DM words from the heart!
Yeah about raise dead.... I generally don't like the concept of character coming back to life after they are dead at least... without some serious consequences. As a DM who wants to inspire fear of repercussions in your acts and lack of survival having someone throw 700GP at the problem and an extended rest a bit of a downer.
The flavour text of the ritual is
"You bend over the body of your slain comrade, applying sacramental unguents. Finally his eyes flutter open as he is restored to life."
You bend over for 8 hours and give life? Really?
I find the lack of information about what it takes to cast the Raise Dead ritual annoying and unless I'm forced to house rule it I feel they have been missed is an excellent role playing opportunity in this regard. Overtime I'll come up with mine.
As far as Rathkor is concerned his spirit is lost forever in the high plane of dreams and for the sake of avoiding reprisals with players killing eachother in each session I want to move on.
Overall though, I don't like the Raise Dead ritual though I am intrigued by it. I mean, all societies in Faerûn have grappled with the question of what happens beyond life. In a society where the ability to raise the dead exists the question becomes what does it take to bring a soul back and restore the body to life? What toll is imposed on the caster of such a spell? What is truly involved in casting such a ritual?
The individual being raised suffers some penalties until three milestones are reached, but the caster seemingly walks away with no implications. I would imagine that casting such a ritual is a very draining emotional and spiritual experience. I mean after all,
Jesus wept.
I don't want a player death to be an inconvenience. Where... opps I died. LOLs, extended rest or if as a DM being a bit of an asshole force you to go back to town pulling you out of the dungeon so you can have a Raise Dead ritual cast in town and then go back into the dungeon. Basically in a meta-game perspective this running around the block is done so that the dead character can get back in on the action.
This behavior causes us to miss a really great role playing moment. I mean, the guy who casts Raise Dead... I imagine that they invoke the power of their deity. Further to that they actively negotiate that the soul be returned and the body restored. This ritual in effect is a mortal is bargaining with a divine power.... a power that on a whim could make world altering decisions. This is not the type of being that you negotiate with lightly... as the cost will be far more than a few shitty hundred gold pieces.
I believe the caster invests a part of themselves in the ritual. Such a spiritual toll might manifest in a personal piece of themselves being taken away.
Anyways, as it stands in the book the Raise Dead ritual is a very easy way to bring a dead character back into the game. It allows the player to continue to play a character they have invested their time into with minimal penalties. As I said before campaign would be different and your repercussions will be noted and it's not the easy way.
I'll find a way some day to deal with this when another player dies in the campaign storyline. I just wasn't overly fond of having a murdered character come back to life as a Revenant in the same group and continue the drama as that is not what I want specifically my campaign to focus on.
Hope you understand.
