[feat?]A Prepaid Ressurection

[EddieBird]

The PC visits the temple of a friendly diety that they have worshipped for a minimum of X number of years. (X is up to the DM) The PC petitions the god for a prepaid ressurection. IF the diety agrees, payment is given at a cost equal to or greater then the cost of a normal resurrection. Sometimes the payment can come in the form of service rather then money- note however that the service will be VERY hard to do. After all arrangements are made, the PC goes on their adventure.
In the event the PC is slain the body will vanish leaving all equipment behind. The PC will reappear healthy and whole in the temple where they made the payment. They will be stark naked and possibley thousands of miles from the party. Unless they have some means of transport they will have to sit out the rest of the adventure in town. They must also hope that their party members are kind enough to bring back their stuff. Unless they had money and stuff in the town, their sole possession will be a set of donated clothing from the temple. The prepaid ressurection works only ONCE. If the PC wants to be ressurected like this again he needs to make another payment.

[Kevka Palazzo]

I think this is more of a spell than a feat. It seems like any church that would let you pay for a rez would let you pay ahead of time for something like this. I suppose it is kind of handy for it to auto-return you to the temple though. I wouldn't get the feat.

[EddieBird]

I think this is more of a spell than a feat. It seems like any church that would let you pay for a rez would let you pay ahead of time for something like this. I suppose it is kind of handy for it to auto-return you to the temple though. I wouldn't get the feat.

I guess your right about it being a spell. I wasn't sure since the system I use doesn't have feats.

[Kevka Palazzo]

I guess you're right about it being a spell. I wasn't sure since the system I use doesn't have feats.

....What system doesn't use feats?

[Tracersmith]

yeah i get the feeling that it very well could also be an item the PC wore.

[Grey Knight]

Like an Amulet of Life Saving?

The temple-based thing makes me think of save points though, which is quite neat.

[henebry]

Shame about the auto-return, but handy for adventurers doing solo work.

But to implement this you don't need a new spell. True Resurrection would do the trick, no? The body can rot where it falls and the priests back in the temple can True Res you from thin air.

[Baron_Dex]

You could get away with Resurrection, too. Simple leave behind the marginal amount of remains that the spell requires (cut off a lock of hair, extract a pint of blood, etc.), magically preserve them, leave payment and the material component of diamonds.

You'd need something like an improved sort of status spell, or the temple makes an time keyed to your soul, so they know when you die.

I had an NPC that had this once. Called it "Death Insurance." Players hated to see him again.

[Tracersmith]

I think that some of the bad guys in my story will have this now too..... TY for the Idea

[sigurd]

I think your instincts in the name are correct - a prepaid resurrection.

Why does this need a feat or spell? Seems you're sacrificing game interaction for game mechanics.

A lot more game elements come into play if its an interaction. Will the church honour the pledge? Will the give you a discount? Who will get your body back to the church? Will the players have to be extra correct in the church's eyes to make sure they receive the holy rights?

Much more involved than a feat or spell.

Besides, a char has only so many feats & Spells.

S

[EddieBird]

I shoulda just skipped the [anything] part of the title

[Neek]

Definitely a spell. A high-level spell, but a spell nonetheless. I wouldn't call it to be church based. There are two ways I'd go with this:

A Token of Revival. The spell would create a pair of items, such as cuffs or necklaces or crystal or coins--whatever. One piece would be left wherever, the other on the holder. When the holder drops to 0 hitpoints or less, the older is automatically teleported to the location of the other item with only 1 HP. The item created would have a limited lifetime, of course. One might want to weaken this from a spell and confer it into magical items.

Another option would be to create a system where there is a guaranteed return; like it was said earlier, a church may refuse your resurrection. Perhaps the spell shouldn't be hinged on religious organization? The spell could feasibly involve the creation of a circle or an area, a Point of Return. The PoR can be of any dimension as long as it can comfortably accomodate the target of the spell. This means that an open field would do, as would a bed or a coffin. If the PoR is covered with a object, the spell would automatically fail; so if the floor of a temple is your PoR and they lay a rug over it, you'd be resurrected on the rug (or under, for humorous effects). If the PoR is flooded over, or is placed in water, the spell will automatically fail unless the target is an aquatic based lifeform. The PoR couldn't be on another plane of existence. It can, however, be mobile and can be at any distance from the target. It would be casted on one person, and when that person reaches -10 HP, he/she would be resurrected at the PoR with only 1 HP; for effect, there might be a time delay between death and resurrection. None of the target's items would transfer in the resurrection, nor would any scars or tattoos or missing limbs find themselves in the regeneration. The body would be whole. (Alternatively, the body could be regenerated in the condition it was in when the spell was initially cast).

I'm doubting if this latter spell would accomodate a certain time-length. It should be noted, however, that both the options given only apply to a violent death. A natural death, i.e. old age, will not result in a resurrection.

[Grey Knight]

A Token of Revival. The spell would create a pair of items, such as cuffs or necklaces or crystal or coins--whatever. One piece would be left wherever, the other on the holder. When the holder drops to 0 hitpoints or less, the older is automatically teleported to the location of the other item with only 1 HP. The item created would have a limited lifetime, of course. One might want to weaken this from a spell and confer it into magical items.

I had a similar idea to this earlier today: a pair of rings of rescue. Each ring keeps its wearer updated on the condition of the other ring's wearer as from a status spell. You can rub your ring's gem at any time to teleport the other person to you. How's that sound?

[Daracaex]

I can just se this happening: The PCs have just discovered that the BBEG is bringing his army to invade the capital.

PC1- "What do we do! They're too far ahead of us for us to catch up to them. They're gonna destroy Azure the capital city!"
PC2- "Quick! Kill me!"

I see this unfolding similarly to the incident with the MitD and the lantern archons.

[Jack_Simth]

Spells to do that already exist; Core, even: Clone (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/clone.htm). It takes 2d4 months to come to full fruition, you need something to preserve the body, and you'll want to get a new one each and every time you level up, but it does everything you ask for. Gentle Repose (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gentleRepose.htm) is only Clr 2, Sor/Wiz 3 and will keep the body from decaying. So if your 15th+ level Wizard / 16th+ level Sorcerer can Clone himself and convince a Cleric-3+ to cast Gentle Repose on the body every few days, you're set.

And there's already price guidelines on hiring a spell; a minimal Clone would be 2,250, a minimal Gentle Repose (from clerics) would be 60 gp/casting,
and as each casting lasts 3 days, that's 20 gp/day (regardless of caster level, due to the formulas; 30 gp/day for arcanists). So if you hire a Wiz-15 to make a copy of you, and a temple to take care of the copy for a year (365 days), the market price works out to 9,550 gp (you'll want to sepnd a little more on basic necessities - clothing, spell components pouch (if a caster), Holy Symbol (if a Divine caster), spare spellbook (if a Wizard), an instrument (if a bard), et cetera).