Ok. Legit question for the dnd gurus out there.
How much leeway does the DM have for stuff like that? Like if they go to the smaller town, is there a table saying which spells are available? Couldn’t the DM just initiate an extra fight on the way to the town for adventures sake and claim “fortunately the towns temple has a cleric capable of resurrecting. You heroically saved your fallen comrade”
…And when the party leaves the temple, they notice that the templse has dissapeared. Also, the ressurected person has green horns growing out of his forehead.
The DM can do whatever they want. He could say “Oh, now that your eyes have adjusted to the dark, you notice the old skeleton of a long-past adventurer who also fell down this hole. Upon searching their belongings, you find a potion of resurrection! What luck!” But being a good DM is about being a good storyteller, about providing adventures and memories for your players. If you conveniently Deus Ex Machina every problem that arises, you’re not creating a meaningful story for the players to be involved in. There are times when a little convenience or help is required… Read more »
Not really. If you really want to annoy a character but not get the players pissed, you have the poor defenseless NPC. Are you going to be mad at yourself? But if you did your job right with the NPC the players will respond in wanting to help out that character. You just need to let them figure out how they want to do it.
A good DM also balances their story’s needs against their player’s time commitments. I had one DM that would find ways to expedite an event’s completion when IRL events intruded. in IRL, this bonus quest should run up against time constraints that would force a hard decision. Either the cliffhanger approach or the democratic (do we continue, yay or nay?) decision. 1 and 4 seem apathetic but 2 and 3 are both very invested in this event. I’m sad because I think it’s a wasted opportunity to see IRL party diplomacy. A lack of time management killed my last tabletop… Read more »
That’s exactly what I would do. But the priest would say:
“Well if I was back at my temple I’d have all my reagents and materials. You gotta go find me this critical material”
Then you can offer different ways to get the material. Someone knows where but they are asking a lot of money for info. But someone else implicates there’s a person you could rob who has a stash.
Every crisis is an opportunity for more choices and more paths!
I dunno, considering it was really a stream of unlucky dice rolls in a series of succession that got a character killed, I think it would be fine to do something like that.
It really depends on if the group as a whole is okay with this.
The RNG of the dice is part of the game, though. Sometimes you roll poorly, sometimes you roll great. If you hinge your campaign on the dice, you’re going to be swinging back and forth. Do you conversely punish players who roll too well? I feel like if you’re weighting your campaign based on the dice (it gets harder if they roll well, easier if they roll poorly) then you’re taking the meaning out of rolling well or poorly. I am of the opinion that story and enjoyment are always the top priority, but you need to maintain the dangers… Read more »
DM here- I have 100% complete leeway. The town has whatever I think it needs to make the adventure more entertaining.
That includes more entertaining for me, which in this cae would mean traveling for five days carrying an ever-ripening dead body and attracting all sorts of attention.
And that’s likely what he’s going to do, but he’s not going to levitate the corpse all the way to town. Number 2 will need to bring the corpse up with him then be the pack mule who transports it with them.
foducool
2 years ago
how about casting levitate body on the priest just to get him out of the hole?
The joke was that #1 IS the beast of burden the party shelters… and has a comparably low intelligence score.
Snark
2 years ago
Well, that raises (old) question – how much of a body do you need for resurrection? Since (in DnD) resurrection restores all lost limbs and parts of body (and only restrictions are “not died from old age or is undead”, “dead not longer than a century” and “soul is free and willing”… Maybe just the torso would be easier to carry? Or just the head? Ear? Pinky finger?.. On a side note, what if said body is burnt to ash?… Is it still possible to resurrect that person? What if we have only some of that ash? How much do… Read more »
Depends on the spell. The weakest is “Revivify”- it requires a more or less intact body that died within the last minute. It’ll heal them just enough that they don’t immediately die again but it won’t replace body parts. “Raise Dead” is the same, but gives you a ten day window. Regular “Resurrection” can restore missing body parts, but how much is up to the DM. I’ve always judged it as “non-vital parts”- missing limbs, okay, ‘all we have is this finger’… you’ll need the next step up. “True Resurrection” is the most powerful- it’ll bring back undead, purge curses,… Read more »
Leon
2 years ago
This time, One’s the asshole, not Two
Drew
2 years ago
“‘Weekend At Bernie’s’ kind of thing…”
Kinda dating yourself, there, Tim!
