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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 6036918" data-attributes="member: 7006">Perhaps a possible idea for Energy Drain is Progressive Disadvantage?The game is trying to move in a direction where the six ability scores are the engine that drives most of the game.  What if each hit of an Energy Drain attack (from a creature that has it) is targeted at one of the PCs six ability scores... and if the PC fails that ability's saving throw... that ability now grants Disadvantage for anything that might be rolled using it?  And each subsequent attack is against the next Ability Score on the monster's list, and on a failed save, that attribute now suffers Disadvantage.  And this continues until all six Attributes have been drained, at which time the character is dead?What this gains is that it isn't as painful as having ED cause Disadvantage on everything... there is definitely a stepping process of 6 steps before you are dead... the ED has an actual in-game effect by cause Disadvantage on all future saving throws and checks using that attribute... and what I think is the most useful is that each and every monster can have its own order in which it drains your abilities, emblematic of what the monster is primarily designed to drain.An Intellect Devourer for example might drain in the order of INT/WIS/CHA/CON/STR/DEX.  Whereas a Wraith might drain in the order of CON/STR/CHA/DEX/WIS/INT.  A Carrion Crawler (in addition to causing paralyzation) might have a drain in the order of DEX/WIS/STR/INT/CON/CHA.Now granted, this is slightly more labor intensive in tracking... although for my mind it'd just be like putting a check mark next to each drained Ability Score (so you know that it's currently suffering Disadvantage).  But as it is a progressive drain... you get several steps with which you can now create variable recovery time based upon your own preferences.  Maybe each Extended Rest allows you to remove the Disadvantage from the lowest rung of your loss ladder.  Or maybe it takes a week per ability score to recover each one?  Maybe Lesser Restoration allows you to erase one score's Disadvantage while Restoration clears all of them?The only reason I suggest this is because I am a big proponent in using Advantage and Disadvantage as often as possible in place of situation where you get numeric bonuses and penalties.  Because you avoid having to remember the changes in math each and every time something gets hit.So forget about losing -2 to your STR score when you're hit with a drain.  Have it cause all STR checks to roll with Disadvantage.  Easier to remember, faster to adjudicate.</blockquote>

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