Losing a level is not fun

[d12]

Here's a house I use. Let me know what you think.

Since "de-leveling" your character is not fun we use this houserule. Any time your character would lose a level due to death or level drain, they instead lose the amount of xp they would have lost, had they lost the level. This means that you could theoretically have a 2nd level character who doesn't have enough xp to be a 2nd level character.

This rule takes some of the sting out of death and level drain but it still leaves these things as a penalty. It also reduces paper work a lot in a deadly campaign.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

Actually, that's a house rule I've been using since 3e came out. It seemed odd to me that two characters of the same level, one with more XP than the other, would both have the same XP after both dying (mid of previous level). Additionally, having to deal with negatives, removing skill points or feats, and similar didn't sit right with me either ("But he could cast that spell before he was dead, now that he is back he can't do it?!?!").

My solution was to implement an XP debt system. Instead of the funky rules they have in the DMG, losing a level (due to death or drain) results in a 500 XP per level XP debt (average of what would be lost by the rules).

Anyway, I agree with you and have a similar solution. Later!

 

[totoro]

xp debt

This is an excellent suggestion. We already use the xp debt idea for wizards that make magic items. May as well add it to the case when levels are drained. I guess the first few years of a high-level vampire's life might be spent paying off all that xp debt.

 

[Angcuru]

Yes, this allows for less head-bashing stress, but this also takes away the effectiveness of Energy Drain attacks. The whole Idea is that when you are drained to LVL 0, you DIE. a LOT.

 

[darkbard]

there's nothing stopping you from instituting this system with the caveat that if you reach 0 xp, you die. that's what i do IMC.

 

[totoro]

it might actually be fun...

With this rule, it might actually be fun to roleplay a drained character. You don't lose everything (being drained several levels is sometimes worse than being killed), for starters. And you can act like you have touched death. Maybe you always get chills, or your hair now has a touch of grey...

 

[las]

I like this but ill have it at 1,000 XP x cirrent level exp los.

 

[hong]

Yes, this allows for less head-bashing stress, but this also takes away the effectiveness of Energy Drain attacks. The whole Idea is that when you are drained to LVL 0, you DIE. a LOT.

You do not die when drained to level 0. You die when your accumulated negative levels equal your character level. I see nothing in the house rule that removes the concept of negative levels, only that they don't convert into actual lost levels.

 

[Greybar]

Interesting that this just came up for the first time in my game.

Bringing Back the Dead: Several spells have the power to restore slain characters to life. Divine spells are better at reviving the dead than arcane spells are. Any creature brought back to life usually loses one level of experience. The character's new XP total is midway between the minimum needed for his or her new level and the minimum needed for the next one. If the character was 1st level, he or she loses 1 point of Constitution instead of losing a level. This level loss or Constitution loss cannot be repaired by any mortal spell, even wish or miracle. Still, the revived character can improve his or her Constitution normally (at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level) and earn experience by further adventuring to regain the lost level.

So do you folks use this verbatim. Particularly, this hero was on the brink of level 9 when they died. They drop to the same place in XP as if they had only just gained level 8?

Maybe I'll make the player lose XP equal to the difference between the mid-point of Level 8 and the mid-point of Level 7 instead... hmm...

John

 

[Cloudgatherer]

So do you folks use this verbatim. Particularly, this hero was on the brink of level 9 when they died.

Well, here's my rationale. Before a character dies, he possesses certain abilities. Spellcasters illustrate the point easier, so say a 17th level wizard is slain in battle. A group of heroes managed to recover the wizard's body and spellbook, and bring him back with a non-True Res spell.

Now here is where I have a problem, prior to death the wizard can cast 9th level spells, now he cannot. I don't see why this should be so, from an RP, game mechanics, or even fun aspect. Anyone can make up an RP reason for the level loss. Mechanically, I think the penalty is unfair given the fact that where a character is in a level is disregarded. Most importantly, if you are that character who is slain and brought back, you get to do paperwork to reduce your abilities *and* now you cannot do things you were previously able to do before.

"He could cast Gate before he was killed... did we resurrect the same guy or did something happen?" asks a party member. Assuming the party knows nothing of the actual level of the wizard, this is a valid issue and can cause problems where they probably shouldn't exist.