[3.5/P E6] Negative levels at 6+?

[Lonely Tylenol]

Hello Giants! Long time no see!

I tend to be verbose, so I'll skip straight to the TL;DR version:

In my E6 game, my party of 6th-level + extra feats players stumbled into a room of Wights, and one of the players (6th-level + two feats) got hit three times, losing three effective levels. 24 hours later, when they had to roll the Fortitude saves to avoid permanent level loss, he was the only one to fail a save (rolled a 3 when he needed a 5 or better). Despite all of the hints that I had dropped that, hey, they had fought Wights, and this was sort of a level drain issue, they didn't try to escape before the 24-hour mark to pursue restoration (though they're in a place remote enough that it wouldn't be available anyway).

I'm now faced with a conundrum I'm not exactly sure how to solve, and can find no precedent for it elsewhere:

How is permanent level loss handled in E6 after 6th level? Does a character lose a single feat (the equivalent XP from level 5 to 6), using extra feats as a buffer? Does that character lose what the game considers the equivalent of one level in feats (5 feats, or 25,000 XP)? Or does the player go directly to level 5, do not pass GO, do not collect $200?

[Kumori]

I don't think E6 has a preset answer for this. I can see three possible choices for you to make:

The character loses 5000 XP and one feat
The character loses XP based on what his level would be were it not E6, and loses a number of feats based on that XP loss.
The character loses 5000 XP and his highest class level. Once he gains enough XP he regains the lost level.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I'd remove virtual levels (i.e. extra feats) until he runs out of them before removing actual levels.

Restoration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/restoration.htm) can still restore lost levels after he's failed the save.

A party at this level should have already known an Incantation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm) for Restoration, as well as Stone to Flesh, Remove Curse, Break Enchantment, etc. If you want to be nice you could always just throw in a Restoration incantation manual for them to discover as part of their loot. I'd put it on a big stone tablet to give it that long-lost ancient ritual feel.

[Lonely Tylenol]

I'd remove virtual levels (i.e. extra feats) until he runs out of them before removing actual levels.

Restoration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/restoration.htm) can still restore lost levels after he's failed the save.

A party at this level should have already known an Incantation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm) for Restoration, as well as Stone to Flesh, Remove Curse, Break Enchantment, etc. If you want to be nice you could always just throw in a Restoration incantation manual for them to discover as part of their loot. I'd put it on a big stone tablet to give it that long-lost ancient ritual feel.

They haven't done this yet; the party has only just scratched the surface of incantations--with the knowledge that they exist, and some are known in more esoteric forms--but they haven't done further research yet, or made any effort to discover these yet (although these things are both available and in high demand for the party, as two players' primary characters were previously turned to stone by a Call of Stone contamination).

What would you recommend for the feat exchange for "virtual levels"? The e6 guidelines recommend counting a character as 1 level higher for every 5 feats they have, but as far as actual experience goes, the 5,000xp (1 feat's worth) is the largest interval between actual levels that any character crosses.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Every 5,000 xp is one virtual level and one feat, even though it takes multiples of those before you consider them effectively one level higher for purposes of CR and such.

I'd say each negative level removes one 5,000 xp feat, as that's what's gained as a level and thus what is lost as a level.