Questions tagged [soul]
For questions primarily about creatures' souls, and game mechanics involving souls.
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How is a soul different from the living creature that it came from?
Short Version
If someone who can cast a spell like Plane Shift or Gate dies, what prevents their soul from simply casting the spell and returning to the Material Plane?
Explanation
From what I can ...
3
votes
1answer
177 views
Is a soul or spirit a creature?
The new Unearthed Arcana gives a new option for warlock's patron: The Undead. One of its class feature is Spirit Projection:
Your body is now simply a vessel for your spirit. As an action, you can ...
15
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2answers
1k views
Does the Awaken spell give or create a soul?
The Awaken spell adds sentience - granting 'intelligence' of 10 to either one beast or plant target (one that starts with an int score of 3 or less). It also adds mobility, ambulatory function, ...
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1answer
225 views
Can one capture the 'soul' or 'spirit' of a dying Illithid/mind flayer with a 'Ring of Mind Shielding'?
Do illithids or 'mind flayers' have a spirit &/or soul to be captured in a Ring of Mind Sheilding? This is related to a previous question regarding the mind flayer return to a (previous/humanoid) ...
4
votes
1answer
198 views
What is the lore behind why soul coins have the symbol of Bhaal on them?
I am struggling to find an image of both sides of a Soul Coin (Baator’s currency), but everywhere I've looked, I've only found only one side bearing a letter and the other side depicting a skull with ...
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4answers
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What happens when a player violates two devils' contracts?
I'm currently preparing a session in my campaign where one of my players is going to consider signing a contract with a devil. While writing the contract, I noticed something that seems like a ...
8
votes
2answers
296 views
What groups of souls go to the Nine Hells according to lore?
The Nine Hells (or Baator) is the Lawful Evil outer plane, and the home plane of devils. It is a plane of eternal punishment for the wicked.
Which souls go there in the afterlife?
I can think that ...
11
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1answer
231 views
What is a creature's “animating spirit”?
The spell speak with dead says:
You grant the semblance of life and intelligence to a corpse of your choice within range, allowing it to answer the questions you pose. [...]
[...] The corpse knows ...
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2answers
752 views
What is the complete lifecycle of souls in the Nine Hells?
The Descent into Avernus adventure provides more information about what happens to souls in the Nine Hells/Baator than was previously available (soul coins and their uses, in particular).
It's also ...
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2answers
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What happens to a lich's soul when it dies with a Ring of Mind Shielding?
What happens to a lich's soul when it dies with a Ring of Mind Shielding? Normally, a lich's soul goes to the phylactery. But the Ring of Mind Shielding also takes a soul. Does the lich choose where ...
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1answer
407 views
Can you force out a soul that is occupying a Ring of Mind Shielding?
Per the description:
If you die while wearing the ring, your soul enters it, unless it already houses a soul. You can remain in the ring or depart for the afterlife. As long as your soul is in the ...
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1answer
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When a Hexblade warlock uses the Accursed Specter feature on a slain creature but another character casts Soul Cage, which takes priority?
The Hexblade warlock's Accursed Specter feature does not have an action timing specified, and merely says (XGtE, p. 56; emphasis mine):
When you slay a humanoid, you can cause its spirit to rise ...
12
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1answer
306 views
Does a soul being resurrected know what spell is being used?
Specifically, would a soul know that the body they're being invited into was created via Reincarnate? After all, for some souls, changing species might be a big deal, possibly of the 'rather stay dead'...
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3answers
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Party Paladin sold his soul to an evil goddess. Does he get a new character template now? (ie: deathknight, blackguard, etc.)
A PC died, and in an attempt to have his life spared, my group's paladin decided to offer his soul after he had a talk with the spiritual form of Lolth. Lolth decided to bargain for a trade of his ...
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3answers
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Where is a warlock's soul?
In a campaign that I am running, we came upon an interesting question. Where is a warlock's soul? This came about when my players were trying to sneak into a restricted area.
In my world, there is a ...
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3answers
228 views
How does Clone interact with lichdom?
Assume we have a high level wizard named Recnamorcen.
