Protecting against Negative levels

[Dairuga]

Does anyone know any good ways to get an all-around immunity / protected against negative levels?

Before it is brought up, no; I am not speaking of Armor with the Soulfire enchantment, Death Ward or any such things. By strict interpretation, those effects, while protecting against Death effects, negative energy effects, and Energy Drain.

Energy Drain, by strict interpretation, is a (Su) ability which some undeads possess; most commonly known, the Wight, along with vampires, one specific attack. That being said, being protected against Energy Drain does little when a Mailman sorcerer throws a Twinned, Split-ray Maximized empowered enervation against you; and by the same coin, if you meet such a sorcerer, being protected from Negative levels for three turns per day, or being prevented from losing three negative levels per day won't help you much.

This having been established, aside from Template shenanigans, is there a way to reliably get protection from Negative Levels? Preferrably from a spell, no matter how obscure, or piece of equipment?

[Slipperychicken]

Ring of Negative Protection (MiC, page 126, costs 36k) simply says you cannot gain negative levels while wearing it. It cares not about the source.

EDIT: Added page number. Removed unnecessary text.

[tyckspoon]

Does anyone know any good ways to get an all-around immunity / protected against negative levels?

Before it is brought up, no; I am not speaking of Armor with the Soulfire enchantment, Death Ward or any such things. By strict interpretation, those effects, while protecting against ... negative energy effects,


Most methods of inflicting negative levels are also negative energy effects, and so are covered by Death Ward/Soulfire. (There's a psionic power that causes them via memory-wiping and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a poison that does it somewhere, but almost all negative-level inflicting spells and undead attacks are negative energy.)


If you want non-item reliant aid, there are a few feats that can help; Heroes of Horror gives us Font of Life, which gives you an immediate saving throw against negative levels (presumably even if it otherwise would not allow one, because what's the point if not?) Libris Mortis has Enduring Life, which lets you ignore the effects of negative levels for a couple of minutes based on your Con mod.

[TuggyNE]

Does anyone know any good ways to get an all-around immunity / protected against negative levels?

Before it is brought up, no; I am not speaking of Armor with the Soulfire enchantment, Death Ward or any such things. By strict interpretation, those effects, while protecting against Death effects, negative energy effects, and Energy Drain.

Energy Drain, by strict interpretation, is a (Su) ability which some undeads possess; most commonly known, the Wight, along with vampires, one specific attack. That being said, being protected against Energy Drain does little when a Mailman sorcerer throws a Twinned, Split-ray Maximized empowered enervation against you; and by the same coin, if you meet such a sorcerer, being protected from Negative levels for three turns per day, or being prevented from losing three negative levels per day won't help you much.

As tyckspoon indicated, enervation and similar are negative energy necromancy effects, and are blocked by death ward at the very least. RAW here is not that dysfunctional.

Note, though, that negative levels from holding weapons of opposing alignment (Holy, Unholy, etc) are not negative energy and are not blocked.

[Dairuga]

Ring of Negative Protection (MiC, page 126, costs 36k) simply says you cannot gain negative levels while wearing it. It cares not about the source.



THank you, thank you, this works just superbly. That was just the thing I was looking for, indeed, and a perfect protection against any such effects.



Most methods of inflicting negative levels are also negative energy effects, and so are covered by Death Ward/Soulfire. (There's a psionic power that causes them via memory-wiping and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a poison that does it somewhere, but almost all negative-level inflicting spells and undead attacks are negative energy.)

...It is? Oh dear, that had not occurred to me. Well, dear, thank you quite so much for that, as that renders the whole problem far more easier to solve. It seems I had simply read over the spell and assumed, while being a spell of the necromancy school that grants negative levels; having forgotten to read that the spell actually produces one ray of negative energy.

Thank you, again; this solves everything.