D&D Energy Drain

Soylent Green · March 12, 2010, 02:14:37 PM

Do players really dread the classic D&D energy drain more than character death itself or is it just the people I know?

Abyssal Maw · March 12, 2010, 02:16:39 PM

It takes away your levels, and levels=time spent. Hell yes, they dread it.

winkingbishop · March 12, 2010, 02:21:33 PM

Quote from: Soylent Green;366704Do players really dread the classic D&D energy drain more than character death itself or is it just the people I know?

Yes. In fact, I've seen well-prepared parties simply turn tail and run away from a wraith or wight.

Ian Absentia · March 12, 2010, 02:23:16 PM

Agreed. "Energy drain" sucked hard. Much thought was given to the matter in early game magazines. One of the earliest articles I recall from a low-numbered issue of White Dwarf discussed an alternative rule for life-draining monsters so that they would eliminate HPs and CON instead of destroying experience.

Yeah, everyone hated that they seemingly caused amnesia instead of draining life force.

!i!

Soylent Green · March 12, 2010, 02:28:57 PM

Oh, I get that. But the "time spent" I presume was fun in its own right and it's not like there isn't always more XP to be had out there.

Ian Absentia · March 12, 2010, 02:34:06 PM

For me, the level drain was too much like Chutes & Ladders, and it seemed counter-intuitive. It really did seem like amnesia, not weakening of the body and spirit. If the rationale was, in fact, that the monster caused a sort of befuddlement, I might have seen my way through it.

I hated "energy drain".

!i!

Sigmund · March 12, 2010, 03:02:14 PM

Another vote for yes, hated it, for all the reasons given.

StormBringer · March 12, 2010, 03:12:40 PM

It wasn't fun, to be sure, but it was about the only way to make fearful opponents out of the undead. I am not entirely convinced that a Con or HP loss would have been received any better. It was a fairly arbitrary loss that felt a lot like negative fiat, but I don't think it was any more psychologically abhorred than a different type of loss would have been.

It does have a fairly easy fix, though: make the loss temporary. Recover lost levels at a rate of one per day or week, or through a lower level cleric spell than restoration. Perhaps minor restoration as a fourth level spell that works like restoration, and major restoration at seventh level that recovers all lost levels at some cost to the caster, like temporary Con or HP penalties.

Bedrockbrendan · March 12, 2010, 03:14:17 PM

In my experience people did fear it more than character death. I actually had players retire characters and start over after level drains. And a lot of people didn't think they made a whole lot of sense. Personally I preferred the aging ability some undead had in 2E.

Benoist · March 12, 2010, 03:19:21 PM

Quote from: Abyssal Maw;366706It takes away your levels, and levels=time spent. Hell yes, they dread it.

Oh yeah. The "nuclear option", as far as PCs are concerned. It's feared alright!

The Worid · March 12, 2010, 03:36:15 PM

When you die, you make a new character and keep playing (assuming that your group uses "start at the same level as the rest of the party" rules). When you get level drained, you just suck.

Yes, it's worse.

jeff37923 · March 12, 2010, 03:40:01 PM

Quote from: Soylent Green;366704Do players really dread the classic D&D energy drain more than character death itself or is it just the people I know?

I didn't like it, but I didn't dread it worse than character death. If my PC got knocked down a few levels as was not killed, I'd just work his way back up again in time.

Shazbot79 · March 12, 2010, 04:02:00 PM

There were ways to mitigate it, as in Restoration spells and what have you...so it wasn't devastatingly bad.

My problem was all the bookkeeping level drain entailed, especially in 3rd edition, where you weren't just losing spells/HP but also feats.

I wonder if a similar effect couldn't be achieved with simply lowering max HP by a set amount and imposing a blanket penalty to everything the victim does.

Imp · March 12, 2010, 04:12:03 PM

3e level drain was a good deal easier to deal with than level drain in previous editions, where it was much less likely to find someone who could cast Restoration, never mind get him to do it.

(also hated it worse than death; screws PCs in exactly the wrong way IMO)

jibbajibba · March 12, 2010, 04:24:43 PM

Con loss is a better replacement with hitting 0 Con meaning being turned. It works better from the source material as well. But you would have to set the recovery to be slow otherwise it would be trivial and I couldn't imagine 4e doing anything but making it a per encounter recovery.