Recnamorcen casts Clone on himself, then undergoes the process to become a lich before the Clone matures. Now if he dies his soul will not go ...
7
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1answer
173 views
Can a victim of diablerie's soul be retained within the diablerist?
My latest campaign has reached a rather tragic point, heaved on by diablerie happening more often than it should.
A character's blood bound wife, diablerising that character's childe, was lost to the ...
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1answer
428 views
Do non-elven gods become more powerful over time?
As far as I understand, gods in the Forgotten Realms become more powerful if they get more souls of their worshippers in the afterlife.
According to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (p. 37, under "...
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2answers
834 views
Do all creatures have souls?
The term "soul", despite being widely used, isn't well defined in 5e. Do all living creatures have souls, or having a soul is a characteristic of specific types of creatures?
The only hint I've found ...
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4answers
6k views
Where does an unaligned creature's soul go after death?
In the DMG section on "Bringing Back the Dead" (chapter 1, p. 24), it describes what happens when a creature dies:
When a creature dies, its soul departs its body, leaves the Material Plane, ...
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2answers
637 views
Can the True Resurrection spell resurrect a creature that was originally created by True Polymorph from an object?
If you true polymorph an object into a creature, and concentrate until the effect is indefinite, does the pseudo-creature become a valid target for true resurrection?
As I understand, it would be a ...
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2answers
192 views
What happens if a petitioner is brought back to the Material Plane?
A petitioner is, essentially, the soul of a deceased character that has found its way to the plane to which it belongs. However, as far as I am aware, it does retain its level and abilities - at least ...
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vote
1answer
139 views
How many souls does a multiheaded creature have? [closed]
How many souls does a multiheaded creature have?
Ettins have multiple heads. Does one resurrection spell revive both heads of the Ettin? What happens if one head is willing to be revived and the ...
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2answers
466 views
Could a soul from the Soulmonger be restored in the ToA campaign after this event?
Assume some soul was sucked into the Soulmonger.
This event could happen with this soul, when it is inside:
Is it possible to resurrect a soul after this event happens? Maybe with a Wish spell or ...
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2answers
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Can a soul inside a Ring of Mind Shielding be brought back to life?
One of the traits of the Ring of Mind Shielding is:
If you die while wearing the ring, your soul enters it, unless it already houses a soul. You can remain in the ring or depart for the afterlife. As ...
5
votes
2answers
238 views
Can a Vampire Soul be trapped in a Magic Jar-type spell, and what happens if it's released?
Can a Vampire Soul be trapped in a Magic Jar-type spell, and what happens if it's released?
I'm going through this right now in my current adventure. One of my PCs got an amulet that acts as a magic ...
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6answers
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Do warforged have souls?
The 5e Unearthed Arcana: Eberron (v1.1) says:
Although they are constructs, they have much in common with living creatures, including emotions and social bonds, and perhaps even souls.
This last ...
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3answers
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Could a Lich have a Clone spell prepared as insurance for getting its phylactery destroyed?
I'm thinking of using the following setup for a long-term villain in a campaign I'm planning:
A Lich, for whatever reason, has a prepared Clone spell hanging around (maybe paranoia, maybe a forgotten ...
11
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1answer
5k views
Does destroying a Lich's phylactery destroy the soul within it?
The MM entry for a Lich mentions destroying a phylactery is a difficult endeavor but the only way to prevent a Lich from rising again and again.
Does destroying the phylactery destroy the soul ...
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1answer
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Would the Soul Cage spell prevent a soul from transferring to a Clone?
The wording on soul cage states:
This spell snatches the soul of a humanoid as it dies
And after that we know that the soul exists in a gem for 8 hours or until the interactions are used.
The ...
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3answers
643 views
Would becoming a ghoul be a viable option to prevent a devil from getting your soul upon death?
My character promised a devil her soul upon her death. She was young and stupid, don’t judge her. I talked to my GM and we came to the conclusion that resurrection, true resurrection and raise dead ...
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4answers
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How can I persuade an unwilling soul to become willing?
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 ...
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3answers
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Does an intelligent undead have a soul in 5e D&D?
