Ironworks Gaming Forum - Quick D&D question

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According to canon rules, how long after a person is killed is it "too late" to Raise them? I've heard 12 hours, and I've also heard 24 hours--after that, the body just isn't fresh anymore, so even if you did try to Raise them, they would die of the infection almost immediately.

So how long is too long? Khalid got whacked at the Bandit Camp, and 16.25 hours later at the Friendly Arm, Jaheira would really like to know what the odds are.

Depends. I do know that all spells restore the body enough so that they won't die of an infection or of, uh, being headless or something.. For the spell Raise Dead, I'm pretty sure you're in the clear here. I think the limit is, at the absolute least, 1 day per caster level, so you are probably safely within the limit. If you really feel guilty, go donate a few thousand gold to the temple and say you asked Gellana to cast Resurrection, which has a cozy limit of 1 year per caster level... but that might be overdoing it a bit.

When in doubt, roll d6.

1-2: Alas, the stench of Khalid informs you that his time has expired. Fear not though, with a little bit of salting, your party need not worry about protein for the next week or so.

3-4: Mere spells will not work at this point. A temple-grade resurrection is needed. Feeling rich lately?

5-6: Bah. Useless Khalid. Always quivering and wimpering when his fingers bleed. Fortunately, he has the constitution of a mule and a simple scroll will suffice this time.

would it be dependent more on constitution or HD?

I would imagine it to be both. If you have higher Constitution, that helps you physically withstand the process. If you have more HD, it implies that you've been around the block a few times and you're not going to let something like death keep you down.

Quote:

Raise Dead

(Necromancy)

Reversible

Sphere: Necromantic

Range: 30 yds.
Components: V, S
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 1 rd.
Area of Effect: 1 person
Saving Throw: Special

When the priest casts a raise dead spell, he can restore life to a dwarf, gnome, half-elf, halfling, or human (other creatures may be allowed, at the DM's option). The length of time that the person has been dead is of importance, as the priest can raise persons dead only up to a limit of one day for each experience level of the priest (i.e., a 9th-level priest can raise a person who has been dead for up to nine days).

Note that the body of the person must be whole, or otherwise missing parts are still missing when the person is brought back to life. Likewise, other ills, such as poison and disease, are not negated. The raised person must roll a successful resurrection survival check to survive the ordeal (see Table 3: Constitution) and loses 1 point of Constitution. Further, the raised person is weak and helpless, needing a minimum of one full day of rest in bed for each day or fraction he was dead. The person has 1 hit point when raised and must regain the rest by natural healing or curative magic.

A character's starting Constitution is an absolute limit to the number of times he can be revived by this means.

The somatic component of the spell is a pointed finger.

The reverse of the spell, slay living, grants the victim a saving throw vs. death magic. If the saving throw is successful, the victim sustains damage equal to that of a cause serious wounds spell--i.e., 2d8+1 points. Failure means the victim dies instantly.

Well, that just about sums it up :)Saves me the effort [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Edit: Woot woot, new avatar [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 10-24-2006, 05:49 AM: Message edited by: Raistlin Majere ]