Retrieving Souls From The Outer Planes

[starburns]

I'm a DM and my players want to physically go to the outer planes and retrieve the soul of a fallen comrade. I used to play in Eberron and you could go to Dolurrh and physically retrieve a soul, albeit the devils residing there would hunt you, but I'm wondering is this possible in a generic campaign setting? And how would it work?

Thanks in advance.

[Brookshw]

I'd read up on petitioners in the MoTP, its kind of a "yes, but" answer. Also Afroakuma can provide some insights if you ask on his thread.

[Falcon X]

The rule of thumb is: Think like the Plane you are going to.
The long story short is this: You are ultimately going to have to make up your own way.

Some ideas for how you might be able to retrieve souls, based on game sources:
1. Occasionally, fiends will intervene and meet with spirits before they "pass on". They will make deals with these spirits, often being "you receive damnation, but we will do X good things at your request for your friends and family that are still alive".
2. The power of a deity can do amazing things. Find a way to talk to a deity's proxy. Not just a priest, but a proxy. This will be a hard enough feat. But once you find a proxy, make a deal based on the nature of the deity. You do something in return for your friend being revived.
3. Read about Tome of Magic's Binder. Perhaps your friend became an investiture.
4. Certain fiends can likely make a spirit tangible. Read up on the buying and selling of souls in Book of Vile Darkness and Fiendish Codex 2. The problem here is that they probably won't provide a body...
5. Delve into the mythos of individual pantheons.
- If your character serves a Greek god, which ARE legit deities in the outer planes, then they likely have an afterlife that resembles Greek literature. It's called Arborea in D&D. So read some Euridice and do something similar.
- If your character serves Wee-Jas, it will require finding a specific law that will allow this to happen. If it requires appeasing her, you will have to do something valorous enough to appease her "vanity" portfolio.
- Think like the plane you are going to. If it's The Abyss, you will find a Chaotic Evil solution. If it's Mechanus, it will require finding a loophole in a law. If a Good plane, it will probably require some self-sacrifice that can't be ignored.

I'm not sure if 3rd edition really gives too many definitive answers on this subject. Manual of the Planes, Deities and Demigods, and Fiendish Codex 2 might give some more insights, but I doubt it will be definitive.
Make up your own way. Where the writers of D&D choose to be ambiguous, they mean to leave open to the Gamemasters to make up for themselves.

Now if you're willing to go outside 3rd edition...
Planescape is the first place to start reading, as it gives more background on Petitioners. Monte Cook, who wrote Planescape, was one of the chief writers of 3rd edition, and so 3rd edition has a bunch of Planescape mixed into it. You can assume that 3rd edition universe IS Planescape with the changes that happened in "Die Vecna Die".
- You might try reading "On Hallowed Ground" or "Dead Gods" by Monte Cook

My gleanings on petitioners thus far are:
- When a person dies, they become a petitioner for their deity. A petitioner is a different type of being and can look like any type of creature that the deity chooses.
For all means and purposes, a petitioner acts like anyone else, except that it has the singular drive to become more like it's deity. Eventually, a petitioner's mind will become in such unison with the deities, that the petitioner will cease to be and it's spirit will merge with the deity or the deity's realm. For this reason, there is the rumor that deities are actually are each their own hive mind. But that's beside the point.
- It is implied that when a person dies, they are likely to act very differently from the person you once knew. Sometimes this is the mere act of becoming a petitioner. Sometimes this is due to the extensive torture that is given to a person by fiends who intercept spirits on their way to the afterlife.