Negative levels always temporary before they become permanent?

[Yonman]

SO i'm playing Strange Aeons the Adventure path and the party gets hit by a Haunt as detailed below:

CONDEMNATION OF FAILURE CR 13
XP 25,600
NE unyielding haunt (60-ft. radius)
Caster Level 13th
Notice Linguistics or Perception DC 25 (for affected creatures to be able to see the words begin to crawl and glow)
hp 26; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 hour

Effect When this haunt triggers, dozens of inscriptions begin to glow and project illusory vignettes of the failures they record. Each of the affected creatures sees one of its own failures, subjecting it to a crippling wave of regret and nihilistic despair. All creatures with an Intelligence score of at least 3 in the haunt’s area gain 1d4 negative levels (DC 16 Fortitude half).
Special Unlike most haunts, the condemnation of failure resists its victims’ attempts to neutralize it. It attempts a saving throw with a +15 bonus against any attempt to neutralize the haunt before it manifests. Any time the haunt succeeds at such a saving throw against an effect that would normally deal it damage, the haunt instead takes no damage.
Destruction The haunt is destroyed if Aeptolinu is dead and a nonevil creature casts atonement while inside the haunt’s area to purge it of its guilt.

It doesn't distinguish if they receive temporary negative levels or permanent, so my question is does it always start out as temporary? How do I interpret what these negative levels start out as?

[Dasrak]

This is an oversight on the part of the author, it should have been specified. I would agree that presuming temporary negative levels would be prudent. With that said, making it permanent should also be fine. The PC's are fairly high level and should have the ability to remove permanent negative levels by this point. I think thematically this works well with the oppressive and corrupting nature of Neruzavin.

[Diego Rossi]

You get permanent levels immediately only if the effect says so. Otherwise, they are temporary.

The whole group being inflicted with 1d4 permanent negative levels, without a way to avoid it (besides Death Ward) is way, way above the powers of a CR 13 haunt.
Even if all the PCs make the save, it means that you will need as many Restoration as there are group members to remove the first negative level, and, on average, half of the group will need a second restoration, available only after a week has passed.

[yonman17]

Diego Rossi wrote:

You get permanent levels immediately only if the effect says so. Otherwise, they are temporary.

The whole group being inflicted with 1d4 permanent negative levels, without a way to avoid it (besides Death Ward) is way, way above the powers of a CR 13 haunt.
Even if all the PCs make the save, it means that you will need as many Restoration as there are group members to remove the first negative level, and, on average, half of the group will need a second restoration, available only after a week has passed.

Thanks I am torn on what to do but I’m leaning towards temporary levels . I rolled a “4” which means all 5 of them had a minimum of 2 negative levels

[Azothath]

yonman17 wrote:

...

Thanks I am torn on what to do but I’m leaning towards temporary levels . I rolled a “4” which means all 5 of them had a minimum of 2 negative levels

GM Commentary:

this really should be in the Strange Aeons forum
Check the description again in the AP. Targets have to fail a Fort 16 save first then they get the neg levels or half. Technically it is [mind afct] & [fear] effect. Review the basic haunt rules. At this point PCs should have +7 or better Fort, with mind afct, neg energy having common defenses. PCs are expected to have a scroll of lsr restoration. The NPC could supply an alternate roll, it is addressed in the AP, another failure.

Haunts are a story point to set an emotional tone, introduce some drama, and throw the PCs some background or info. Then there's the trap effect. The author is known to be more theatric & RAW loose with a planned series of experiences(railroad) than a map and plot centric adventure.
In reading the AP I'd go with Fort 16 [mind afct] else 1-2 (temp) neg levels and then perm if not shed after 24hrs. IT IS a high drama scene meant to show the aspects of the setting to the PCs and why the NPC is broken. It is not a casual jaunt to an elemental plane, this is a dangerous place with three big negative emotional aspects. You need to make that scene have an impact to each PC through the experiences you know of. This is one of those adventures where players need to fill out a questionaire about their PC's backgrounds.

[Diego Rossi]

yonman17 wrote:

Thanks I am torn on what to do but I’m leaning towards temporary levels . I rolled a “4” which means all 5 of them had a minimum of 2 negative levels

I would roll separately for each creature in the area of effect, not make a single roll for all of them.

It says "All creatures with an Intelligence score of at least 3 in the haunt’s area gain 1d4 negative levels (DC 16 Fortitude half).", not "the burst does 1d4 point of damage to all the creatures in the area of effect". So, as I see it, you don't roll the damage and apply it to all the creatures, but instead roll to see how each creature is affected.

With 4 PCs and a roll of 4 potentially they can have accrued 16 negative levels. Probably a couple of characters can get a Restoration immediately, but there is a good chance that a couple of characters will be crippled for a week. And that is if they are temporary levels.