PDA

View Full Version : Dying and Experience



LibraryOgre
2009-06-26, 11:17 AM
So, my character dies, and it takes several months to resurrect him.

The difference between me and Roy is that Roy went to the pansy 7th heaven and hung out with his mom, whereas I went to Valhalla, and fought for 8 hours every day, then partied and caroused until the next dawn.

Do I remember this? Does it give me any useful experience to have fought for months?

Keld Denar
2009-06-26, 11:18 AM
Hey now, don't underestimate the experience gained from hanging out with your mother. Thats a challenge that most find difficult to overcome!

Yora
2009-06-26, 11:20 AM
By the standrads of D&D, you don't remember anything. Also, you don't appear in heaven in the same form you had in life, but rather as a very weak outsider.

woodenbandman
2009-06-26, 11:23 AM
Side note: I now am going to roll up a halfling worshiper of Thor.

Tengu_temp
2009-06-26, 11:25 AM
When you return, you're either at the same level as the rest of the party, or a bit lower but will receive a lot of extra experience until you catch up. I see no appeal in having different party members on different levels.

Narmoth
2009-06-26, 11:31 AM
It really depends on the Dm. I'd give xp to catch up with the lvl of the rest of the group if you died in some very spectacular way, but then again, I'd rather get you resurrected faster.
I would never give you xp that got you above the xp of the rest of the party.
Dying should not be a reward.

JeenLeen
2009-06-26, 11:33 AM
By the rules, what's above is correct. I could see you asking your DM. My DM altered the rules of loss xp from death to make it a little easier on the players, in order to keep characters balanced. If your allies gained a lot more xp than you now have, you could argue from that angle.

shadzar
2009-06-26, 12:03 PM
The form of becoming "dead", for lack of a better word, and the enlightment that comes with it is not something a mere mortal is able to retain when returning to the mortal coil.

So anything gained after death is lost.

Myrmex
2009-06-26, 12:05 PM
So, my character dies, and it takes several months to resurrect him.

The difference between me and Roy is that Roy went to the pansy 7th heaven and hung out with his mom, whereas I went to Valhalla, and fought for 8 hours every day, then partied and caroused until the next dawn.

Do I remember this? Does it give me any useful experience to have fought for months?

That's a pretty good way for you to come back at the same level as the rest of the party, if your DM was so inclined.

aivanther
2009-06-26, 12:08 PM
Only if you train with King Kai...

/bad joke
//commits sepuku for making a dbz joke

Duke of URL
2009-06-26, 12:20 PM
Look at it this way -- you're gonna lose a level, which represents the wound upon your soul of having been snuffed. But because of your Valhallan training, you're going to gain experience faster in the mortal realm, as compared to your teammates, for a while. (Thanks to the self-balancing nature of the experience system.)

How you represent the flavor that other PCs who die and come back also get the same "benefit" is another problem entirely.

Still, unless I was being "hardcore" as DM, I'd probably also chuck an RP bonus to you if you describe your "vacation from the real world" well enough. :)

Random832
2009-06-26, 12:34 PM
The form of becoming "dead", for lack of a better word, and the enlightment that comes with it is not something a mere mortal is able to retain when returning to the mortal coil.

So anything gained after death is lost.

Huh? You go to one of the outer planes when you die. People can go to the outer planes while still being alive. It's just a place, not some mystical enlightenment (except at the top of the mountain, which Roy never actually went to)

Oracle_Hunter
2009-06-26, 12:53 PM
So, my character dies, and it takes several months to resurrect him.

The difference between me and Roy is that Roy went to the pansy 7th heaven and hung out with his mom, whereas I went to Valhalla, and fought for 8 hours every day, then partied and caroused until the next dawn.

Do I remember this? Does it give me any useful experience to have fought for months?
I'd say no.

In Valhalla, there is no "risk;" you can't die or be permanently injured. Yes, you get a lot of practice fighting, but you don't gain experience from sparring with your fellow PCs either.

Tsotha-lanti
2009-06-26, 01:01 PM
Huh? You go to one of the outer planes when you die. People can go to the outer planes while still being alive. It's just a place, not some mystical enlightenment (except at the top of the mountain, which Roy never actually went to)

Becoming a petitioner, though, may be some kind of mystical enlightenment. It depends - IMO, Planescape didn't present petitioners as very enlightened, more like cogs in a machine. And Lower Planes petitioners, who become nupperibos and larvae, probably don't get very enlightened at all. More like eaten.

Curmudgeon
2009-06-26, 01:02 PM
No. Just no. If you don't role-play the experience, and you aren't risking anything, it's all meaningless. No XP.

Doc Roc
2009-06-26, 01:14 PM
The form of becoming "dead", for lack of a better word, and the enlightment that comes with it is not something a mere mortal is able to retain when returning to the mortal coil.

So anything gained after death is lost.

Depends on your cosmology.
PLANESCAPE FOOOOOOOOOO'EVAAAAH!!!!!!

shadzar
2009-06-26, 01:32 PM
Depends on your cosmology.
True, but is one of the more readily available quick ways to rule it so that the cosmology just fits with a simple concept and not have to develop your own entire cosmology.

Also just the idea of knowing what comes after death is not something that would really interest the populace of the world, and may actually dishearten them a bit if their beliefs turn out to be wrong.

So they gain knowledge that is not meant for mortals, so all they gained since death is lost, is one of the quicker fixes. :smallwink:

PLANESCAPE suxxxxxxxors!!!!!!

Deepblue706
2009-06-26, 03:35 PM
So, my character dies, and it takes several months to resurrect him.

The difference between me and Roy is that Roy went to the pansy 7th heaven and hung out with his mom, whereas I went to Valhalla, and fought for 8 hours every day, then partied and caroused until the next dawn.

Do I remember this? Does it give me any useful experience to have fought for months?

If I'm DMing a game that has Mother-Truckin' Valhalla, then you get experience, sure. But, only enough to keep you up with the party, so that encounters aren't too annoying to balance.

Devils_Advocate
2009-06-26, 04:05 PM
Do I remember this?
Only vaguely. I'd say "About as well as you remember your dreams", but that varies from individual to individual and from dream to dream. But then, maybe memories of visits to the afterlife vary from individual to individual and from visit to visit, too.

At a guess, having high Wisdom probably helps.


Does it give me any useful experience to have fought for months?
Not while you're alive, but hopefully your experience gets preserved for the next time that you die.

As I alluded to in another thread, your petitioner isn't so much you. Each of you is a different incarnation of the same soul, with different memories. You share some traits, sure, but there are at least as many differences.

This is why a lot of petitioners decline to be resurrected. If you were suddenly given the opportunity to send your soul back to a vaguely remembered past life, how appealing would you find that prospect?

ondonaflash
2009-06-26, 10:53 PM
Still, unless I was being "hardcore" as DM, I'd probably also chuck an RP bonus to you if you describe your "vacation from the real world" well enough. :)

"What I Did in My Afterlife." By Jimmy

"The first thing I did in my afterlife was go wenching.... etc."

bosssmiley
2009-06-27, 01:25 PM
So, my character dies, and it takes several months to resurrect him.

The difference between me and Roy is that Roy went to the pansy 7th heaven and hung out with his mom, whereas I went to Valhalla, and fought for 8 hours every day, then partied and caroused until the next dawn.

Do I remember this? Does it give me any useful experience to have fought for months?


Are you playing "Ghostwalk"?
Y/N
and if so why FTLOG?!
:smallwink: