K wrote:What does this mean for an RPG like DnD? I don't think you should be able to die involuntarily unless its wicked dramatic (swallowed by dinosaur, fell into lava, decapitated in a coup de grace, soul swallowed by cursed artifact, etc).
However, if someone beats you in combat, you do fall down into a coma. Maybe you wake up after a healing potion is forced down your throat and you have a never-healing chest wound that weeps blood or the potion didn't heal the lost eye the arrow went through.
And resurrection needs to be equally dramatic to match those dramatic deaths. If you got swallowed by a dinosaur, maybe you need to appease the Old Lizard King god so he'll let you be hatched from a lizard egg as a scaly version of yourself or be reborn in the Fires of the Phoenix's Aerie with eyes that burn forevermore.
Small deaths like "oops, I seem to have been on the wrong side of that Fireball" or "that gobbo just fucking shivved me" need small remedies like healing potions.
Seriously guys...this is DnD. If we can posit the existence of sex demons and planes of Elemental Vacuum, then I think we can figure out a narratively delicious mid-ground between skill-testing and death, and plot arcs and Pretty Princess Dress-up.
Goal: The point of this thread is to create alternate rules for character death. This is just brainstorming, so I have listed some terms/questions/ideas which people can respond to. Pick out any you like and state why you think the rules should go one way or another.
Heroic Destiny: The more powerful you are, the more destiny is intertwined with your fate. When you are capable of slaying Hezrou by yourself, your Destiny scoffs at being stopped by a stock Gobbo. Death does not have the same definition, the same ending. There are different levels of death and different levels of revivification required for death. Being killed by a Gobbo would require a healing potion, being killed by a commensurate opponent requires a ritual, and being killed by Mighty Demon requires a quest into hell to revive you.
Death Mark: When you are revived you receive a mark which manifests itself dependant upon the nature of your death.
How many degrees of death are there? 3? Small death, death, Great death? (Killing blow struck by an opponent more than 2 levels lower than you, an opponent up to +/- 2 levels different from you, an opponent 3 or more levels higher than you?)
How is degree of death decided? By opponent, by DM fiat, by situation?
How difficult is it for the party to revive you? Does it take an action, a few minutes, an hour, a day, an adventure, a quest, a campaign?
Is there a Final Death, which means that someone can’t be resurrected? Is there a ritual for Final Death? Is the difficulty of the Ritual of Final Death dependant upon your Heroic Destiny?
What is the level of your death when:
You are level 12, coup de graced in your sleep by level 1 gobbo and fed to his pigs? (body destroyed)
You are level 12, hit for 95% of your hp by a Pit Fiend, and then a gobbo gets the killing blow?
You are level 12, whittled for 95% of your hp by an army of gobbos, then a Pit Fiend gets the killing blow?
What happens when you are killed by a critical hit?
Are Death Marks you receive upon being revived always negative? Or sometimes positive, or both?
Are Death Marks just visual story fluff or a game mechanic?
If a game mechanic, are they +/- to your numbers? Or do they inhibit/add to your abilities?
Do multiple deaths reduce your effective Heroic Destiny?
Is there a chart for possible Death Marks, or by DM Fiat?
Other?