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DragonBaneDM
2011-02-15, 10:36 AM
Oh gods... It sounds like I'm here to advertise my middle school punk rock band.

Except we were named Grotsnik and tha Boyz. Oo, wait! Level 2 Fighters!

Anyway, I just had a "near death" experience with my character. Meaning that I was technically dead but brought back by a reaction by my party's Paladin during my turn.

Man, lava's a pain, eh?

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else had an experience like this? Death, but very very brief death, perhaps lasting less than a turn.

What happened? How was your character changed? What else could I name my band for our show at the local Chuck E Cheese next week?

Lycan 01
2011-02-15, 10:42 AM
What happened, exactly? :smallconfused: You fell in Lava, dropped to Dead, then he pulled you out and Lay on Hands'ed you back up to Living HP value before perma-death?

Crossblade
2011-02-15, 10:49 AM
Is that some sort of 4e feature? Or are you simply referring to negative hp?

DragonBaneDM
2011-02-15, 10:52 AM
We were fighting a very Resident Evil-esque boss, who had a no action tentacle summon 1/round.

So, one of those bad boys grabbed me and had me dangling over lava. I kept shooting, since it was busy choking me to death I didn't have to worry about OAs for shooting it's Mommy. However, Mommy still had some spells that ended up knocking me unconcious.

Anywho, our cleric makes his death saving throw two rounds later, gets up, and blasts the thing. As it dies, the tentacle shrivels up, dropping me into the lava.

I was two failed death saving thows deep, and one hp away from dead after that turn. Luckily, the lava burn came before the death saving throw, and my Paladin had an armor that lets him spend a surge to save me if I died.

EDIT: Hm... Perhaps they were interrupts. He just got that armor, so I haven't exactly gotten it's features memorized yet.

Beginning of my turn, I hit negative bloodied. He reaction'd and saves me. A blast of radiant light later a scorched hand came out of the lava and grabbed the nearby ledge.

I now look like Deadpool, but oh well. I figure I enjoyed it, the dying part I mean. I like the Shadowfell a lot, and the cold air probably felt really nice until I was back in the lava, burning to death again.

Choco
2011-02-15, 11:13 AM
Well, most games I have played in had either official or house rules that you do not remember what happened while you were dead. So from your character's perspective, no perceivable time passed between dying and coming back. He would know he was dead for a little while, and realizing what a close call that was could probably change his outlook on life. On the other hand, as an adventurer I am sure he has had plenty of other near-death experiences (though this one was a LITTLE bit closer than most), so it might not affect him at all.

Lycan 01
2011-02-15, 11:18 AM
I dunno, falling into lava tends to change people. Literally and metaphorically.

Choco
2011-02-15, 11:21 AM
So does most everything else the average adventuring party encounters throughout their career!

DragonBaneDM
2011-02-15, 01:01 PM
Hm... Maybe it should change him more. It's just, it kinda bugs me when I'm already going through character development and something like this happens that demands I go a step further.

Was moving from cowardly pirate to sociopathic combat monster. Hm... Well he did save me. Okay, got it.

Gonna start being more of a team player. I mean, I already take stuff that lets me reduce damage for them or block attacks, but I don't really roleplay Briggs that way.

Anything like this ever happen to you guys?

Callista
2011-02-15, 04:12 PM
Well, if you look back at 3.5 books, there are some answers to this. I think it's probably Complete Divine--I'm AFB right now, but I'm pretty sure that's the book.

Death separates your soul from your body. Obviously. The soul sticks around for a few moments--maybe a couple of rounds--which is why spells like Last Breath can yank you back from the brink. However, you lose connection with your physical body pretty quickly and you're drawn toward an afterlife that's strongly associated with your deity and your alignment.

Depending on how devout you were, you might end up in your deity's plane even if your alignment has you a step away; but your connection to your afterlife is something you've been forming your whole life. It has to do with not just the obvious alignment and deity, but also your personality, your values, and your beliefs; and of course your species and sometimes your culture.

