Quote Originally Posted by arimareiji View Post
But technically, if our cheating deity convinced their high priest... then when the high priest gets the notification that a rival priest is trying to resurrect them, they'll just send it to voicemail and resume their dinner at All Steaks Go To Heaven. And even if a Miracle is used, it's hard for me to imagine the DM not rolling with "You're duplicating a spell effect, so you're bound by the same rules that govern Resurrection."
Well, if it was up to a DM, I'd argue that I'm asking for an effect whose power level is in line with a spell, not duplicating the spell. And I'll start at Raise Dead, a 5th level spell, so we can pile 3 more spell levels on top if we have to budget for the power of antagonistic resurrections. We can then bargain our way up the chain, up to and including dropping 5,000 XP on the open-ended "very powerful request" option.

But, importantly, there is no DM in this world, and mechanical balances have always taken a back seat to dramatic worldbuilding. Arcane power has already been able to keep a soul against its will. Divine power is uniquely suited to punting one back down.

Unless, of course, there's no Miracles in the world, and also no homebrew that fits the bill. That's the annoying bit about "rules unless otherwise stated" - until that statement comes, your plan looks just like one that would work.

Quote Originally Posted by Quizatzhaderac
The main problem with that is that the gods have been playing by air-bud rules. "Don't kill the ushers" strikes me as a much more obvious unwritten rule than "Dogs can't play basketball".
The whole reason The Durk One could kill the ushers was because the meeting was being administrated by a third party, who had no protections. They were elemental worshipers, after all, with no representation in a Godsmoot. Presumably, also not selected by divine choice. A lot of the Moot as we know it seems to be church laws, if useful and well-meaning ones, not divine command.