Raise Dead/Res/True Res for Arcane Casters?

[Maerok]

Is there any way for a caster to get a hold of raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection?

[Tempest Fennac]

Is there a Domain with those spells? Arcane Deciple would work if that is the case (if there isn't an official one, a Homebrew Domain would work if the DM allows it).

[Reinboom]

Limited Wish

[Duke of URL]

Also, UMD and scrolls/staves.

[Darrin]

Is there any way for a caster to get a hold of raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection?

Divine Sorcery feat from Dragon #343. Requires Sorcerer 1st, but much better than Arcane Disciple, since you get the domain power *and* don't have to buff your Wisdom up to insane levels.

http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-...Sorcery,Dragon

Unfortunately, Raise Dead, Resurrection, and True Resurrection don't appear in any of the core domains. However, there's a fix for this.

Take the Healing domain, and then take the Customize Domain feat from Dragon #325. You can now substitute any Conjuration (Healing) spells into your domain list, so you could pick up Raise Dead as a 5th level domain spell, Ressurrection as a 7th level domain spell, and True Ressurrection as a 9th level domain spell.

[Tempest Fennac]

What does it mean about adding 1 spell each day? I'm confused due to how Sorcerers have a fixed spell list.

[Darrin]

What does it mean about adding 1 spell each day? I'm confused due to how Sorcerers have a fixed spell list.

It means you pick one of the domain spells you can cast and add it to your known spells for that day. If you pick Cure Moderate Wounds, for example, you can cast that as a 2nd level spell, so long as you have a spell slot available to cast it, but the other domain spells such as Cure Light Wounds would not be available that day.

Arcane Disciple works differently. It adds domain spells to your known spells, but you have to have a high enough Wisdom modifier to get a bonus spell for that level. That means to get Raise Dead as a 5th level spell, you'd need a Wisdom of at least 15. This can be problematic for arcane casters, since Wisdom is usually a dump stat for them.

Oh, and I should probably mention Customize Domain probably won't work with just the Divine Sorcery feat, since it grants the domain spells as arcane spells, and Customize Domain requires you to be able to cast 3rd level divine spells. If you can find a way to pick up some divine spellcasting, then it might work with Alternative Source Spell (also from Dragon #325).

I forgot to mention Rainbow Servant in Complete Divine. The 10th level capstone ability gives you access to all divine spells. Unfortunately, it's not entirely clear if this PrC has full caster progression (per the text) or is 7/10 caster levels (per the table).

[Wolfwood2]

Play Fourth Edition. Anyone with the Ritual Casting feat can do a ritual.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for explaining, Darrin (I'd assumed that all of the Domain spells would be available at any time).

[Maerok]

Play Fourth Edition. Anyone with the Ritual Casting feat can do a ritual.

Bah! Convert or die? I choose death!!!

@ Others: Specifically this is a Dread Necromancer; I might be able to work with my DM (club him in the head with a stack of HoH and LM) to swap out some spells for at least Raise Dead... And maybe Desecrate.

[Tempest Fennac]

If your DM is really accomodating, he could let you modify this class for use in a normal 3.5 Edition game: http://www.liquidmateria.info/wiki/Ultimate_Necromancer (They have Raise Dead as a level 7 spell, but you could probably ask about having access to it at a lower level).

[Emperor Tippy]

Cast Gate, bring in a solar. They have 3/day resurrection as an SLA. Then Wish for a scroll of gate (so that you don't loose any XP or money).

[Eldariel]

Arcane Disciple works differently. It adds domain spells to your known spells, but you have to have a high enough Wisdom modifier to get a bonus spell for that level. That means to get Raise Dead as a 5th level spell, you'd need a Wisdom modifier of +5, so total Wisdom of 20+. This is difficult to do with arcane casters, since Wisdom is usually a dump stat for them.

This is wrong. You need Wisdom SCORE = 10+level, not MODIFIER = level. Same as normal for all spells.

[Citizen Joe]

Clone.

That should be good enough.

[Darrin]

This is wrong. You need Wisdom SCORE = 10+level, not MODIFIER = level. Same as normal for all spells.

Whoops. Thanks. Not sure where I got the whole modifier thing. So, if you want all 9 domain spells, you still need a 19 Wis... not always an easy thing to do with an arcane spellcaster.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Clone.

That should be good enough.

Do you even watch TV?

[Eldariel]

Whoops. Thanks. Not sure where I got the whole modifier thing. So, if you want all 9 domain spells, you still need a 19 Wis... not always an easy thing to do with an arcane spellcaster.

No, but not as grim as the modifier would be. If you're fine with Resurrection, you'll just need 15 Wis, although I'd probably go for 19 anyways. Lesser Aasimar could be fairly awesome for such a Sorcerer given both, Wis and Cha boosts. But Divine Sorcery kinda saves Sorcerers the trouble (it's better most of the time anyways; you can revive folks the next day while having Heal prepared).

[Chronos]

Clone is also a horrible nuissance, since you need to have a tissue sample from before the subject died, and then you have to wait around for the clone to grow. Contrary to popular belief, there's no benefit to casting the spell before the person dies, since if there's no soul available, all it does is create a very expensive corpse.

[Maerok]

Clone is also a horrible nuissance, since you need to have a tissue sample from before the subject died, and then you have to wait around for the clone to grow. Contrary to popular belief, there's no benefit to casting the spell before the person dies, since if there's no soul available, all it does is create a very expensive corpse.

