Is death permanent in Dark Sun? I see that they don't have any divine magic there, due to a lack of gods, so if a PC or NPC bites the dust on Athas, they can't be raised, right? Or do they have some method that doesn't rely on divine magic?
Death in Dark Sun
Fri, 2010-08-27 15:53
#1
Death in Dark Sun
Fri, 2010-08-27 20:06
#3
Re: Death in Dark Sun
2e you could still cast Raise Dead, Resurrection or whatever because those were still available on the Clerics spell-list, under the list of all that were Universal Elemental spells.
3e never officially had Dark Sun, but it's assumed that those Elemental Clerics had the exact same spell-lists as standard Clerics.
4e where they make a point of banning any divine class, any character who has the Ritual Casting Feat and the right level and training in Arcane which replaces Religion in terms of ritual skills, can Raise the dead.
I find it funny that the designers have said they ended up not bothering with the Character Tree thing they made a big deal about, because there was no use in writing rules on something many DMs were doing themselves.
As for the dead in Dark Sun, their souls go the the Grey and simply remain there until whatever happens to them. And that was the canon back in 2e.
Sat, 2010-08-28 14:01
#4
Re: Death in Dark Sun
Hmm... checking my 4E Player's Handbook, I see the Raise Dead ritual listed as using the Heal skill, not Arcana or Religion. Same with some other curative rituals like Cure Disease and Remove Affliction. So I guess 4E Dark Sun characters can come back from death just like in other campaigns. Only a few rituals seems to require the Religion skill. (And in previous editions I guess a Elemental Cleric could bring you back.)
Thu, 2010-11-18 18:36
#5
Re: Death in Dark Sun
They do have Dark Sun in 3.5 just was in Dragon Mags and this website http://www.athas.org/ (all WOTC btw)
Thu, 2010-11-25 11:17
#6
Re: Death in Dark Sun
off topic: always thought that to raise a PC should be an epic feat, even in a fantasy game. otherwise you can lose drama... 
Wed, 2010-12-01 08:15
#7
Re: Death in Dark Sun
According to the story of The Great Race for Ka'cha from the Thri-Kreen of Arthas supplemental, there were elemental clerics who possessed the ability to raise the dead. Mind you I've never been in a Dark Sun campaign where resurrection was a real option, I'm just sayings that its there.
Clone spell is Wiz 8. And limited wish can duplicate 5th-level divine spells, including raise dead.
However, those are some pretty powerful magics. I think Dark Sun is largely meant to be a tough setting. It's where I first saw the idea of a roster of backups, for when your first character bit it.