dcollins said:
He loses the highest level in any class.
(Edit) Err... doesn't he? I can't find a source for that at the moment.
I have a memory of that from 3E, but I'm away from my books, so I can't check if it was in fact the case... or if it carried over into 3.5.
It can lead to some interesting PrC tricks, though.
Let's say I have a Ftr1/Wiz5/Eldritch Knight2.
EK has a requirement of "Ability to cast 3rd level arcane spells". He requires this ability in order to take the first level of the class, and if he loses it, then per Complete Warrior, he loses access to all class features.
At present, he casts as a 6th level wizard, thanks to the +1 spellcasting level of EK2.
If he loses a level
from his highest class, he becomes a Ftr1/Wiz4/EK2. He casts as a 5th level wizard... sufficient to satisfy the "Ability to cast 3rd level arcane spells" requirement. He's now a valid Ftr1/Wiz4/EK2 build, even though he could not have entered the class in that fashion, and can continue taking EK levels.
A Ftr1/Wiz5/EK3 drained 2 levels would be a valid Ftr1/Wiz3/EK3.
However, a Ftr1/Wiz5/EK2 drained 2 levels would be an invalid Ftr1/Wiz3/EK2. He'd lose access to all EK class features, and would not regain them until he took another level in wizard.
Even more unusual - a Ftr5 who takes the first level in four fighter PrCs with good BAB and a BAB +5 requirement gets drained 4 levels. His highest class is fighter, so he gets drained to Ftr1/PrCA1/PrCB1/PrCC1/PrCD1... but since his BAB is +5, he still satisfies the requirements of all four PrCs, and can continue advancing in any of them without taking any fighter levels. If he'd only had three PrCs, he would need to take one fighter level before regaining the class features of the PrCs... but not four levels, because BAB from PrCs is retained (along with BSBs and hit dice) even when class features are unavailable.
-Hyp.
