Wacky resurrection hijinks

[Sanityfaerie]

We were discussing resurrecting skeletons, and I realized that there are some really interesting potential resurrection tricks out there.

For example, you can use Resurrection as a (somewhat demented) method of transportation. Cut off an earlobe, and leave it with a (very) trusted friend (or friendly organization) that's capable of casting Resurrect at level 7. Go off somewhere Very Far Away to do glorious things - possibly somewhere otherwise inescapable. Once your'e done, kill yourself and let your buddy resurrect you. Exfiltrating deep penetration moles has never been easier! If you have trusted friends with enough ritual ability on both sides, you can even use it as a way to pass messages! It gets even better if (for whatever reason) you have a body that can be rendered down for potentially valuable parts and/or the aforementioend friends can get meaningful value out of (repeatedly) sacrificing you. If nothing else, it's a great place to get ethically sourced corpses for zombies.

[Perpdepog]

You'd have to be very, very valuable as a corpse, I'd imagine. Resurrect isn't cheap even at the low end, and someone who has enough clout to get themself resurrected on demand doesn't sound low level.

[Sanityfaerie]

Perpdepog wrote:

You'd have to be very, very valuable as a corpse, I'd imagine. Resurrect isn't cheap even at the low end, and someone who has enough clout to get themself resurrected on demand doesn't sound low level.

The level 7 version (which is what you need to pull this trick off) is 300gp each time. I wasn't suggesting that you'd make a profit off of it directly, though. That quickly hits "too good to be true" levels, and gets the GM smackdown. I was mostly suggesting it as a way to defray costs.

[breithauptclan]

While that is amusing, I can't think of an actual adventure plot where that would be a meaningful point of the story.

Maybe I am just not creative enough. But I think it would just get tedious and bothersome to the GM. And maybe the other players too.

[graystone]

Sanityfaerie wrote:

The level 7 version (which is what you need to pull this trick off) is 300gp each time.

That's only for the spell: you have to include the cost of equipment you left behind [it'd not a very glorious adventure if you just carry around mundane equipment at that level].

[Mark Norfolk]

Cue the wierdness of being resurrected but still having a corpse (maybe a resurrected necromancer can animate his original skeleton)?

and maybe I'm missing something - but wouldn't telport be much easier?

[Sanityfaerie]

graystone wrote:

Sanityfaerie wrote:

The level 7 version (which is what you need to pull this trick off) is 300gp each time.

That's only for the spell: you have to include the cost of equipment you left behind [it'd not a very glorious adventure if you just carry around mundane equipment at that level].

Depends on exactly how you're using it, and on who you are. Some people need gear more than others... and in some cases gear can be locally sourced. Of course, there are variant rules that make the whole thing more manageable as well.

Mark Norfolk wrote:

Cue the wierdness of being resurrected but still having a corpse (maybe a resurrected necromancer can animate his original skeleton)?

and maybe I'm missing something - but wouldn't telport be much easier?

Teleport heightened to 7th has an upper limit of 1000 miles, and any higher tiers start adding in at least a few miles worth of fuzz factor for longer distances. Resurrect has no upper limit, and cannot be prevented by things like antimagic containment. Also, Teleport requires that you be a caster capable of casting 7th level arcane/occult spells. Resurrect just requires that you have friends capable of performing a 7th level ritual - allowing a much wider range of possible options.

Yes, it's true, this is weird and edge case. I called it wacky hijinks for a reason.

[Red Metal]

CRB pg. 408 wrote:

A ritual’s Cost entry lists valuable components required to cast the ritual. If a ritual doesn’t have any such components, it won’t have a Cost entry. The cost is consumed when you attempt the primary skill check. Costs are often presented as a base cost multiplied by the target’s level and sometimes the spell’s level. If the target’s level is lower than 1, multiply the cost by 1 instead. Heightened versions that increase the base cost multiply it by the target’s level or another value as appropriate. Most rituals that create permanent creatures, such as create undead, use costs based on the level of the spell, as presented on Table 7–1.

Resurrect wrote:

Cost diamonds worth a total value of 75 gp × the target’s level

Casting a 7th level resurrect increases the base cost to 300, the total cost is a lot more than that.

[Perpdepog]

Where as a single 7th-level scroll of Teleport would cost 300gp on its own. Or maybe 600gp; either way it's considerably cheaper and more time-efficient to use a couple of those to go in smaller jumps.

You also need to figure out how to sneak a sufficient number of people to a hostile, magic-protected place to do the ritual. The 7th level version needs a minimum of five people, I think, and 8th needs nine or ten.

[Errenor]

Red Metal wrote:

Resurrect wrote:

Cost diamonds worth a total value of 75 gp × the target’s level

Casting a 7th level resurrect increases the base cost to 300, the total cost is a lot more than that.

Yeah, only for 7th ritual 200, for 8th 300. So for 14th level char the cost is 2800, for 16th level - 4800.