So, I recently noticed that the Pathfinder rendition of the Reincarnate spell says that it CAN bring someone back from the dead who has died of old age. This is starkly in contrast with every other Reincarnate I know.
Per Pathfinder
"The spell can bring back a creature that has died of old age."
Per 3.5
"The spell cannot bring back a creature who has died of old age."
My question is simple: Is this change intentional, or an oversight?
As Rsyky said.
And it does not matter. It is that way in the rulebook, so it can be used in that way.
It is also reasonable for the spell to work like this. All the other spells raise the body from the dead. And when he wakes up old age gets him and he dies again. Reincarnate on the other hand places your soul into a new body. That would typically be at the age of zero (I am thinking the buddhism wheel of life here), but for playability it is young adult.
It might have been introduced because of setting-specific needs, at least one named NPC relied on this spell for purpose of extending his life past the normal limits on Golarion.
As others have said: whether or not it was intentional, the change was made, and especially for a Core Rulebook spell there's been plenty of chances for errata if they wanted it changed. So feel free to reincarnate anyone you like, old folks included. :)
(One of my possible Hell's Rebels characters has this as a she-doesn't-know-it-yet retirement plan, actually. She was damned to Hell by a poorly-thought-through infernal contract made by her mother before she was born, and she's going to be...I don't know if pleased is the right word? Grimly thankful for a plan, perhaps, when she finds out she'll be able to use Forced Reincarnation on herself to cheat the contract forever in a string of new bodies. Not fun, perhaps, but better than eternal suffering - at least she's got a chance at being a force for good alive.)
So, I recently noticed that the Pathfinder rendition of the Reincarnate spell says that it CAN bring someone back from the dead who has died of old age. This is starkly in contrast with every other Reincarnate I know.
Per Pathfinder
"The spell can bring back a creature that has died of old age."Per 3.5
"The spell cannot bring back a creature who has died of old age."My question is simple: Is this change intentional, or an oversight?
Civility is a foreign concept to gamers still I see...
The polite approach is to assume that all changes are intentional unless proven otherwise. Coming out with a question that has language that parses out. "Did you mean this, or are you simpy imcompetent blokes?" isn't going to motivate a dev who's heard this idiocy timeless amounts of times before to respond.
Keep in mind that Druids pretty much have exclusive access to this spell, and presumably aren't going to simply prostitute access to it. It's also a spell of decent level which is going to cut down the amount of possible casters as well.
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Given classes like the Shigenjo and Heavens spirit Shaman which eventually (usually at 20th level) achieve immortality by reincarnating (per the spell) when they die (of any cause) it seems clear to me that the change to the spell was intentional and has been carried through to other aspects of the game for years now.
So, I recently noticed that the Pathfinder rendition of the Reincarnate spell says that it CAN bring someone back from the dead who has died of old age. This is starkly in contrast with every other Reincarnate I know.
Per Pathfinder
"The spell can bring back a creature that has died of old age."Per 3.5
"The spell cannot bring back a creature who has died of old age."My question is simple: Is this change intentional, or an oversight?
Sufficiently close to intent- if it's a mistake, it's one that was noticed, easy to fix, and still passed up on multiple occasions where it could be corrected during reprintings.
