Enervation Question

[Nish]

Hmm, what printing of the PHB do you have? I went and got mine and it mentions the -5 HP penalty in the glossary...

 

[Hypersmurf]

Unfortunately I don't have my PHB handy, nor do I have a DMG so I can't check the negative level description there, but the special abilities section is one of the released parts of the SRD, so in theory it should be an authoritative source.

PHB Glossary - no mention of hit point loss.
DMG Special Abilities - no mention of hit point loss.
MM Special Attacks - no mention of hit point loss.

The ony reference to 5 hit points is what the undead creature dealing the attack heals itself.

Looks like the SRD is out of date, maybe.

-Hyp.

 

[Schmoe]

PHB Glossary - no mention of hit point loss.
DMG Special Abilities - no mention of hit point loss.
MM Special Attacks - no mention of hit point loss.

Exactly my source of confusion. I have the first printing of each of the three books, though, so I thought maybe it had been errataed. Having checked the errata for both the PHB and the DMG, though, I still find no mention of hit point loss for negative levels.

 

[dcollins]

There are occasional errors in the SRD (or at least, contradictions with the core rulebooks). I might speculate that perhaps someone incorrectly sumarized the fact that the drainer gains 5 temporary hit points (DMG p. 76) into that list in the SRD.

 

[Victim]

There's a psionic power that causes negative levels and it mentions the 5 HP loss too.

 

[BeauNiddle]

I remember it being mentioned in Sage advice or similar, unfortunately I don't have a reference for you.

It represents the average loss of hp for a level (eg d6 with 14 con, or a d10). Technically they should have said half hps but for speed and convenience 5hp works fine.

 

[CRGreathouse]

The second printing of the PH includes the -5 hp in the back.

 

[keb]

It's also in Monsters of Faerun.

 

[Nish]

The second printing of the PH includes the -5 hp in the back.

Alright, so it appears that negative levels are supposed to inflict damage, now the question is whether or not negative levels inflicted by Enervation also inflict this HP damage. I sent an e-mail to The Sage asking this question. Hopefully I'll get a response before my character hits level 7, because this ruling will have a sizeable impact on his effectiveness.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Alright, so it appears that negative levels are supposed to inflict damage, now the question is whether or not negative levels inflicted by Enervation also inflict this HP damage.

And if they do, then it's a ray attack that inflicts damage. Doesn't that open up the Critical/Sneak Attack question?

-Hyp.