Recently, on other threads, we've discussed alterations of rules (house rules and such) that alter the game, as well as some detailed plot progressions. This brought to mind some of the alternate home-brew rules I use. I thought it might be fun to lay out some of our favorite outright rule changes that make our game unique.
Though the following is a bit long, it lays out my reasons for creating the rule, and the mechanics of the rule itself.
In AD&D (2nd ed.), higher level characters are penalized worse for encountering life-draining undead than lower level characters. Let's consider two fighters; Pat and Mike. Pat is a 5th level. Mike is 15th level. Pat has up to 35,000 experience points while Mike has over 2-million. Each encounters a vampire. The vampires bite, the characters miss their saves. Each loses two levels. They forget how to fight like before. They lose skills, memory, hit points, etc.
Look at it from a different angle. Characters losing levels are supposed to drop to an experience point amount half way between the minimum and maximum of the next lowest level! In the example above, vampires drain two life levels. Two levels to Pat means he drops to the mind-exp point for 3rd level, translating to about 26,000 exp gone, not to mention all the other penalties. Mike, on the other hand, would drop to the mid-exp point of 13th level, which equals loosely 625,000, in addition to other penalties. Each character can have the problem taken care of, to a degree, by seeing a high level cleric, but Restoration costs money, the amount of which is dependent upon the level of the character, not necessarily the priest casting the spell. This will be much higher for Mike.
This seems inequitable. Trained fighters don't suddenly forget skills. The system supposes the existence of magic but, let's wise up. Acting as though all that time never happened is ridiculous. Try running life draining undead this way. Multiply the undead's hit dice by 1,000, adding 100 for each "plus". This is the experience point loss for each level the undead drains! Example: An 8+3 HD vampire would drain the following experience points: HD=8x 1,000=8,000. "+s"=3x100=300. X2 levels=16,600 exp lost. The character won't forget anything. He doesn't lose hit points, skills, or anything else. His THAC0 doesn’t suffer. He is simply forbidden to progress until all those experience points are earned back. No special actions are required.
If Pat and Mike encounter a vampire run this way, things will be different. Pat would die quickly, only able to take two bites and still survive (albeit at 1st level), and he would need to be hugging the border to 6th very tightly (33,201+) before he could survive that second bite. Mike, on the other hand, must be bitten 15 times before he loses enough exp points to constitute a single “level loss”. Even if he loses that many, he won't forget anything.
It works well for us. Low level characters now have the fear of God instilled into them vs. life draining undead. Since I started using this method, I haven’t had any low-level parties trying to bag a wraith as soon as they get their first +1 weapon. And, the upper level characters now have less trouble with the pesky life-drainers, able to hire themselves out as “Ghost Buster” style crypt cleaners. Part of their contract can include the hiring party paying for the restoration.
Thoughts???
If you want a good take on level drain, the book "A Wizard of Earthsea" (by Ursula LeGuin) has an excellent scene showing level drain and its effects. There isn't a lot of "forgetting", but the symptoms almost exactly match level drain's effects.
We apply a negative level, rather than trying to roll characters back to an earlier state. Every negative level has the same effect (-1 BAB, highest spell slot, etc.), so you don't have them "greater effect" that you're worried about.
If you want a good take on level drain, the book "A Wizard of Earthsea" (by Ursula LeGuin) has an excellent scene showing level drain and its effects. There isn't a lot of "forgetting", but the symptoms almost exactly match level drain's effects.
I adored that book, Del. Read it when I was a kid and I recall entire passages. Even renamed my stuffed animal walrus Otak.
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I always hate it to drain levels!
There's been a FR accessory called LORDS OF DARKNESS from 2E where some cool alternatives to energy draining where introduced.
Some of those where:
- Permanent withering of touched limb
- Bestowal of a minor curse
- Immediate loss of consciousness, loss of 2d6 hp, plus a permanent loss of 1 hp per drain attack, plus possible loss of currently memorized spells.
- PC stricken with insanity, or, if the pc is a spell-catser, he permanently loses knowledge of how to cast a certain spell at random
There are more, which I could share if you like, but now I have to go to bed!
Well, since I play 3.5 D&D, I don't really have to worry about level draining to that extent. The XP flow is much more logical, balanced, and quikcer between levels, so even if you loose one, it's not as huge of a deal. It also seems easier to get rid of them (you've got 24 hours before they become permanent, and you get a save, etc., etc.).
Anyway, the biggest house rule that I've got concerns wizards. I've used it almost since I started playing, and often forget that this isn't the way the RAW reads. I only require specialists to give up one school of magic, not two. In my experience, virtually no one is willing to give up that many spells. Roleplaying a character and accepting certain sub-optimal choices are one thing, but such a penalty is just too much for the people I've known. So, the banned school requirement is dropped to one, and it' still a tough choice, but not nearly as much so. The game is about having fun, afterall, and this approach increases that without altering play balance too much.
Oh, I also give half-elves the human's bonus skill point each level. Again, as per the RAW, they are about the crappiest race in the PHB, despite being one of the best for RP purposes. Rather than have everyone avoid them because they aren't willing to have their character so weak, we give them a decent power boost so that they're more appealing. It's hardly game breaking, makes sense, and while they're far from the "best" race in the PHB (that goes to dwarves!), they're more than tolerable now, so we might actually have some.