Your experiences in the afterlife depend heavily on what kind of afterlife it is; but some things are common to almost everyone. First is the question of whether you were ready to die (or at least accepted death once it happened). If you were, you're free to reject any resurrection attempts. You don't know a lot about the guy trying to resurrect you; but you do know what his alignment is and what god he's serving (if any), and you know how rough the spell will be on you (whether or not you'll lose a level). You can choose to return or not.

Secondly is the phenomenon of, slowly (anywhere from months to millennia), blending into your aligned plane. Souls in the lower planes may simply be eaten by more powerful denizens. In the higher planes, it's common for devout souls to become one with their deity. Their personalities, beliefs, memories, etc., become part of what makes up the plane itself--these souls aren't destroyed; but they do lose all sense of time and their identities become less and less important as time goes on. It's very much like nirvana, if you've encountered that concept. Once they've begun to blend into their respective planes, souls are generally unwilling to return (and usually so much time has passed that only a True Resurrection would retrieve them anyway).

This makes the idea of paladins and non-deity-oriented clerics particularly interesting: These people basically get their power from the people who have lived before them--most of whom they've never met, but whose lives support their cause every bit as much as a deity supports his clerics.

Native outsiders are actually made of the stuff of their plane and thus do not have souls (or, more correctly, they ARE their souls). When they die, their identities and memories are scattered and reintegrated into their home planes. Only very high-level magic can gather and re-form them.

Memories are stored in the physical mind just as they are stored in the soul; and when you are in a physical body, it's very difficult to understand and access memories that are stored only in your soul. Resurrected creatures tend to have very vague recollections--feelings, for the most part, and perhaps very vague images, which are difficult or impossible to put into words. They know whether the afterlife was pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent; but they don't know any details.

So, for your character (yeah, pretty big digression there): You would probably have experienced a brief out-of-body experience as your soul separated from your damaged body, with the positive energy that had previously hooked your soul to your body inadequate to connect them any longer. However, you would not have gone very far from your body and would probably still have been getting your bearings when your friend forcibly reconnected body and soul, giving your soul something to grab onto rather than floating away. It is highly unlikely that you experienced the afterlife.

Kol Korran
2011-02-15, 04:40 PM
Hi DragonBaneDM!

the first part of this post relates to your character, the second one to my story.
how would it change your character? depends much on your character. if you'll tell us more about Briggs we might have some ideas that you may or may not incorporate to your game. i generally find the following questions helpfull:
1) why did i die? was it because of:

ME? something i did wrong? was it in the short battle, or was it something id did for a long time? was it an obvious feature of my personality, or was it a hidden one>
My companions? was any of them to blame? or did any of them (cough paladin cough) went over his head to help me?
my enemies? again- just in this battle, or long term/ over arching enemies? do i need to fear/ prepare/ revenge/ ammolate them?
the gods, the cosmos. reality? why did these forces greater than me want me dead? did they choose me specifically, or do they do not care? how do i deal with them?
each of these may garner an appropriate shift of behaviour.
2) why did i got raised? was it because of:

me? i am worthy/ unworthy of life/ death. i earned this, or must achieve something else before i die.
my friends? do i owe them or resent them now? will it change my outlook on them?
the gods/ cosmos/ reality? is there some sort of a greater purpose? am i to serve a higher cause? or maybe this is just the world's cruel joke?


my sotry does not portray a brief death (except for once) but it may be interesting still.

In a campaign that is now on hold i played a militery strategist sort of cleric. i like to play the tribulations of faith and being a true believer to a great extent. part way through the campaign i incorporated another god into my belief system, with the acceptance of the previous (or so i thought, the gods communicated in obscure dreams). my church didn't like it though, and i was called a heretic on both sides.

for a long part of the campaign the DM was easy on us, and we knew the real dangers are only in boss battles. but then he decided "gloves off". in 3 sessions there were 8 deaths, 3 of them of my character. (luckily we had ample resources and a few favors to call upon). how did my character take it? his death, and his friends (which he resurrected through some 5th level spell i forgot the name of- you don't lose a level, but has to be cast in the same round).

