[RPG] How to persuade an unwilling soul to become willing

dnd-5eresurrectionsoul

This question is inspired by this question. In that question, one of the answer explains that you can predict if the soul is willing or not by means of some divination spells. It, however, doesn't address (so this question sparks):

How to persuade an unwilling soul to become willing to be resurrected again?

Answer that explain how to do this as PC is surely better than those that will only works as DM narrative/fiat.

I'm unfamiliar with after-life lore in Forgotten Lore setting, so if you think that will help explaining the answer, please do. If I'm not mistaken, I've read that a lawful good soul usually won't be willing to return because it's reached Valhalla or something.

Best Answer

Method 1: Have someone else raise them

Dungeon Master's Guide p.24, Bringing Back the Dead, suggests this exact course of action:

A soul can't be returned to life if it doesn't wish to be. A soul knows the name, alignment, and patron deity (if any) of the character attempting to revive it and might refuse to return on that basis. ... If the evil cleric wants to revive Sturm to interrogate him, she needs to find some way to trick his soul, such as duping a good cleric into raising him and then captureing him once he is alive again.

Method 2: Ask them in person

When a creature dies, its soul departs its body, leaves the Material Plane, travels through the Astral Plane, and goes on to abide on the plane where the creature's deity resides.

In most campaign worlds, planes are somewhere you can travel to. If you can find the soul and communicate with them, you may be able to change their mind. Finding them may be a challenge, and whether or not you can communicate with disembodied souls on their plane is up to the DM.

In some cases, souls don't pass on correctly, remaining as a kind of undead, and are much easier to find. This is especially convenient if you want to raise an enemy who returns as a ghost or revenant who will haunt or hunt you, so you don't even need to do much work to find them.

Method 3: Summon them

According to Monster Manual p.67:

When the soul of an evil mortal sinks into the Nine Hells, it takes on the physical form of a wretched lemure.

It's not clear as to how long this transformation takes. It does describe lemures as twisted and tormented souls, which suggests that it may take some time, and devils are described as patient immortals who don't mind waiting for years.

Still, it is possible that your target will have transformed into a lemure by the time you have com, at which point you may be able to summon them with any spell which would summon a lemure, or, if it has been promoted, a higher-ranking devil. You may then be able to have a chat and try to convince them.

Method 4: Wish

Wish can do anything, although naturally this is a last resort.

Method 5: Divine intervention

Again, this is a last resort that can do anything, but your unwilling soul might come around to your way of thinking if their deity puts in a good word for you.

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