[RPG] How to characters access resurrection services during the Starter Set adventure

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The other night two of the characters in my campaign died. As a first time DM (a few sessions now) these first deaths were surprisingly upsetting, and disturbingly satisfying…

Anyways, the players are convinced they're going to try a rescue mission to retrieve the dead body and bring it to Neverwinter, hoping to find a high level Cleric with a resurrection spell. For those of you familiar with the scope of the Starter Set you will know that Neverwinter is way outside of the information made available to me, and I'm going to have a tough time figuring out how to run this. I don't want to expressly tell them that they can't do it, but I don't even know how they can or can't do it.

Beyond the Starter Set I have read (at least most of) the Basic Rules PDFs, but it only really mentions the Revivify spell. I have access to a copy of the PHB and have also come across Resurrection, Raise Dead, and similar spells… I can find the spells relevant in these texts, but no info about Neverwinter specifically and if these services would be available there.

Is it within reason for a high level cleric to be residing in Neverwinter who would have the ability and the inclination to resurrect one or even two characters?

I'm really just trying to find out if this is a service that is generally available within larger cities within the Forgotten Realms, and if such services have a generally agreed upon price. I understand some of the spells have a set price, but do clerics/priests within towns offer said services at higher or lower prices? Are they in most cities or only in major ones? Would there be one in Neverwinter, and how much would he charge for a resurrection?

As an aside, these characters are both non-evil, but also non-religious.

Best Answer

What I've done in my Hoard of the Dragon Queen Campaign is to have "the local clerics/priests" resurrect dead characters in exchange for the assistance the party is providing the town. So, if your characters are helping the city (I haven't read the starter set, avoiding spoilers), then local authorities could provide healing in exchange. This means, however, that the character has to sit out the next mission (so, they'll have to roll a temp or something--temp could be a generic NPC, like a soldier from the local militia, sent to help the party; or they could roll another character, though it has to be a different race and class than the one that died).

If they actually have the resources to pay for the spell (as per the Starter Set Guidelines), then the character doesn't have to sit out. I think it's a fair 'penalty' without trivializing death.

More specifically, Neverwinter has traditionally been one of the largest (if not the largest) cities in the Sword Coast--undoubtedly such a service is available. The cost would be at least 500 gp, given the material components required to cast Raise Dead.

Then again, the city was presumably destroyed in the 4E lore; without having read the starter set info (I don't want to spoil it), I'm not sure about the current state of the city. This wouldn't be a random NPC; however, it need not be a "high-level cleric--" a L9 Cleric can cast Raise Dead.

About hiring spellcasters, from the PHB, p. 159:

Hiring someone to cast a relatively common spell of 1st or 2nd level, such as cure wounds or identify, is easy enough in a city or town, and might cost 10 to 50 gold pieces (plus the cost of any expensive material components). Finding someone able and willing to cast a higher-level spell might involve traveling to a large city, perhaps one with a university or prominent temple. Once found, the spellcaster might ask for a service instead of payment— the kind of service that only adventurers can provide, such as retrieving a rare item from a dangerous locale or traversing a monster- infested wilderness to deliver something important to a distant settlement.

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