Advice on Dead PC's

[Quint]

Hi everyone,

So long story short my campaign is set in The Lands of the Linnorm Kings and during the last session all of the PC's died when their longship was attacked by Sea Linnorm. We decided to take a break (one of the players in my group is having problems with their schedule lining up with the rest of us and I don't want to have her feel left out.) so we are doing some side stuff until the fall.

My question for you guys is this: I want to have the PC's do an adventure in a "Spirit/Nightmare World" type setting to get back to the land of the living. Any thoughts on how I should do it?

[Kane0]

Since they all died at once, they would be travelling to (place your cosmology sorts the dead here) roughly together. Have a freak accident disrupt the journey ad have them displaced from the flow of souls (large instance of undead genration, some kind of incarnum event, some small scale outer planar conflict, etc), giving the opportunity for the party to attempt to return to the mortal realm before they are hunted down or drawn back towards said place of soul-sorting.

/2 cp.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

I recently blogged on exactly this topic (http://running-the-game.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/after-heroes-are-dead.html).

There are a few options open to you to carry on. You appear to prefer the Fight for Life story line - so you'll need to work out what stops the heroes from returning to the mortal realm, and how it might be bypassed.
Is your afterlife modeled on any real-world myths or religions? Look how those have dealt with death and resurrection.

My advice for afterlife adventuring is to make it properly otherworldly. It's not very impressive if escaping the afterlife just involves doing a fairly standard fetch-quest for some afterlife ruler.

Me, I'm putting a dead PC through a series of tests to prove she's truly Chaotic. Once she's shown that, she can pass on to the Promised Paradise. Of course, being truly Chaotic means she should just say "Screw your stupid rules, I'm off" - but the player hasn't figured that out yet.

[graymachine]

What are the various alignments of the PCs? Assuming you are using the standard afterlife structure, difficulties would be introduced if 5 PCs are heading to 5 different afterlives. You would almost have to construct some major event that has disrupted the normal operation of the afterlife. If you have a homebrewed campaign with a single afterlife system that would simplify things greatly.

That said, a plot set in Mechanus, for example, would be awesome and a definite change of pace that would make it feel like a separate sub-campaign. Also, if you have any Planescape fans in your group, it would be a treat.

[Quint]

My PC's are as follows:

Dwarf Paladin of Torag: Lawful Good (Working towards being a Valkyrie)

Tiefling Rogue: Chaotic Neutral leaning towards Chaotic Good (Running from her demonic roots)

Human Barbarian: Chaotic Neutral (Wielding a home-brewed axe that's haunted. I can post specs if anyone is interested)

Human Druid: Chaotic Neutral leaning towards Chaotic Good (Slightly Crazy because of exposure to the First World)

The overall story is that a lesser demon prince has cut a deal with an evil fey elder in order to try and open a new world-wound in the north.

I like the idea of of a test or trial to prove their worth. Also, and I may be showing my age here, I have never played Planescape. I remember my dad loving it but I have no idea what it's about.

[Medic!]

I'd look into the Ghostwalk setting, or have them roll up some temporary PCs to go rescue the spirits of the departed maybe.

[00dlez]

Several have suggested a "Fight to Live" scenario, which is what I would use myself, but just for idea-generation's sake...

You could put them in a "Barter for their Life" scenario. They are taken before a god (be it the god of the dead, the ruler of the underworld, thier individual patron deities, etc etc.) and simply role-play a conversation, which the other players may be privy to or not.

(It's hard enough to bluff a friggin god, so I doubt even your coniving rogue will be able to out skill the slow witted barbarian.)

During this conversatio, the god will speak to the PC about the life they had, deeds they had done, bravery shown, compasion given... evil commited... and it is up to the player to convince the god that they should be given the right to continue living. This could include a barter with the god. For a paladin this might be something along the lines of slaying 1,000 orcs to prove my worthiness, while for the assassin it might be to slay 100 innocents, and the cleric might vow to found a temple in their honor atop a site of the gods chosing... what have you.

Once the players have bartered for their lives, they wake up washed up on shore, on a fishing boat, on an enemy warship, whatever, with a new lease on life... and perhaps a debt to a god to follow up on - hello plot hooks.

