Enervation.

[Corsair]

Fireball can murder babies. Should it have an Evil descriptor? Considering at the level you get it, the vast majority of creatures you're fighting wouldn't go down from one or even two of them, I don't think so.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, the spell is at least borderline evil...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Frankthedm: I think it's clear that since the spell can kill things from negative levels then the creature does come back as a wight. Meaning a wizard can make a mob of wights in no time! (get a bunch of 1hd prisoners in a pit. Ennervate one. Next day you have a wight that proceeds to drain the others...)

And it's probably for this reason that I'd say it doesn't bring back the creature as a wight.
By a straightforward reading of the text, it's logical.
From a game balance point of view, it makes the spell too powerful in certain circumstances.
From a "game world logic" point of view, it doesn't make sense, since the outcome WOULD be a world crawling with wights. Even if there are only 1 or 2 Nerull-worshipping necromancers trying this trick, the geometric spawning of wights makes them nearly unstoppable if they can kill an ordinary village before running into a mid-to-high-level cleric. And it'll happen over and over once a nihilistic necromancer hits 7th level.

Since bad guys exist that would want to pull this trick (and are much more common than 15th-level casters, the only other ones that can create energy-draining undead), and since the trick would be so easy to accomplish, then if my world is NOT crawling with undead, then logically the trick does not work for some reason. Either Enervation doesn't exist, or it doesn't turn victims into wights, or wights don't exist.

This is to a large extent my problem with the existence of spawning undead rather than Enervation (even worse are the incorporeal ones). If ANY of them exist, they can wipe out nearly all life on a planet very quickly. You'd need some kind of rules like "cannot move more than 100 yards from the spot of their creation" to stop this from happening.

 

[lukelightning]

If it did create Wights from dead things... shouldn't the spell have the [Evil] descriptor... as Create Undead does?

Nah, it's just a side effect to torture player with when they forget, and the bandit they killed and left in a ditch turns into a wight the next night and terrorizes the village then when the players come back everyone is a wight and attacks them.

Personally I have no problem with ruling that it doesn't create a wight. Especially since it makes create undead at 11th level can only make a ghoul (and costs $$$$). If a player really really wanted undead creation out of this spell, how about a compromise and say that it is cheaper (in terms of the expensive onyx material component) to cast create undead or animate dead on things that have been killed by enervation.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Fireball can murder babies. Should it have an Evil descriptor?

That's gotta be the biggest straw man I've ever seen.

Both spells kill so that is not what makes it Evil. Killing and THEN bringing the victim back as undead is what would make it Evil.

 

[shilsen]

That's gotta be the biggest straw man I've ever seen.

Both spells kill so that is not what makes it Evil. Killing and THEN bringing the victim back as undead is what would make it Evil.

No, no - that just makes it efficient

 

[Artoomis]

No, no - that just makes it efficient

Now that is an evil attitude.

 

[Hypersmurf]

If it did create Wights from dead things... shouldn't the spell have the [Evil] descriptor... as Create Undead does?

Hell, even a Holy longsword can create Wights from dead things, and that's about as far from the [Evil] descriptor as it gets

Make it an intelligent Holy longsword, and you can't even argue that it wasn't a creature that killed them...

-Hyp.

 

[Felix]

Oh, they stack.

Some feel that the negative levels enervation deals only inflict the penalties detailed in the PHB spell write up.

If the subject has at least as many negative levels as HD, it dies. Each negative level gives a creature a -1 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, ability checks, and effective level (for determining the power, duration, DC, and other details of spells or special abilities).

Additionally, a spellcaster loses one spell or spell slot from his or her highest available level. Negative levels stack.

Others feel the spell inflicts all penalties listed under negative levels for the duration of the spell. raises hand

The character gains one or more negative levels, which might permanently drain the character’s levels. If the subject has at least as many negative levels as Hit Dice, he dies. Each negative level gives a creature the following penalties: -1 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, ability checks; loss of 5 hit points; and -1 to effective level (for determining the power, duration, DC, and other details of spells or special abilities). In addition, a spellcaster loses one spell or spell slot from the highest spell level castable.

What's the difference? Besides Enervation never causing permanent level-loss, that is.

------

Some also feel those drained to 0 levels will rise the next night as a wight. raises hand

Others claim wight spawning only happens when a creature does the energy drain.

Well, the text does say that a creature with Negative Levels equal to their level dies and rises as something, depending upon what killed him, and it does not necessitate that those Negative Levels be bestowed via Energy Drain, so I suppose it is very reasonable to say that the rules support Enervation-caused death to result in wights.

 

[lukelightning]

I don't suppose if I sneak attack with enervation I can do extra dice of negative levels, right? That would be waaay too good. Or evil.