The death penalty in MMORPGs has gotten rather laughingly pathetic in recent years. There’s no cost for failing, no penalty for reckless playing, and no incentive to avoid rushing headlong into danger. But that’s something that Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is looking to change by bringing back a bit of the old school sting of death.

In the latest Kickstarter update, the Pantheon team discussed some of what they have planned to put the penalty back in death.

“Regardless of the route you choose, your corpse is an important thing because not only does it hold all of your gear but a portion of your experience. Experience is a measure of how powerful you have become but, like most things, what has been gained can also be lost. This means that losing too much XP can reduce your level making that corpse even more important.”

So what happens if you die and no one is around to rez you? Simply put, you can release back to your last bind point. And if you’re an old school EverQuest vet this next part will sound familiar – the hunt to retrieve your corpse will begin.

But death is not the end. If you choose to leave your corpse you will appear at your last bind point with a single burning desire… TO FIND AND RETRIEVE YOUR CORPSE! Now you consider your options carefully when at this point because you want to get as much of your experience back as is allowed. So what are your options? Well, players can resurrect you which, depending on the level, will give you back a portion of your experience, teleport you to your corpse, and give you resurrection effects. This is the most optimal option but it is only available for a certain period of time since corpses have a resurrection timer on them. Can’t find a player who can cast resurrection? You may have to find a way back to your corpse or ask someone to drag it to you.

All this talk of corpse dragging makes my EverQuest nostalgia all giddy.

You do have other alternatives if no one is willing to drag your rotting corpse back to you. You can get someone with mystical abilities to track it or ask your god to return it. That last one comes at a bit of a cost.

“You can always ask your god but be warned this comes at a heavy cost. The gods are not ones to interfere for free and rarely do they perform a task in the manner you desire. In order to get help from your god you must first find a prayer altar. Then, the gods ask that you give them some of your experience before they will summon your belongings. When this is done they will return your items to you and destroy your corpse and all experience on it.”

Call me crazy, but I like it. As for Pantheon, it’s currently sitting at $389,589 of its targeted Kickstarter goal with 8 days to go. You can check out our recent interview with Pantheon's Benjamin de la Durantaye for more.

Source: Pantheon Death Penalty