56
votes
Accepted
What happens to a lich's soul when it dies with a Ring of Mind Shielding?
It's not clear that the ring would even activate
The operative part of the Ring of Mind Shielding's description is:
If you die while wearing the ring, your soul enters it, unless it already ...
- 54.4k
45
votes
Making a character without a soul?
There are several mentions of souls in the rules.
What we learn:
the soul can be separated from the body via Astral Projection (Astral Projection)
that the soul can leave the body without killing ...
- 69.9k
41
votes
Accepted
Why are the Faithless condemned to the Wall of the Faithless after death?
Alright, this is going to delve into both canon and conjecture, as it must for such a nebulous topic. I'll break them down so we know which is which.
The Many Gods of the Dead
As has been noted (...
- 7,147
34
votes
Accepted
Could both an alive and an undead version of a creature exist?
You can't have two Bobs at once, but that's not what you have here
If we look at spells such as reincarnate, raise dead, true resurrection, and resurrection, we see that they all mention the soul. ...
- 71.6k
32
votes
Accepted
Party Paladin sold his soul to an evil goddess. Does he get a new character template now? (ie: deathknight, blackguard, etc.)
Selling your soul doesn’t make you evil
Let’s not get into off-topic discussions about the nature of good and evil. Suffice it to say that being in debt to an evil demon doesn’t make you evil; only ...
- 187k
31
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to destroy a soul?
Get a barghest to eat you1
This is probably the easiest solution, since barghest will attempt to consume goblinoid leaders. Simply pose as one using a spell like alter self and you can easily attract ...
- 64.3k
31
votes
Accepted
Where does an unaligned creature's soul go after death?
The rules on this are not specific in D&D 5e, leaving it up to the DM.
There's no particular rule that says one needs an alignment to have a soul. In fact, Dungeon Master's Guide p.24, "Bringing ...
- 71.6k
30
votes
A dragon's soul trapped in a ring of mind shielding wants a new body; what magic could enable her to do so?
If the body was destroyed, the dragon's only real options are Wish and True Resurrection. All other revival and resurrection spells require a body.
The dragon can theoretically manipulate the player ...
- 4,831
29
votes
Accepted
Where is a warlock's soul?
The rules don’t define this. The absence of anything saying your soul goes anywhere might indicate that it stays where it is, though—in fact, the concept of selling souls isn’t explicitly mentioned in ...
- 318k
29
votes
What happens when a player violates two devils' contracts?
If the first contract has the price of the soul, the second contract cannot be entered into because the character no longer owns the soul and thus cannot sign it away.
Descent into Avernus (a ...
- 25.9k
27
votes
Accepted
Do you remember the name of characters who attempted to revive you?
There Is No Rule
So it falls under a setting trope, but we'll come back to that.
In your first case, the character will return in the presence of the one doing the raising:
Revivify, raise dead, and ...
- 47.4k
26
votes
A dragon's soul trapped in a ring of mind shielding wants a new body; what magic could enable her to do so?
Maybe (a retroactively cast) Magic Jar and Glyph of Warding?
The Magic Jar spell (PHB, p. 257) enables a creature to send its soul into a prepared "gem, crystal, reliquary, or some
other ornamental ...
- 36.8k
25
votes
Does an intelligent undead have a soul in 5e D&D?
It varies by type of undead.
Each individual monster's description describes whether or not it retains its soul. This can include:
Souls without bodies: Some undead are souls. The ghost is a soul of ...
- 71.6k
22
votes
Discouraging the soul-trade
The Classical Bargain
Traditionally (like, Goethe traditionally) the contract you sign with the devil gives you power while you live, and the devil gets your soul when you die. It's less of an ...
- 32.8k
21
votes
Where is a warlock's soul?
Warlocks still have their souls within them
I know of no specific rules that say a Warlock's soul has been removed from their body or not, and D&D 5e has no secret rules. So off the bat the ...
- 7,523
20
votes
Why are the Faithless condemned to the Wall of the Faithless after death?
The Wall of the Faithless was not actually made by Kelemvor, it was made by Myrkul.
I am not 100% certain how canon Neverwinter Nights 2 is for Forgotton Realms lore, but in that game, Myrkul claims ...
- 35.4k
20
votes
Accepted
When does the soul leave the body after death?
The rules don't specify; revivify's limit is a good starting point
As with a lot of things, the D&D 5e rules leave a lot of latitude for interpretation. @Aviose came up with a good conceptual ...
- 139k
19
votes
How can I persuade an unwilling soul to become willing?
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 ...
- 71.6k
18
votes
Accepted
What happens to a soul corrupted by a succubus?
The Monster Manual answers this, explaining what you turn into based on where your soul goes. Being killed by a succubus doesn't change your destination, it's the fact that you have an evil soul that ...
- 15.3k
18
votes
Do all creatures have souls?
All living creatures appear to have a soul.
According to Dungeon Master's Guide p.24, "Bringing Back the Dead":
When a creature dies, its soul departs its body, leaves the Material Plane, travels ...
- 71.6k
17
votes
Accepted
Does a simulacrum have a soul?
In 5th ed, there are a few mentions of souls, but there's no really comprehensive and mechanically-consistent metaphysics established. "Soul" isn't like "attunement," where it's ...
- 2,337
17
votes
Do warforged have souls?
It's canonically ambiguous.
Like many of the big mysteries in Eberron, this question is left to the DM to decide. This type of intentional moral and cosmological ambiguity is a big part of the theme ...
- 71.6k
17
votes
What is the complete lifecycle of souls in the Nine Hells?
Welcome to Hell!
Actual lore and citations below
I want to preface that everything here is what I learned from reading Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (MToF) and the Monster Manual (MM). I definitely ...
- 31k
16
votes
Accepted
Can a soul inside a Ring of Mind Shielding be brought back to life?
The soul can be free, but you need to find the body.
Almost all Spells that return a creature to life require a body(or part of a body). There is only one that specifically states it works without: ...
- 122k
16
votes
How can the agent of a devil "capture" a soul?
If the target is evil, A Night Hag's Nightmare Haunting feature and Soul Bag might work.
While a hellfire weapon would send the soul to the Styx, that might not get them to Dis. However, if the target ...
- 1,217
16
votes
Accepted
Where do souls go upon death and when are they free to be raised?
Plane of Deity with a fallback to alignment
Perhaps frustratingly if you expect it to be related to the planes, the DMGs section on Bringing Back the Dead is found at the end of the Magic in Your ...
- 42.6k
15
votes
Accepted
Do warforged have souls?
It is canonically undefined
In published 5e lore, the only mention of a warforged soul is in the introduction to the race:
“Pierce was built by design, while you were built by accident,” Lakashtai ...
- 90.1k
15
votes
Does a soul being resurrected know what spell is being used?
The soul knows the body before it chooses to enter it
The reincarnate spell states:
You touch a dead humanoid or a piece of a dead humanoid. Provided that the creature has been dead no longer than ...
- 71.6k
15
votes
Does the Awaken spell give or create a soul?
It doesn't say
Because the spell doesn't say, there really isn't a way to answer this either way and it becomes up to the table/DM to determine.
You can look at the argument of "it doesn't say it ...
- 122k
14
votes
Is there any way to trap someone's soul?
RAW: there is a spell called "Trap the Soul" listed on page 211 of the PHB. It is a Wizard spell. Oddly enough, there isn't a spell description to accompany this spell (...and it was ...
- 139k
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