Do you remember the name of characters who attempted to revive you?

Question

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 basis.

Assuming that you died without knowing the name of the cleric reviving you, will you remember their name after returning to life?
If two strangers attempt to revive you (you reject first, accept second), will you remember both their names?

Related: Is a creature aware of the circumstances surrounding its resurrection? — Rubiksmoose, Dec 03 '18 at 15:21
I think you could improve this question if you also asked how it can be used for superluminal communication and hence send messages back in time. Or maybe not. — Yakk, Dec 03 '18 at 20:21
"I have a cunning plan to prove my identity. Step one is murdering you." — Micah, Dec 04 '18 at 04:33

score 27 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:23

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 resurrection require the caster to touch the body being raised.
When cast without the dead body, true resurrection creates a new one within ten feet of the caster.

If the setting doesn't allow them to remember who brought them back, the caster in question will be close at hand to ask post-death.

In The Forgotten Realms...

A dead person becomes a petitioner. Until scooped up by their patron deity and brought to that deity's home plane, they are mindless beings. Even after reaching their patron's home plane, most petitioners remain mindless. Often, they're not even the same manner of creature as when they were alive - for example, many petitioners of The Triad eventually become lantern archons post-death.

So, in the Forgotten Realms, I'd say anything that happens while on the Fugue Plane or beyond (including attempts to resurrect) are not remembered when the recently dead ceases to be dead. Of course, how a mindless entity makes a decisions on who can raise them is a different (and unanswered) question.

In Other Settings

If you're not using a published setting, this is something you'd have to determine on your own. Unfortunately, there is no 5E source that covers it. Based on the releases to date, I don't expect there to be one. Your best bet to dig for ideas on how death works is probably 3E's Deities and Demigods.

Well, at least it covers the case of The Forgotton Realms, because according to your link on petitioners, itself refering to Deities and Demigods, p. 55, ISBN 0-7869-2654-6: "upon resurrection they forgot virtually everything about their time on the other plane" — Cœur, Dec 03 '18 at 16:04

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 03 '18 at 15:04

5

Apparently, RAW, yes

As specified in the DMG passage you quoted, the spell bestows knowledge of the name of the caster on the target. Whether you remember it after returning to life is up to the GM because the rules don't say how much, if anything, a resurrected person remembers about being dead. By default, since it doesn't say otherwise, they'd remember everything.

answered Dec 03 '18 at 15:04

2

From T.J.L. answer, if the setting is The Forgotten Realms, then no: "upon resurrection they forgot virtually everything about their time on the other plane". Source, itself refering to Deities and Demigods, p. 55, ISBN 0-7869-2654-6. – Cœur Dec 03 '18 at 16:12
3

The passage says the the soul knows. So the question is whether the soul and mind and identical in D&D. – Acccumulation Dec 03 '18 at 17:37
@Acccumulation It would be the question if C had asked it that way. (And I'll suggest that you move that comment to under the question, as I think you have a decent point). – KorvinStarmast Dec 03 '18 at 17:38

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:23

3

The rules don't specify

That level of specificity is left up to the DM, or the table collaboratively, to discern. Which is the most fun for your table? Do that one.

Let's look at this practically:

Assuming that you died without knowing the name of the cleric reviving you, will you remember their name after returning to life?

Given that the reviving cleric is probably present, and near to the PC when the PC returns to life, there's no reason not to learn their name if only to say thank you. Another answer has addressed parts of your question, here.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:23

Community

1

answered Dec 03 '18 at 13:50

KorvinStarmast

143,146
34
471
760

2

You're missing many scenaristic possibilities: the cleric may I have been lying about their identity, or the cleric may have forgotten their own identity, or the cleric may be cursed and can only be freed from the curse if someone discover their true identity, etc. – Cœur Dec 03 '18 at 16:09
1

@Cœur Interesting points; is there a reason that those caveats or conditions are not in your question? – KorvinStarmast Dec 03 '18 at 17:37
a DM can bend the rules if needed. I wanted to know how it is generally considered. – Cœur Dec 04 '18 at 02:08