[Kane0]

I like the idea of of a test or trial to prove their worth. Also, and I may be showing my age here, I have never played Planescape. I remember my dad loving it but I have no idea what it's about.

Then you are missing out. It was an AD&D setting based around the planes, both inner and outer. It went into a lot of detail about their interactions with each other and the Prime.

[BowStreetRunner]

I'd look into the Ghostwalk setting, or have them roll up some temporary PCs to go rescue the spirits of the departed maybe.

A Ghostwalk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostwalk) campaign could certainly be adapted to your needs. However, I would take some time to go over the material and then check with your group for their feelings on the matter before proceeding down that path.

[Flickerdart]

Dwarf Paladin of Torag: Lawful Good (Working towards being a Valkyrie)
Are not valkyries Chaotic Good in 3.5?

[Quint]

Ultimately I want this segment of the campaign to get them to about seventh level. They are currently 5th. And Valkyries I believe are Chaotic Good, but she wouldn't be a Valkyrie until the end of the campaign. She has to prove to her deity that she is worthy of the responsibility. Also I like the idea that each deity (or at least the good aligned deities) have their own Valkyries that follow the deity's code. Valkyries to me and my group are more like lesser angels.

[Sylthia]

Is the chaotic good druid houseruled in? I thought druid have to be some sort of neutral?

[Quint]

Is the chaotic good druid houseruled in? I thought druid have to be some sort of neutral?

Sorry, typo, should be chaotic neutral leaning towards chaotic good

[Icewraith]

Depending on the setting and the details of your afterlife, getting kidnapped by demons before going on the the final reward and having to try to fight out of the abyss as spirits could be interesting.

[Waker]

I think the idea of fighting/earning their way out of the afterlife is an interesting one. Perhaps some Outsider offers to help them return to life for some reason, whether that means the party needs to stop a great evil in the land of the living or perhaps the being needs them alive to serve as a beacon/portal for him.

[Sylthia]

I had a party go through purgatory once, with a puzzle or battle designed for each deadly sin.

[Quint]

I had a party go through purgatory once, with a puzzle or battle designed for each deadly sin.

Holy cow that's a great idea! Mind sharing a few?

[graymachine]

An idea that comes to mind is that you could go a different route and add another layer to the side quest. Instead of them being actually dead, they instead wash up with driftwood on an island where a mad wizard/mindbender lives. He uses his abilities, having recognized them as powerful people, to construct a shared fantasy about an afterlife adventure. In it they end up owing their resurrection to something, possibly a 'god'. They are instructed to destroy a magic gem (or whatever) in a city (or wherever) to pay the debt. In reality, the gem binds the mindbender to the island, and he wants his freedom to Dow chaos again. During the shared fantasy you could drop subtle hints (not too many) to give the characters the chance to figure it out. If they do, you have a showpiece battle on the island to cap their "resurrection" (and being actually dead remains a mystery in the minds of the players) or you have a mid-boss to introduce halfway through the second act, when the mindbender shows up to wreak havoc. If it turns out to be the later, leave enough hints on the mindbender's body (journal of mad ramblings, etc.) so that the players can figure out the truth of their return to the lands of the quick.

Or you could do the dead thing. Ghostwalk, as others have suggested, would be a great start, although you should throughly understand the material and mechanics before adapting it. I would also make sure to find something in the afterlife, preferably something mind-bogglingly incomprehensible, to scare the players with (or several) since you're taking all of the mystery out of death.


Also, and I may be showing my age here, I have never played Planescape. I remember my dad loving it but I have no idea what it's about.

I'm going to go cry now. Hold myself and cry, maybe try to drink away the pain.

Here's a link to the wiki if your interested in a brief overview: Planescape (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape)

[Nagukuk]

Wait! Are we in Valhalla?

[Sylthia]

Holy cow that's a great idea! Mind sharing a few?

For sloth, they could not not move during their turn.

For wrath, a half-orc barbarian met his dead father and "defeated" him with high-fives and hugs. (Unarmed attacked and grapples.)

For greed, the party had to hold a potion to have another drink, if they drank it themselves, something bad happened.

For pride, they had to tell a great story about someone else in the party.

I'll have to look at my old notes for the rest.