Lord Hideous
2 years ago
It’s a shame they didn’t think to levitate Tobyn’s body while he was still alive.
I’m not really sure why he’s so annoyed about carrying the loot and/or body. He’s not ACTUALLY carrying anything to play the game, and it’s not as if the other three (or two in this case) players walk faster than him or make him do anything special to keep up, so it doesn’t seem to be making the game harder for him to play. He doesn’t have to “roll or lose 10 HP because you’re tired” each turn or something to that effect, so I don’t see why it’s something that he’s complaining about. He’s obviously the character with the… Read more »
It’s a role-play thing. If you were the strongest person in your group of friends and they decided to strap 200lbs to your back and walk 7 miles a day, you’d probably be cranky too.
A large portion of the fun of DnD is playing a character with personality, quirks, traits, likes and dislikes.
No one wants to be a pack mule for their group of friends. Less so if it’s expected, rather than appreciated.
Thank you for the reply; it makes a lot of sense that if you’re role playing a character, you would want it to have personality traits and actually play as if you’re in the game
Xolodno
2 years ago
Am I the only one who is thinking…
Orc in LOTR movie; “Meat is back on the menu boys!”
24
“nevermind, i can survive off the cleric. meat’s already tenderized”
lol mmmm cannibalism…
Ok. Legit question for the dnd gurus out there.
How much leeway does the DM have for stuff like that? Like if they go to the smaller town, is there a table saying which spells are available? Couldn’t the DM just initiate an extra fight on the way to the town for adventures sake and claim “fortunately the towns temple has a cleric capable of resurrecting. You heroically saved your fallen comrade”
…And when the party leaves the temple, they notice that the templse has dissapeared. Also, the ressurected person has green horns growing out of his forehead.
The DM can do whatever they want. He could say “Oh, now that your eyes have adjusted to the dark, you notice the old skeleton of a long-past adventurer who also fell down this hole. Upon searching their belongings, you find a potion of resurrection! What luck!” But being a good DM is about being a good storyteller, about providing adventures and memories for your players. If you conveniently Deus Ex Machina every problem that arises, you’re not creating a meaningful story for the players to be involved in. There are times when a little convenience or help is required… Read more »
I believe this topic has come up in this series’ comment section before.
And since the DM is also the player needing resurrection, the odds are good that the party will get “lucky”.
Not really. If you really want to annoy a character but not get the players pissed, you have the poor defenseless NPC. Are you going to be mad at yourself? But if you did your job right with the NPC the players will respond in wanting to help out that character. You just need to let them figure out how they want to do it.
A good DM also balances their story’s needs against their player’s time commitments. I had one DM that would find ways to expedite an event’s completion when IRL events intruded. in IRL, this bonus quest should run up against time constraints that would force a hard decision. Either the cliffhanger approach or the democratic (do we continue, yay or nay?) decision. 1 and 4 seem apathetic but 2 and 3 are both very invested in this event. I’m sad because I think it’s a wasted opportunity to see IRL party diplomacy. A lack of time management killed my last tabletop… Read more »
Very well said Tim.
If a problem isn’t allowed to be a problem, then it should never have happened in the first place.
oh, vldl dnd sessions are the epitomy of this statement
That’s exactly what I would do. But the priest would say:
“Well if I was back at my temple I’d have all my reagents and materials. You gotta go find me this critical material”
Then you can offer different ways to get the material. Someone knows where but they are asking a lot of money for info. But someone else implicates there’s a person you could rob who has a stash.
Every crisis is an opportunity for more choices and more paths!
I dunno, considering it was really a stream of unlucky dice rolls in a series of succession that got a character killed, I think it would be fine to do something like that.
It really depends on if the group as a whole is okay with this.
The RNG of the dice is part of the game, though. Sometimes you roll poorly, sometimes you roll great. If you hinge your campaign on the dice, you’re going to be swinging back and forth. Do you conversely punish players who roll too well? I feel like if you’re weighting your campaign based on the dice (it gets harder if they roll well, easier if they roll poorly) then you’re taking the meaning out of rolling well or poorly. I am of the opinion that story and enjoyment are always the top priority, but you need to maintain the dangers… Read more »
DM here- I have 100% complete leeway. The town has whatever I think it needs to make the adventure more entertaining.
That includes more entertaining for me, which in this cae would mean traveling for five days carrying an ever-ripening dead body and attracting all sorts of attention.
