Dead vs DESTROYED

[garhkal]

Over on DF, there's a question someone pondered. AT what point in how much damage someone takes, does a person become totally destroyed (IE no raising possible, resurrection may be), vs just dead?

IE would someone who say had 13 hp left (its a brutal fight with a giant), who then get's critical hitted by the giant for 35hp of damage, just be dead, or would the blow have splatted him to where there would just be guts, gore and blood splatter all over?
What of the 20hp 6th level mage, who just got breathed on by a black dragon for 55hp?? Would any of him be left, to be hit by a raise dead??

In other words, At what point, do YOU SEE it, that the body's totally ruined, so Raise won't work, but resurrection will?
Is there a point, where even resurrection won't??

[JadedDM]

I don't really have a hard rule for it. Normally, I wouldn't rule the body was destroyed unless it was an extreme circumstance, like they fell into an acid pool or lava flow, or hit with a Disintegration spell. Something like that.

[New Hegdeh]

I wouldn't base it on hp and I would judge on case by case basis.

[Lyrwik]

At what point, do YOU SEE it, that the body's totally ruined, so Raise won't work, but resurrection will?

I think I'd just judge on a case-by-case basis, according to what happened.

I was going to suggest that maybe the death by massive damage circumstance (50hp and failed saving throw) would be a reasonable proxy for when the body is just too far gone, but I had a look in the PHB, and it explicitly says that even after death from massive damage "The character still can be raised in the normal ways, however."

Is there a point, where even resurrection won't??

The resurrection spell isn't as specific as raise dead about the need for the body to be whole. However, I don't see it as being the same as reincarnation, and as such I think there still needs to be some of the body remaining. Given that it's possible to resurrect someone who died 140+ years ago (for a level 14 priest), that indicates to me that there doesn't really need to be much of the body left. As such, providing they can scoop up just some identifiable parts of the body, I'd probably allow resurrection.

And, if all else fails... reincarnation time!

[Lukafio]

I used to use real world comparisons to help explain the damage a body took. Under my old system, if you took a sudden loss of HP that put you at -10 (below zero), or you ended up, gradually, at the negative value for half your HP, then the PC was toodles. Of course there were a few CON saves along the way. BUT ...
When you're gone, you're gone.
Being D&D, there could be a divine intervention though.