Balancing the Scales

For one to live, another must die, and the caster and her companions must send a new soul to the underworld to take the place of the one they’re calling back. The sacrifice must be a willing volunteer, fully aware that he is giving his life for the deceased and choosing to do so anyway or is compelled by magic (in which case makes the resurrection an evil act). Furthermore, the goddess of the dead and of fate demands that the sacrificial victim either be of the same alignment, or worship the same god, as the deceased.

Resurrection might not work perfectly. Sometimes, the individual who returns to life is changed by the experience. Sometimes, the individual who returns to life isn’t the person the caster wanted at all.

When attempting to return the dead to life, the caster must succeed on a Knowledge (religion) or Spellcraft check. The DC is equal to 15 plus either the number of days the victim has been dead (for raise dead or reincarnate) or the number of decades the victim has been dead (for resurrection or true resurrection). The DM makes this roll, not the player. Unlike most Skill checks, a natural 1 is always a failure, regardless of modifiers. If the result is a success, the spell works normally. If the check is a failure, however, the DM should roll d% and consult the table in Heroes of Horror chapter 4, page 80. (This mishap reduces standard level loss by one level)

Finally, any character brought back to life by such magic is severed from the loom of fate.

Should they die again, no matter what the cause, they will be doomed to wander the lands in shadow (i.e. the plane of shadow) forever cursed by undeath. Few fates are worse than this. Sages wonder if this is where the legend of the revenant arose from.

Religious characters such as those that worship the gods, automatically know that to raise a character from the dead robs her rightful reward. In legend, only the most selfish and wicked, would consent to be brought back to life.

Balancing the Scales

The World Born Dead mrlost