Equate DM to “god” of that particular world. ‘Rule books’ are just guidelines. In fact, many of them even say as much.
So, DM can do whatever they well please. Provided everyone agrees. (If its too heinous, they’d probably all leave)
Rules Lawyer: If they are just guidelines why is it called a “Rule Book”?
Gygax: Because no one would buy a D&D “Guidelines Book”
You can levitate him out of the hole…
That would only work for a few minutes.
They don’t need minutes to get him out of the hole with levitate.
Which would be long enough to lift him out
I guess they have never heard of a rope. ?
And that’s likely what he’s going to do, but he’s not going to levitate the corpse all the way to town. Number 2 will need to bring the corpse up with him then be the pack mule who transports it with them.
how about casting levitate body on the priest just to get him out of the hole?
Getting the body out of the hole seems like it isn’t the problem at this point, it’s more what to do with it afterwards.
2 and 4 will have to carry the body. Someone still has to carry the gold. Resurrection can’t be cheap!
No one said the body needs to be in one piece…
Actually yes, if the magic requires the body it requires it on one piece otherwise missing limbs remain missing.
Yup, that’s kind of a glaring issue right now although it’ll probably be easier to have 2 and 4 split as much of the gold as they can carry.
Also, this will teach everyone involved to think of the Bag of Holding as an investment.
And the importance of the wizard knowing Tenser’s Floating Disk. Load it up with corpses and cash.
Ugh, that gonna smell after a couple days. >.<
So eat it while its fresh
Damn, that last line is cold.
But the body ain’t! xD
They should read page one of the story arc
Why?
The Pack Animal that 1 keep forgetting about 🙂
I’m not sure the Players are the ones that should re-read page 1 of the story arc 😉
There are two ways to read that … one would be useful here, the other one burdens the players.
The joke was that #1 IS the beast of burden the party shelters… and has a comparably low intelligence score.
Well, that raises (old) question – how much of a body do you need for resurrection? Since (in DnD) resurrection restores all lost limbs and parts of body (and only restrictions are “not died from old age or is undead”, “dead not longer than a century” and “soul is free and willing”… Maybe just the torso would be easier to carry? Or just the head? Ear? Pinky finger?.. On a side note, what if said body is burnt to ash?… Is it still possible to resurrect that person? What if we have only some of that ash? How much do… Read more »
Depends on the spell. The weakest is “Revivify”- it requires a more or less intact body that died within the last minute. It’ll heal them just enough that they don’t immediately die again but it won’t replace body parts. “Raise Dead” is the same, but gives you a ten day window. Regular “Resurrection” can restore missing body parts, but how much is up to the DM. I’ve always judged it as “non-vital parts”- missing limbs, okay, ‘all we have is this finger’… you’ll need the next step up. “True Resurrection” is the most powerful- it’ll bring back undead, purge curses,… Read more »
This time, One’s the asshole, not Two
“‘Weekend At Bernie’s’ kind of thing…”
Kinda dating yourself, there, Tim!
It’s a shame they didn’t think to levitate Tobyn’s body while he was still alive.
Then, he’d probably have gotten dropped again.
And Four says, “Oohhh! He bounced this time!”
I’m not really sure why he’s so annoyed about carrying the loot and/or body. He’s not ACTUALLY carrying anything to play the game, and it’s not as if the other three (or two in this case) players walk faster than him or make him do anything special to keep up, so it doesn’t seem to be making the game harder for him to play. He doesn’t have to “roll or lose 10 HP because you’re tired” each turn or something to that effect, so I don’t see why it’s something that he’s complaining about. He’s obviously the character with the… Read more »
There *are* still weight limits, even with high stats. Just because you’re ‘strong’ doesn’t mean you can cary absolutely any and everything.
You aren’t his player is just role playing his character being a dick.
It’s a role-play thing. If you were the strongest person in your group of friends and they decided to strap 200lbs to your back and walk 7 miles a day, you’d probably be cranky too.
A large portion of the fun of DnD is playing a character with personality, quirks, traits, likes and dislikes.
No one wants to be a pack mule for their group of friends. Less so if it’s expected, rather than appreciated.
Thank you for the reply; it makes a lot of sense that if you’re role playing a character, you would want it to have personality traits and actually play as if you’re in the game
Am I the only one who is thinking…
Orc in LOTR movie; “Meat is back on the menu boys!”