A PC's dead body auction

[Mandrake]

Hi, Forum!

So, last time one of my players died (Hooray!:smallbiggrin:).

The other two cut off a finger of his, stripped him naked of anything valuable and barely escaped with that and their lives, and are now going to be looking for means to resurrect him.

The problem is, most of his body is left at the hands of villains, at the main gate of an outpost of theirs. They will find him in a matter of hours, and find out who he is in a few more; they quite hate the guy.

They will most certainly notice the missing finger. Is there anything they can do to prevent the resurrecting? Any rituals, for example? Does resurrecting him by themselves sound as a sound option (that way they can keep him captive, turn him into an undead or kill him in a place where he cannot come back anymore, specific to my campaign arc)? Maybe he knows who is the one asking him to come back, so can he say 'no' until the right person calls?

Mind that the players are level 16, some of their enemies are up to 8 or 9 higher (the currently main ones) and they are a well-resourced and well-organized cult of Orcus.

Any ideas? Thanks a lot and in advance!

[Jurai]

Have they trapped the soul of the dead PC?

[Laserlight]

For dramatic effect? The cult casts something to keep anyone else from resurrecting him, and start their own "Force You To Come Back" ritual. When the players attempt their resurrection, they find out what's going on. They have to go back and do a hasty assault on the cult to interrupt.

Depending on how that works and the inclination of the dead guy's deity--"the party falls short, the cultists howl in glee as they complete their ritual, and Deadguy's eyes open. And then Deadguy smiles, yanks the sword from a cultist's sash, and uses Rage of the Crimson Hurricane. No resurrection penalties until the end of the encounter."

[Leewei]

Consider the dead PC's player. What is he(?) going to do during all of this?

[Mandrake]

Thanks for your input, really. What I was aiming for some more is some RAW-ish options of what you can do to a dead body to make it bad.


Have they trapped the soul of the dead PC?
No, they haven't trapped his soul. Though they would like to do that.


For dramatic effect?
Nope, the dramatic effect is not a problem. I need more of rules and reason behind this; don't want the players to feel tricked. They probably won't, anyway, since they play for the storyline, mainly... but I don't want to feel like I tricked them.


Consider the dead PC's player. What is he(?) going to do during all of this?
Yeah, that should be considered too. As I said, he probably won't even mind watching, but he might roll a new character for that specific mission, and maybe even keep him should they fail to bring back the original.

So, to keep things more direct:
1) Is there a ritual that prevents resurrecting? Like Gentle Repose keeps the body fresh.
2) Is there a way to destroy a body in such a way it cannot be restored? If there is, would having the finger still intact be enough?
3) What happens if they turn his body into an undead? Can they still revive the rest of him with that finger? How does turning a dead body into an undead actually work?
4) Most importantly, if someone is being Raised, does the person know who is Raising him?

EDIT:
What I got so far is that they might use Raise Dead on him (if he doesn't know who the ritual caster is) and the give him The Dark Gift of the Undying, and turn him into a Vampire.

[Yakk]

They definitely bring the PC's body back as a vampire. This traps the soul of the dead player within the vampire (see OOTS).

Except the PCs have a piece of the dead body outside of the range of the ritual: while you cannot usually raise an undead creature to life normally, that fresh finger is their way in.

They have to open a portal to the shadowfel, bring the finger to the place where the undead was created in the real world, and raise dead *there*. This will tear the bonds that trap the soul of the PC within the vampire free.

Well, it might work -- that is the best that the ritualist they consult can come up with. That ritualist comes with them (and is played by the dead PC's player).

The result of the ritual is that the PC might come back as a Revenant, and maybe the vampire continues to exist in some other form. The vampire no longer has the PC's soul for food and information, but does know lots of things about the PC, and believes that if they consume everything said PC holds dear they can reclaim the soul they hunger for.

Which is either the next adventure, or the one after the next adventure.