Options/Cost for Raising a Dead PC?

[monk]

Had our (surprisingly) first PC death last night on the Lost Continent. Ichi the cleric fell in battle, or more accurately, was squooshed in battle--between the mandibles of a giant phosphorescent ant.

So next session will begin with the players deciding what to do with his mangled corpse. I'm planning to offer Raise Dead and Clone.

Raise Dead will be offered by the kindly monks in the desert and the money-grubbing cultists in the city, obviously for very different prices.

Clone will be offered only by some crazy sorcerer in a desert stronghold. For tons of money.

What prices would you assign to these three options?

[bighara]

IMO?
To simply pay for Raise Dead? Several thou, at least.
Clone? That takes months for the new body to grow. I'm also not sure what happens if the "original" is dead. Then there is no psychic link. You could argue that the new body might not be able to acquire the person's memories, etc. Obviously, you can run the spell the way you want, though. I'd have him charge a similar amount of gp.

I usually prefer having whomever is offering to bring the dead PC back to life to want a service or favor in return, as opposed to just cash. YMMV.

[monk]

Oh, heck yeah. There's gonna be quests and/or other services involved for sure, no matter who they approach. That part I already decided--it's the additional cold hard gp that I wonder about.

[Blood axe]

What levels are we talking about here??

Perhaps this could be a whole quest itself! You hear rumours of an Elixir of Life.....

[monk]

What levels are we talking about here??

Perhaps this could be a whole quest itself! You hear rumours of an Elixir of Life.....

Right! That's what I'm thinking. This is a party of 5 characters of 4th-5th level. They don't have many magic items (weapon apiece, bag of holding, some odd potions).

I'm thinking that no matter which option they go for, they'll end up in an adventure/quest. Perhaps, as you mentioned, they might hear of a legendary elixir or pool or life, or some strange alien technology. If they go for one of the spells, they'll also end up being pressed into service, quested, or the like.

[Blood axe]

Reincarnation is also an option- you could get some crazy results back in 1E. One player was brought back as a Bugbear.

[bighara]

Reincarnation is also an option- you could get some crazy results back in 1E. One player was brought back as a Bugbear.

I'm living for the day that I get to use that spell in a game.

[scadgrad]

Reincarnation is a hoot and very much in keeping with the old school vibe. By the time characters got up to 7th level or so, we usually had someone in the group who had been brought back as "something" and were then either happy as a clam, or looking for a Wish so they could become a humie, elf, dwarf, etc again.

IMC, clerics and paladins who have served their faith well and have done good deeds for the community, get one free raise dead (if their friends can get them back to civilization in time, this is often a problem). After that, they get the Quest or Geas thrown at them. Other PCs better be in good with a church or guild of some sort and then expect to pay ( I use 1st ed DMG to set the price) and be subject to owing the guild/church a favor.

That may sound a bit soft, but death and maiming is ever present in Averlorn, as it should be in old school D&D. Funny, but players fear level-draining more than death.

[Blood axe]

1st ed had ALOT of options for Reincarnation- Magic-user and Druids had two sepearte charts. M-U had humanoids & demi-humans. Druids had animals & woodland creatures. So you could come back as a Bear, or Centaur (Druid) or Ogre or Kobold (M-U).
Only Clerics could Raise or Ressurect.

[Verdande]

After that, they get the Quest or Geas thrown at them.

I've always like the idea of Quest and Geas as a sort of payment. "Sure, we'll bring your buddy to life, but now you owe us one. You remember how we were talking about those ogres?"

Whatever they ask, it's going to be painful or they'd do it themselves. What sort of payment could a group that can bring the dead back to life possibly want from you, after all?