Does an intelligent undead, such as a vampire, mummy, etc, have a soul? Is it the original soul of the person they were before?
There was already a question exactly like this specifically for 3.5e ...
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2answers
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A dragon's soul trapped in a ring of mind shielding wants a new body; what magic could enable her to do so?
In my D&D 5e campaign, the characters fought and defeated a young dragon of mixed white and silver lineage, and found a ring of mind shielding on her body. Her original body was destroyed. ...
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When does the soul leave the body after death?
In D&D (Forgotten Realms) lore, is there any kind of answer for how long it takes the soul to leave the body after death? If not, is there any answer implied by other rules or effects (such as ...
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Do you remember the name of characters who attempted to revive you?
On DMG page 24, under "Bringing Back the Dead", it states:
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 ...
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3answers
2k views
What happens to a soul trapped in a Magic Jar if the host body dies?
Suppose an elf wizard casts magic jar, and possesses another human. The human's body then takes damage and now dies.
The spell description only states that
If the host body dies while you’re in it,...
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2answers
598 views
Effects of Magic Jar on a possessed/catatonic body?
Was recently considering usages for the Magic Jar spell, particularly what occurs when two instances of the spell cast by different people interact, and ran into a bit of a conundrum. There are two ...
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Discouraging the soul-trade
Creatures in D&D have a Soul. This concept is fairly un-explored, though.
In my current open-world game, one of the players has unleashed a number of Devils upon the world. (They are basically on ...
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3answers
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Is it possible to destroy a soul?
Is there any method for a creature to destroy a soul, such that it is utterly wiped from the multiverse? No afterlife, no wall of the faithless etc etc
I was thinking about the nature of the ...
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1answer
432 views
Has it ever been officially stated how long it takes for a soul to transform into an outsider after death?
Okay, correct me if I’m wrong:
In the Pathfinder Universe, souls travel along the River of Souls after death, then hang around Pharasmas Boneyard for a while, get judged and then get send to ...
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2answers
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What happens to a soul corrupted by a succubus?
The lore text on Succubi / Incubi states the following (MM, p. 284; emphasis mine):
A mortal bequeaths its soul to the fiend not by formal pledge or contract. Instead, when a succubus or incubus ...
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2answers
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Does a phylactery keep a devil from getting a soul?
In one of my campaigns, my character is attempting to make a deal with a devil in The Nine Hells. One aspect of this deal is my soul. The devil does something for me, I do something for the devil. ...
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1answer
584 views
Souls and Psychic Damage - HP in a Magic Jar?
Suppose you are presently under the effects of Magic Jar and are stuck inside your glassy prison. A hostile spellcaster waltzes toward you and casts a spell that does psychic damage, such as Psychic ...
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1answer
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Is there a listed value for a soul gem?
In one of the campaigns I play an evil wizard. My PC recently learnt the spell lesser planar binding. I'm considering binding a cacodaemon to my service and having it use its supernatural ability soul ...
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2answers
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Does a simulacrum have a soul?
Inspired by this question about healing a simulacrum with magic jar.
We know a simulacrum is a creature, but does it have a soul?
Is that part of what is considered a creature's features and ...
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2answers
780 views
Switching a simulacrum's soul with the original caster's using magic jar
The reason I ask is because of this question. Obviously, mechanically this should work, since it's a creature, but what are the implications?
I'm picturing a simulacrum that wants to be the original,...
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4answers
986 views
How to infuse someone with a soul
In Champions of Darkness, there is a feat called Hollow. The feat states that you are born without a soul, which means you cannot be good-aligned, and you are immune to things that trap your soul, ...
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1answer
443 views
Delivering the soul of a teammate without killing them [closed]
I have a pact with the Raven queen. I have to deliver souls. My problem is that I now have to deliver the soul of a teammate. How can I solve this problem without killing them, like copying a soul or ...
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1answer
534 views
What does it mean to be born with a spirit instead of a soul?
The HeroQuest write-up of the Kolat cult says, of Kolatings:
some attract dedicated practitioners from those disaffected and dispossessed people born with spirits instead of souls.
Does this ...
