament however…
Semi-Spoilers
Later in the game when you start Planes-hopping you could adopted the same kind of “resurrection system” one the DMs I play under use.
When a player dies in the planes(scape); he dies and passes on to his Deities realm or alignment appropriate-plane for the godless heathens. At that point our DM usually says “Alright, he’s dead… Go get him.”
Thus involves a lengthy quest to go retire the departed soul and beg whatever power has hold of him to return him to us. That is if we know where a portal to that realm is, or at lest have the corresponding attuned “tuning fork” martial component for a planeshift.
-Non-evil aligned planes/powers usually mean doing as quest and some heavy diplomacy.
-Evil Aligned planes/devil/demons usually means “pain” for us players… and usually ends in a jail break anyway.
Needless to say it’s an excellent system to ensure that players stick together and not take the resurrection spells for granted.
Also helps motivate players to use Good-align character who worship good aligned gods… Very effective.
I saw your other thread but didn't have any ideas. Now that I know you're running Savage Tide I have an idea.
I am in favor of the buy now, pay later plan. One of the many opponents of Demogorgon could front the magic to resurrect the cleric. The only catch is the party now owes them and will state later what they need to do to be even.
This allows the cleric to get back in the action quickly and gives you time to think of a side quest or payment that the party can deliver. As well you can play with it and give the cleric some strange new attributes...
Oops. My suggestion in the other thread probably won't work. I'll bet Malcanthet wants that cleric back in action, though. Or, if he's a cleric of Procan, you can arrange a miracle. Have them bury the body at sea (canvas bag, lead weights, etc.). The body splashes down and starts sinking. A few minutes later, the cleric rises to the surface and calls up to his buddies to lower the pilot ladder so he can climb up. In his near-death experience dreams, he has some sort of vision of something he needs to do to pay Procan back--this is a great alternative lead-in to the next adventure, which as I recall requires some fairly serious railroading anyway to get the PCs to Scuttlecove. Maybe Procan wants to found a shrine in that corrupt pirate-town. It'll cost something comparable to what the appropriate dead-raising magic would have cost.