GnomishPride
2015-09-20, 03:56 PM
One of my biggest problems with D&D (not that there are many problems) is how Energy Drain works. It has to do a lot with how levels work. Sorry if I start to rant a little bit.
Option 1: Energy Drain steals levels. This is how it works mechanically, but makes little sense. After all, levels are just increments of power based on accumulation of experience, so unless you lose your memories somehow, I doubt you can lose your levels.
Option 2: Energy Drain steals life energy. This is how it works thematically, but still makes little sense. The spell sucks away your life force, causing you to become weaker (or so I assume), but wouldn't that just make you take damage? Levels are a reflection of experience, as I stated above, so there shouldn't be a link between life force (what ED thematically takes) and levels (what ED mechanically takes). Experience does not equal life force (unless you're a god, I guess).
In addition to how little ED makes sense, it also is a big pain the butt. You have to spend time regaining those lost levels, which is annoying because you already earned those levels! And now you have to get them all over again. The same holds true for other things that cause level loss, primarily Raise Dead/Resurrection. It doesn't make sense (your death causes you to lose experience somehow?) and it's a big hassle to recover. (Though I guess it means a cost for dying... which should be reflected in some other way, like a temporary stat debuff or maybe a material component (oh wait...))
Anyway, I don't like the whole concept of level loss in D&D. I'd appreciate some thoughts on how it works, so that I can make a little more sense of why it is even a thing.
Option 1: Energy Drain steals levels. This is how it works mechanically, but makes little sense. After all, levels are just increments of power based on accumulation of experience, so unless you lose your memories somehow, I doubt you can lose your levels.
Option 2: Energy Drain steals life energy. This is how it works thematically, but still makes little sense. The spell sucks away your life force, causing you to become weaker (or so I assume), but wouldn't that just make you take damage? Levels are a reflection of experience, as I stated above, so there shouldn't be a link between life force (what ED thematically takes) and levels (what ED mechanically takes). Experience does not equal life force (unless you're a god, I guess).
In addition to how little ED makes sense, it also is a big pain the butt. You have to spend time regaining those lost levels, which is annoying because you already earned those levels! And now you have to get them all over again. The same holds true for other things that cause level loss, primarily Raise Dead/Resurrection. It doesn't make sense (your death causes you to lose experience somehow?) and it's a big hassle to recover. (Though I guess it means a cost for dying... which should be reflected in some other way, like a temporary stat debuff or maybe a material component (oh wait...))
Anyway, I don't like the whole concept of level loss in D&D. I'd appreciate some thoughts on how it works, so that I can make a little more sense of why it is even a thing.