But fighting your own corpse is priceless... If it can work that way. :D

[Chronos]

But fighting your own corpse is priceless... If it can work that way. :D

Corpses don't tend to fight back enough to make it interesting.

I suppose you could use it as part of an elaborate plot to fake your death...

[Reinboom]

Corpses don't tend to fight back enough to make it interesting.

I suppose you could use it as part of an elaborate plot to fake your death...

I've done this.

[Smiley_]

Clone does give you a nifty conversation piece, though, especially if you suspend it in stasis or a tank of nutrient fluid and show it off at a dinner party.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Really, Limited Wish (for Raise Dead) or Wish (for Resurrection) [6th-level cap on Wish, sorry] are your easiest bets. Although Divine Sorcery is a spiffy feat now that I know about it.

Well, the XP cost is kind of a bitch, but look at it this way: it's cheaper than crafting a golem to replace your dead party member.

[Reinboom]

I do not recommend Wish for much of anything, unless you are grabbing Wish in methods other than you actually casting it.
Or unless it is an absolute last resort.
Or the DM asks you very kindly, since you are so far ahead of XP than the rest of the group anyways.

[Tokiko Mima]

Clone is also a horrible nuissance, since you need to have a tissue sample from before the subject died...

Of course, if you have Eschew Materials feat you can ignore needing the lump of flesh and the process is easier, if a little more existentially confusing about how the spell knows who you are cloning down to the last strand of their DNA.

[Chosen_of_Vecna]

Clone is also a horrible nuissance, since you need to have a tissue sample from before the subject died, and then you have to wait around for the clone to grow. Contrary to popular belief, there's no benefit to casting the spell before the person dies, since if there's no soul available, all it does is create a very expensive corpse.

Contrary to every time you bring this up, it is useful to cast before your death, because it gives you 2d4 months of not caring if you die.

[Chronos]

Well, that still depends on how much human intervention is needed in the growing process (which is not clear from the spell). It might be that you put the tissue sample in your Clone-o-matic lab, push "go", and come back in a couple of months to pick up your fresh body, or it might be that you need to spend 8 hours a day changing the nutrient mixture and monitoring the growth rates, or it might be anything in between.

In any event, it's certainly not "grow a clone, stash it someplace safe, and adventure for the rest of your life with impunity because you've got a clone somewhere", as folks often think it is.

[Reinboom]

Contrary to every time you bring this up, it is useful to cast before your death, because it gives you 2d4 months of not caring if you die.

Subjective to the DM.
Reading it as a single spell, noting the duration is 'instantaneous'.

This spell makes an inert duplicate of a creature. If the original individual has been slain, its soul immediately transfers to the clone, creating a replacement (provided that the soul is free and willing to return).

Would be an 'If' statement noting at the time the casting of the spell is finished, not create and 'Else' statement for what occurs if the individual is not slain until the end of the spell.
The else statement, simply stating:

A duplicate can be grown while the original still lives, or when the original soul is unavailable, but the resulting body is merely a soulless bit of inert flesh, which rots if not preserved.

Which can very easily be interpreted to just mean "you make a body" without anything more to it than that, since the initial 'If' statement has already passed. There is nothing directly stating what occurs if a person clone dies -after-.
Even suggesting that their soul can thus enter the clone, there arises the issue of.. does their soul immediately enter it, or does it have to be 'trapped' and brought to it, or.. etc.


Personally, I'm a pusher of the, you can have a clone as a backup - for just in case. The soul immediately enters it if you die.
However, this is a loose reading of it, and I accept that a more strict RAW, or just more precise reading of it will treat the initial 'If' statement based solely on the instantaneous duration (as a call from immediately after it has been finished casting), and thus 'Does not work that way'.

Well, that still depends on how much human intervention is needed in the growing process (which is not clear from the spell). It might be that you put the tissue sample in your Clone-o-matic lab, push "go", and come back in a couple of months to pick up your fresh body, or it might be that you need to spend 8 hours a day changing the nutrient mixture and monitoring the growth rates, or it might be anything in between.

In any event, it's certainly not "grow a clone, stash it someplace safe, and adventure for the rest of your life with impunity because you've got a clone somewhere", as folks often think it is.

Gentle Repose?

That's 13+ days, at least.

[mostlyharmful]

the Planer Binding line (I recommend Planetar rather than Solar for the cost break, they can cast 9th level stuff anyway so for out of combat usage the difference isn't so great), UMDing scrolls and planeshifting to one of the upper realms and establishing a favour barter with one of the upper powers, at high level favours are the only thing that really retains value.

For lower level arcane casters, just try using enchantment effects on the dumb divine guys, or convince your DM to research an arcane version that uses either a higher level, burns xp to cast as well as costing a level from the raisie or uses up more material components. There doesn't seem to be any reason for divine only provisions beyound game balance and that can be respected by making arcane versions uneconomical. Inefficiency is a far easier pill to swallow than just "No, you can't do that. Everything else yeah fine. Just not that. Ever... "

Your version could use the reincarnation table for inspiration, have them come back just slightly wrong. Draw up a table of wonky flaws or weird sideffects/character traits/ standard-mythological flaws. Maybe they pick up a Geas, maybe their eyes/hair/skin/genitals/????? mutate, give them an inability to pronounce any word relating to food or eating, change their smell to fomaldihyde or raspberries. The world could be your oyster, and I've found DMs are a lot more willing to try this sort of thing if they get to roll randomly on a wacky chart that they aren't responsible for.