I think Mr. Harper meant to send this to the entire list.
>
>I think all sides of this discussion have good points. Certainly any more
>"literary" setting that is not really working hard to incorporate game
>elements will treat death seriously and finally. So that the BR fiction
>books act like raising the dead isn't possible shouldn't surprise.
>
>Raising the dead is a gaming-based convention to allow continued fun and
>enjoyment of a developing character. In books the finality of death adds
>tension, drama, and meaning. In games, it can do the same but can also just
>spoil the fun. Fun is the objective.
>
>The flip side of resurrection not fitting in books is that in books, major
>characters never die simply because they were unlucky. They die because of
>character flaws or character virtues, tragically or heroicly. IF a PC is
>about to die because of dice rolls and not character choices, perhaps they
>should instead be maimed, captured or some other unpleasant but less
>permanent faith.
>
>Just as it seems clear the fiction books don't deal with it, it's clear the
>Rulebook permits it. An AD&D setting where Raise Dead doesn't work or is
>difficult is Ravenloft. Its rules clearly set this out. The BR rules
>don't, and they do give players access to standard AD&D spells. That
>includes Raise Dead and Resurrection.
>
>If you're going to run a variant campaign because it "feels right", you
>should tell your players immediately that in this world, "no one ever
>returns from the dead except as undead". I believe that any information
>contained in the Players Handbook or an equivalent should be used as written
>and if not players told up front. I have no qualms tinkering all sorts of
>other things and letting them find out by discovery through the campaign,
>and I've never had a serious gamer complain because my goblins are smarter
>and better organized than the MM entry seems to indicate.
>
> __________________________________________________ _________________
>| |
>| We ask ourselves if there is a God, how can this happen? |
>| Better to ask, if there is a God, must it be sane? |
>| |
>| Lucien LaCroix |
>|________________________________________________ ___________________|
>