Death: The well mapped country

[hcobb]

The new rules are very clear on how to reverse PC fatality.

ITL page 10: "If an hour passes and the victim is not revived, he is deemed to have actually died. This may still be reversed by:"

• A Greater Wish.
• The Revival spell. This high-powered spell will bring a corpse back to life
• ...

So if you don't pour 30 healing potions down Barry the Bisected's throat within an hour you can always just cast:

ITL page 33: "Revival (T): This spell will restore any dead creature to life, as long as death took place less than an hour ago."

[thrash]

I think you picked the wrong allusion. It might be better to start with:

Originally Posted by Miracle Max

Well, it just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.

[hcobb]

The same question applies.

Do you take the Alchemist's Revival potion within an hour of "Death" when it isn't needed or after that hour when it won't work?

Those Alchemists have to got pay lots of gold for all that snake oil their potions are made out of.

[Jack O'All Trades]

Perhaps "Death" in the Revival spell description should be considered to reference the time of when a character has "actually died," or 1 hour after the killing blow.

It's a little bit of exegesis but it preserves a one-hour time frame for Revival and only Revival.

Though one wonders what's the point, then. How many times will a death happen between 1 and 2 hours away from the nearest Revival tent, but not <1 hour away from the nearest 'general' medical tent? Especially given pre-modern transportation + magical teleportation and gates + this is someone important enough to Revive.

[hcobb]

Or you could make spell and potion really effective and change that flat -5 to: "The character loses one attribute point for each full hour since falling below zero ST. If they lack sufficient remaining attribute points to reach at least one below racial minimum on all three attributes then they do not revive."

Or just allow the Dead to rest in place:

ST 8 Wizard (aren't they all?) casts 5 points in spells then takes an arrow for 5 hits. He is now adjST -2 and dead. Over the next hour he rests up four fatigue and wakes up with adjST 2.

[larsdangly]

The hour grace period is a good change, both in terms of realism and to soften the edge of the game's risk level. But note it doesn't apply once you have hit -5; then you are well and truly gone.

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

But note it doesn't apply once you have hit -5; then you are well and truly gone.

What is the page reference for that -5 ST? I can't find it in the new text.

[RVA_Grandpa]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

But note it doesn't apply once you have hit -5; then you are well and truly gone.

I too have search the new ITL rules and also went back to the original rules in Advanced Melee. I could not find any reference to being totally dead at -5 points.

Maybe that was a house rule?

I recently had the misfortune of facing an orc with a battle ax that nearly sliced me in half. I was already wounded and took 13 more points of damage. One of my companions dragged me to safety and gave me one healing potion. At that point my body was down to -6. Once the last orc was dispatched our physicker began healing and the other members of our party shared more potions. I was brought above ST = 0 before an hour passed, but I rode in the merchant's wagon until we reached the town where our helpful NPC master physicker was.

Next time I'll use the defend option and let the wizard's bear do the fighting.

[larsdangly]

Originally Posted by hcobb

What is the page reference for that -5 ST? I can't find it in the new text.

Good question; I can't find it either! I was sure I saw such a rule in a draft of the new rules but perhaps it was a delusion.

[JLV]

Lars, I think there was some discussion of such a thing, but it didn't make the final cut. The only "official" change I'm aware of is that now death occurs at less than 0 hit points, whereas before it occurred at 0 hit points.