COMMUNITY - FORUMS - AGING & DYING
Unfinished Business

With talk about what sort of role religion will play in CoE, I got to thinking about the purpose of religion in the real world. Part of what religion does is it helps humans cope with the concept and mystery of death. However, in CoE, death is widely understood to be the end of the physical life but not the end of the soul's journey. So, it makes sense that religion and, more specifically, religious rituals would play a different role when it comes do death and the departed.

I was wondering, what if the natural order of Elyria was that when someone's body dies, the body is returned to Elyria, either through burial in the dirt, cremation with fire, or left to decompose in nature and made food for other creatures. In these ways, a soul's body is laid to rest in a "natural" way that is acceptable to the soul.

Alternatively, what if a body was subjected to unnatural effects after its death? What if they are left to rot on a blood-soaked battlefield or decapitated with their head put on a pike and displayed for all to see or what if they are buried in a desecrated place? Could this result in the soul of the deceased having "unfinished business" that imposed a penalty to their skill ramps or additional spirit loss until they or their family could set things right?

If this was a mechanic in the game, it would certainly give a mechanical reason for family members to tend to the corpse of a fallen loved one. For individuals who overthrow the rule of a noble, placing their head on a pike and displaying it would not only penalize the soul of the noble in its next life (perhaps preventing them from coming to reclaim their lost noble title) but it would also work to draw out the former noble's allies as they attempt to recover the slain noble's head and undo the unfinished business. Unfinished business could also cause bodies to rise as undead or other monsters.

Just saying, there could be a lot of fun to be had with a mechanic like this.


11/25/2016 9:05:17 AM #1

It's an interesting idea that'll certainly improve the immersion through better RP. That said, it's all too easy for a body to be left in an inaccessible place, like the bottom of a deep ravine.

Unless the penalties aren't too major, this might further discourage explorers and warriors. It's a good thing that this game isn't easy and that you have to take risks to gain something, but I'd very much like to be able to start over without major disadvantages.


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11/25/2016 5:35:36 PM #2

Posted By CalligoMiles at 03:05 AM - Fri Nov 25 2016

It's an interesting idea that'll certainly improve the immersion through better RP. That said, it's all too easy for a body to be left in an inaccessible place, like the bottom of a deep ravine.

Unless the penalties aren't too major, this might further discourage explorers and warriors. It's a good thing that this game isn't easy and that you have to take risks to gain something, but I'd very much like to be able to start over without major disadvantages.

That makes sense. I wasn't thinking the penalties would be so great as to make it difficult to start over, just sort of a nagging debuff that would either motivate you to put your former body to rest or motivate you to overcome it. Also, would be cool if you could have a ceremony performed by a religious leader to sort of "rite of passage" your missing body penalty away. That way religious temples will have a mechanical rite they can use (for a certain donation of coin from the fallen's family) to erase the debuff.


11/25/2016 6:56:46 PM #3

It would be a little odd to start a new life in a new body with a debuff caused in your previous life. Technically, your soul is in a new body that has a new life likely with no recollection of inhabiting a specific body in a past life that was maimed. The debuff would sort of cause a meta-game situation RP wise, in my opinion. I think desecrated places should have things happen like rise from death, or even ghostly presences, as ghosts are more of an echo left from strong emotions or "unfinished business." Being penalized in a second life so obviously I think takes away from immersion actually.


"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. You cannot subjugate a nation forcibly unless you wipe out every man, woman, and child. Unless you wish to use such drastic measures, you must find a way of settling your disputes without resort to arms." -Albert Einstein

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11/25/2016 6:56:46 PM #4

It would be a little odd to start a new life in a new body with a debuff caused in your previous life. Technically, your soul is in a new body that has a new life likely with no recollection of inhabiting a specific body in a past life that was maimed. The debuff would sort of cause a meta-game situation RP wise, in my opinion. I think desecrated places should have things happen like rise from death, or even ghostly presences, as ghosts are more of an echo left from strong emotions or "unfinished business." Being penalized in a second life so obviously I think takes away from immersion actually.