At first he took it as his own fault- he hasn't been cautious enough, planning enough, didn't cast the right spells. he became so, and then died to an empowered blade barrier, cut to shreds.

this time he thought the death wasn't coincidental, it must have symbolized the gods anger with him! he tried to placate both gods, by offerings, by praying, by trying to discern their guidance (i cast commune and a few other appropriate spells).

The thrid time he saw a priestess of Shar, became enraged, and charged her. (stupid i know, but we've been hunting the Bi*** for 5 levels now. i... over reacted) one destruction spell later, and my armor was lying over my boots. This time my cleric was awed by the powers of the dark goddess, who must have been at least equal to his own gods. he has gained a new respect for her, and decided to learn more about them and devise preparations (i always memorized a Spell resistance spell from then on). my entire attitude towards the enemies has changed.

i hope this helped, would love to hear about Briggs,
Kol.

DragonBaneDM
2011-02-15, 05:59 PM
KOL!!! Dude it's so good to see you on here again!!! Dang, my class is just about to start, but I'm gonna edit this later, I swear. Just wanted to say hi real quick before six.


1) why did i die? was it because of:

ME? something i did wrong? was it in the short battle, or was it something id did for a long time? was it an obvious feature of my personality, or was it a hidden one>
Hm... Well if I would have copied the artificer and just sat in the back I would have been out of the range of the boss's spells. However, I took the Called Shot/Harrowing Swarm path. That is, I get rewarded for being the closest to my target. I can shoot in melee, and that tentacle grabbed me as soon as I was just about to move into a flank with the warlord. I was trying hard to stay within 10 of the cleric, though.

My companions? was any of them to blame? or did any of them (cough paladin cough) went over his head to help me?
The Paladin for sure. Meta is the moral compass of the party, and he does his job well as a Defender. The cleric, Viz, is my best friend in the party, and tossed a couple heals our way. The Artificer is the only one who didn't really "do his job", along with the NPCs who were helping us. Artificer did a lot of damage, but I built the character for his player, and know he's capable of helping us a lot more than that. Maybe I should hold a grudge.

My enemies? again- just in this battle, or long term/ over arching enemies? do i need to fear/ prepare/ revenge/ ammolate them?
Hm... Well Regina's dead, but this wouldn't have happened in the first place if it wasn't for Mortressos. Also, I use Frost Cheese, but it doesn't work well against demons thanks to the variable resistance. It bugs me that I'm supposed to be a great demon hunter by now, but I can't use one of my best feats against my "favored enemy". In game, Briggs probably would just think "Ice doesn't hurt demons. Why in the blazes am I usin' it then?"

The gods, the cosmos. reality? why did these forces greater than me want me dead? did they choose me specifically, or do they do not care? how do i deal with them?
The only time, until recently, my character gets religious is when he's drunk. He uses guns, so I went with Erathis for a while. He's a ranger and ex-pirate, so Melora was a phase. When I was in my "half-orc supremacy" mode, Kord was my man. However, our group took a break from adventuring, and I went to the Shadowfell. I came out a lot less cowardly and a lot more "battle-lusted", for lack of a better word. Knew who the Raven Queen was, but didn't pay her much mind. Maybe after seeing the Shadowfell from the other side I might get serious about a religion finally.


2) why did i got raised? was it because of:
my friends? do i owe them or resent them now? will it change my outlook on them?
I guess I owe Meta one, eh? That's probably why I've been listening to him more lately. He's always been really nice to Briggs, and even bought me a sword once. I considered the whole "death might have felt nice after that" approach, but I think Briggs likes fighting too much to actually want death. I'm gonna just listen to him from now on, no matter what. I dunno how to SHOW him my loyalty, but I'll figure it out.
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Thanks for the questions Kol! Oh, and your cleric sounds really cool, what's his name?

Kol Korran
2011-02-16, 03:51 AM
My cleric's name is Bruthus. In the Forgotten realms, worships both The Red Knight (goddess of strategy) and Lathander (gt of birth, renewel and sun). currently level 12 i think, before going for the underdark. the campaign however is on hold, since the DM was burnt out. I'm DMing a campaign in the meantime. you can check my sig for the campaign blog.

Briggs sound like a lot of fun, from the little i hear about him. :smallbiggrin: