Spells that use an XP-Cost as a component

[Jack Haggerty]

Here's another wrench to throw in the works...

From the SRD, Magic Overview, Casting a Spell, Components:

"XP (XP Cost): Some powerful spells entail an experience point (XP) cost to the character. No spell, not even restoration, can restore the lost XP. The character cannot spend so much XP that the character loses a level, so the character cannot
cast the spell unless the character has enough XP to spare. However, the character may, on gaining enough XP to attain a new level, use the XP for casting a spell rather than keeping the XP and advancing a level. The XP are treated just like a
material component—expended when the character casts the spell, whether or not the casting succeeds."

So.

Say we have a Young Adult Red Dragon with no character levels and, as Dragon Magazine suggests, an ECL of +24. This means she could have up to perhaps 299,000 XP.

Now, how do you determine how many of those XP can be spent on a spell, since she cannot spend so much XP that she loses a level, even though she has no real levels?

 

[kreynolds]

Her ECL of +24 means she is considered a 24 level character. Basically, if she has just enough XP to be 24th level, she can't create anything because she doesn't have the XP to spend. She would need 24,000 XP to hit 25th level. So she can elect to not use earned XP to level and instead save it up to create an item.

Also, I have a feeling that if you want a dragon NPC to create an item, you just work it into her backstory that she did in the past and already spent and made up for the loss of XP. It's up to the DM to decide if she has the XP to spend or if she needs to go out and kill stuff to earn more. I get the impression that most DMs, like myself, would assume she has at least some to spend.

 

[smilinggm]

quote:
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Her ECL of +24 means she is considered a 24 level character. Basically, if she has just enough XP to be 24th level, she can't create anything because she doesn't have the XP to spend. She would need 24,000 XP to hit 25th level. So she can elect to not use earned XP to level and instead save it up to create an item.

Also, I have a feeling that if you want a dragon NPC to create an item, you just work it into her backstory that she did in the past and already spent and made up for the loss of XP. It's up to the DM to decide if she has the XP to spend or if she needs to go out and kill stuff to earn more. I get the impression that most DMs, like myself, would assume she has at least some to spend.
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Where does it state that an ECL creature has the minnimum exp to atain a level?

 

[kreynolds]

Latest issue of Dragon. If your ECL is +1, then you start off with 1,000 XP, the same amount you need to be 1st level. Now you need 2,000 more (a total of 3,000 XP) to hit 2nd level. Of course I must have made this up.