D&D 4E Remove level drain from 4e!!

[M.L. Martin]

You know, if they carry over the condition track from Star Wars: Saga Edition (and I see no reason why they wouldn't), you could model energy draining very nicely by treating it as causing persistent (i.e., lasting until cured in some fashion) steps down said track.

 

[HeavyG]

The better mechanic is a "drain in life force" that can be mechanically replicated by penalties to d20 rolls ... which remain until some form of restoration is cast. No impact on XP or levels.

I use negative levels. If you fail your save, they stay until the appropriate Restoration spell is cast, but they never turn into lost levels.

 

[Branduil]

It seems likely 4e will use something like the condition track in Saga.

I would definitely prefer it attacks like these made you semi-permanently move down it, until someone cast a restore spell.

 

[Falling Icicle]

I hope that level drain will be gone for good. It is, imo, the most stupid game mechanic ever conceived.

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

You know, if they carry over the condition track from Star Wars: Saga Edition (and I see no reason why they wouldn't), you could model energy draining very nicely by treating it as causing persistent (i.e., lasting until cured in some fashion) steps down said track.

That could be nasty.

At the far end of the condition track is basically a -10 to everything the character does... Very bad news, but easier than basically re-writing a character sheet for being a new level lower.

 

[Henry]

I'm going to go old-school and say "I like my darned level drain." Heck, I wish they would bring the AD&D level drain back. As a player, and a DM, nothing scare ME, not my character, ME, more when playing the game than rumors of a wraith or vampire being in the location of my next adventure. Kind of like a Jenga pull in Dread, that risk of doing the wrong thing and having an undead smack you for level loss (that could be restored, with spells) was just mean, and ultimately led to some great stories where our groups went through all sorts of contortions to avoid the undead beastie and trying to douse it with holy water/ bury it in sunlight / release it from its curse / whatever, because NO ONE wanted to face the damn thing in direct combat.

That was just my experience with it. It may have been "unfun", but it was because of that why we actively sought to avoid it.

 

[M.L. Martin]

That could be nasty.

At the far end of the condition track is basically a -10 to everything the character does... Very bad news, but easier than basically re-writing a character sheet for being a new level lower.

I thought of that, but energy drain is supposed to be nasty. Require a roll to beat your Fortitude Defense so that you're not necessarily getting hammered by it every attack, maybe . . . but the thought of being at a -2, -5, or -10 to everything should make players sweat a little, while removing the mechanical hassle and conceptual problems of existing level drain.

 

[Delta]

As DM, I like 1E level drain. It's really scary and it's mechanically simple.
- With 3E save-to-restore, I was somewhat let down, but could make the compromise.
- With 3.5 save-and-save-again, I was not willing to soften it that much.
- When 4E wipes it out entirely, that's another point for me not to use that game.

One thing to remember is that the 1E geometric XP chart made it somewhat easier to recover from level drains. Let's say: worst case scenario, you get drained N levels and cannot magically restore them. But as long as you stick with the same party, by the time they get enough XP to go up one level, that's likewise enough XP to get back all the levels you lost (approximately speaking). Of course, I'm sure that's cold comfort if you don't like level drains on principle.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Level Draining is a sacred cow of D&D, long overdue to become hamburger.

 

[Li Shenron]

True, but the spell does have the unfortunate "you're restored to the minimum amount of XP for your level" clause, so it sucks way more to get level-drained when you're 100 XP away from your next level than when you've just hit your new level.

It's not a major penalty. It's still less than really losing a level. It happens only with Restoration and not with the greater versions of it.