"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. You cannot subjugate a nation forcibly unless you wipe out every man, woman, and child. Unless you wish to use such drastic measures, you must find a way of settling your disputes without resort to arms." -Albert Einstein

Friend Code: 86EE7E

11/25/2016 7:42:53 PM #5

I have to disagree, with Ekim Kuynafets especially with the point that there would be no recollection. The player is essentially the soul, as it is the player that continues. The player would have knowledge of what occurred to their previous body.

If you want to role-play that it is an entirely new 'soul' and body or there is no recollection, unless the new incarnation started a new bloodline, the character would eventually become aware of some misdeed perpetrated against a previous family member. Even than depending on the fame of the individual a character could learn of the misdeeds against their previous self. The 'soul' could react to learning of what happened to the previous self and it could begin a religious story line of self-healing for a 'soul scar'.

Until the proper, religious rituals are performed or the body of the previous self is put to rest than the 'soul scar' remains open and a minor debuff remains.


11/26/2016 4:05:35 PM #6

Posted By Naberius at 1:42 PM - Fri Nov 25 2016

Until the proper, religious rituals are performed or the body of the previous self is put to rest than the 'soul scar' remains open and a minor debuff remains.

Funny thing is there is another thread in which I talk about "soul scars" as being left as an "achievement" from having unlocked a talent, like a minor mechanical benefit related to a talent you once had.

I do like the idea of a "vengeful echo" of your former self rising if the body is not taken care of. This could be a good source of lootless (or nearly lootless) monster spawns. Perhaps a necromancy purposefully desecrates bodies so they rise from the dead before the necromancer destroys them, the reanimation process producing a rare ingredient useful on their path towards lichdom.


11/27/2016 8:13:57 AM #7

From QnA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK4AbEVdEQA

[Caspian]: Let’s be honest, without the need to bury bodies, or create crypts and things like that, why would there ever be a crypt or that sort of thing. So if we want these ancient crypts and catacombs, we need to make a reason for it. So in this world, if you die your body just stays there and will eventually decompose and leave a skeleton behind along with all the materials that were in the possession of that person, forever more. So you could visit a dungeon that hasn’t been visited in 1000 years and still see the remains of skulls and bones and stuff like that, scattered along the floor

[Caspian]: But as we said before, in kind of a hint of lore to come, it’s always a good idea to dispose of your dead properly.

[BW]: So how about… Triggered Story Arcs. Say we bury 10,000 bodies in a crypt triggers a story-arc, something like that could happen?

[Caspian]: Something like that could definitely happen.

[BW]: So the catacombs in France are a possibility?

[Caspian]: Anything is possible. I’ve got TripNull grinning at me right now so you’re getting dangerously close to fun stuff we’ve got planned.[http://coeqa.diegobao.info/question/57f0e6eab53a3067a84108b0]

Also see my Nov 25 comment for "Lich?" which explores a soul mechanic that has just barely been hinted at.


Those who fail to learn the historical maneuvers of the Great Dance are doomed to repeating a classic misstep. -- FC--96C878

11/28/2016 1:40:38 PM #8

So, maybe the unfinished business is less the problem of your soul and more the problem of people around your corpse?


11/28/2016 2:09:53 PM #9

Glowing pine trees can only sprout in corpses? Actually, something like that would be interesting.


11/29/2016 9:02:45 AM #10

Well it sounds like it will be a problem for the people around you if your body is just left there but, it might be an interesting thing if instead of your unfinished business being a debuff what if it was a buff? Like lets say that you perma death in a fight. When you come back your unfinished business is to then win a fight with some small incentive? Or you have to win some huge fight or defeat something in an impressive way to receive some kind of reward? Just a thought though. I do however really like the idea of making it so that burying the dead is something that you will want and need to do.