how to preserve a body with low end magic?

[RedDragons]

How would you preserve a dead body, or lets say a dead body part, if you needed to without turning into high caster levels for help?

[Flickerdart]

Salt and ice.

Gentle Repose is a level 2 spell, though.

[Ravens_cry]

How 'low' are we talking? Gentle repose is only a 2nd level spell after all.

[RedDragons]

Just cheap, a level 2 spell is pretty cheap, just need to swing around a dead body part without it rotting from adventuring.

[Callin]

if you are doin this for res purposes the bones work just fine...

[Crake]

if you are doin this for res purposes the bones work just fine...

not if using raise dead... Not everyone can always afford to throw around 10k gp worth of diamonds for a resurrection. If the body is intact, and the character died in a means which is raise dead-able, why waste the extra 5k? Especially if they're low level

[Ravens_cry]

Just cheap, a level 2 spell is pretty cheap, just need to swing around a dead body part without it rotting from adventuring.
Rat-flail (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=110), eh?:smalltongue:

[Shalist]

There's a an clr-0/drd-0 spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/purifyFoodAndDrink.htm)that can help keep things fresh:


This spell makes spoiled, rotten, poisonous, or otherwise contaminated food and water pure and suitable for eating and drinking. This spell does not prevent subsequent natural decay or spoilage. Unholy water and similar food and drink of significance is spoiled by purify food and drink, but the spell has no effect on creatures of any type nor upon magic potions.

[Flickerdart]

There's a an clr-0/drd-0 spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/purifyFoodAndDrink.htm)that can help keep things fresh:
Somehow I don't think that'll fly - even if your cleric's god is a cannibal, keeping a body suitable for eating and suitable for raising dead are kind of different processes.

[Callin]

not if using raise dead... Not everyone can always afford to throw around 10k gp worth of diamonds for a resurrection. If the body is intact, and the character died in a means which is raise dead-able, why waste the extra 5k? Especially if they're low level

He said part. That was why i mentioned it but your point has merit.

[RedDragons]

If you pay attention to my second part, I don't need to rez my weapon, I need to swing it.



I cast true Resurrection on my weapon...... and raise a earth elemental ?

[Eldan]

Barrel of vinegar?

[Callin]

You're swinging around a part of a defeated earth elemental? I wouldnt be to worried about that decomposing. :smallbiggrin:

[RedDragons]

No that was me making a joke about a regular sword, this one would be be using body parts of different alignment critters, so I can overcome magic resistance and various alignment resistances.


Although I am thinking of crafting german beer stiegns with vorpral .

[Flickerdart]

Earth Elementals are basically rock. Any decomposition you have to worry about will only take place on a geological scale.

[Callin]

craft them into magic gloves with gentle repose upon them?

[Eric Scott]

Why even bother preserving them? Just keep swinging it until it falls apart and them find yourself a commoner (or a dead enemy, whatever floats your boat) and rip off a new weapon.

[RedDragons]

Earth Elementals are basically rock. Any decomposition you have to worry about will only take place on a geological scale.


So would knowledge geography , help me identify magical earth body parts?

[Flickerdart]

Geography is not geology, unfortunately.

[Venger]

if you only need a part, book of vile darkness's "preserve organ" is a sor/wiz, cleric, or druid lvl 0 that keeps an organ fresh in the exact state you found it in (even keeps a heart beating) for 24 hours.

in-game, there's no real utility to preserving a kidney or whatever over a hand/foot/whatever you need to preserve, so I figure most people would allow this to function on any body part.

[Kane0]

I'm surprised nobody has suggested prestidigitation yet.

Use its 'clean' function to get rid of decay enducing microbes and other nasties every so often.

[Larkas]

I'm surprised nobody has suggested prestidigitation yet.

Use its 'clean' function to get rid of decay enducing microbes and other nasties every so often.

Also, be sure to color the body blue right before ressurection. Tell the now-alive person that they reincarnated as a Hindu god!

[Spuddles]

Degrease and dehydrate. Use distilled spirits to get rid of grease (which goes rancid), or kerosene (potentially lantern 'oil'). Then hang out to dry in the sun and wind. Or pack in salt.

An alternative is replace the fluids in the specimen with something that has very high osmotic pressure, like sugar water or a brine. That would leave them still pliable (though slippery), but you would have to keep them in a container. An acidic environment, like acid, would also work.

Eventually they may still go bad. Preservation in very strong spirits also works.

The trick to preventing bacterial rot is prohibiting bacterial growth by dehydrating your specimen or creating an environment with a high enough osmotic pressure that it prevents bacterial growth.

Unfortunately, these processes tend to irrevocably change tissue structure, as the proteins change conformation because they are dehydrated.

One solution (heh, solution) is to fix the specimen in 10% formalin, which causes proteins to crosslink. Then, when you preserve the specimen in methanol or ethanol, the dehydration doesn't change the protein conformations.

When preserving with a fluid, make sure there's adequate fluid in the vessel to displace the fluid in the specimen. In a well stocked lab, it's easy to just preserve your specimens in a large vessel. In the field, though, it is easier to just treat your specimen twice rather than bring along a large enough container. Let them sit in the fluid for a day or two, then pour it out and replace it with fresh fluid. This will insure that your specimen is properly preserved.


Earth Elementals are basically rock. Any decomposition you have to worry about will only take place on a geological scale.

Basically rock isn't the same as rock. After the earth elemental dies, the magicalness of the rocks might leave. But I'm no terranologist :smallbiggrin:

[Sith_Happens]

Also, be sure to color the body blue right before ressurection. Tell the now-alive person that they reincarnated as a Hindu god!

*rolls Knowledge(Religion)*

Nope, I got nothing. What is this "Hinduism" of which you speak?:smalltongue:

[Larkas]

*rolls Knowledge(Religion)*

Nope, I got nothing. What is this "Hinduism" of which you speak?:smalltongue:

Eeep! :smallbiggrin: Come to think of it, I think that Hinduism was one of the few real world religions not cited in Planescape! Alas, we should probably drop the subject before we violate some forum rule. :smallfrown: