Well this is also a worldbuilding exercise for me and anyone else who wants to join in this thread, so ya, anything is possible! That's a scary way for someone to die lol. It's a cool idea for a magical poison, but I could also see a cursed item left for a would-be victim doing the job. That could even lead to a mystery, like Tom Riddle's Diary in The Chamber of Secrets.
I could definitely add the hoarding of resurrection magic by the rich as a reason for the revolution in the first place that led to the players gaining control of this kingdom. Thanks for that! Didn't even think of that lol
Thanks! It's also an interesting idea. I could imagine the evil emperor keeping the limited use artifact in his vaults being saved only for him if he dies before an heir, or for a future heir to use otherwise.
Players could even obtain a similar, limited use magic item in that kind of campaign. Like the equivalent of Scrolls of resurrection would be an amazing, treasured reward from dungeons and quests if there's no other way to learn resurrection spells.
Those are some good points other people haven't brought up yet. The soul entrapment can be a cool plot device used by the antagonist to up the stakes or something gods can do on a whim when someone they especially like or hate enters their realms.
And the importance of being willing to come back can be applicable in many scenarios as well. For my world, perhaps it gives a sense of enlightenment, perspective, and makes problems seem smaller, like when people look at the Earth from space (to make the after life even more tempting even to people who have families and unfinished business). Or it might not be necessary if the world already sucks and the after life is nice lol.
These are some cool magic macguffin ideas. I like that they imply cool, other NPCs and plot points - like a vampire NPC or an evil, scary Cleric helping out the antagonist. Thanks for the help! Let me know if you have any more neat ideas lol
This is really useful! Great stuff. Very dramatic, tense, mysterious, which is perfect for the atmosphere I'm going for. I'd say I need to take notes but I can always refer back to this post luckily lol.
I could imagine gods that are strict and by the book, tired of all the paperwork they're getting from clerics below for special exemptions just because he's, what, a king or something?
The last one makes me think of adding a poison to the world that has the secondary effect of disintegrating the body. It would be dramatic to have someone drink something at a fancy dinner, then choke and die, and then suddenly melt, or burst into flames.
I definitely like the idea of doing something with the gods in this way. Like maybe they like keeping such important people in the afterlife and are less prone to returning them unless there's a good reason for it (like the players on a journey to the underworld or something). Or they forbid resurrecting people for balance of the world reasons.
It could also just be regular protocol for assassin's to burn bodies. There could even be certain poisons that disintegrate the body as part of their effects.
Another good reason why every company shouldn't be bought by the same big companies over and over again.