Please help me for my son

[bretlt]

I would really appreciate it if someone can help me with questions about rules for D & D (3.5). I have never played (I am 57), but my son is asking via email (Corrlinks -- he is a good man who is in prison for a few years, and is playing D & D with some others who seem to be relatively good influences -- please please please don't troll me here) -- here is a paste from his email, and I have no real idea what he is talking about ...

1. When you die and you're raised back to life through any means EXCEPT True Ressurrection, and you gain a level (because, unless you use True Ressurrection, you lose a level,) do you gain all your bonuses for leveling up or do you simply keep what you had before you died? Whenever you level up, you gain 1 hit die, base attack bonus, saves, skill points, and spells if you're a caster.

2. Does a Druid's animal companion advance on it's own as well as gaining bonuses based on the Druid's effective Druid level or does the animal companion ONLY level up with the Druid's ECL? For instance, an animal companion that shares an effective Druid level of 4 gains +2 bonus HD, +2 natural armor, +1 STR and DEX as well as learning one more bonus trick. Does the animal companion not also gain experience on it's own and advance naturally based on it's HD?

Both questions apply to Ver. 3.5

[Florian]

1) When you die and get raised, you gain a negative level which has to be removed. Should you gain an actual level while still having the negative level, both happens: a level up (virtually restoring the lost level), while still having that negative level. Should that negative level be removed, you gain both, the former full level, plus the new level up. Also keep in mind that the negative level didn't affect the EXP required for a level up.

2) Effective Druid level only. Animal companions don´t gain EXP on their own or raise their HD.

[bretlt]

1) when you die and get raised, you gain a negative level which has to be removed. Should you gain an actual level while still having the negative level, both happens: A level up (virtually restoring the lost level), while still having that negative level. Should that negative level be removed, you gain both, the former full level, plus the new level up. Also keep in mind that the negative level didn't affect the exp required for a level up.

2) effective druid level only. Animal companions don´t gain exp on their own or raise their hd.

thank you!!

[Psyren]

1) When you die and get raised, you gain a negative level which has to be removed. Should you gain an actual level while still having the negative level, both happens: a level up (virtually restoring the lost level), while still having that negative level. Should that negative level be removed, you gain both, the former full level, plus the new level up. Also keep in mind that the negative level didn't affect the EXP required for a level up.

This is the Pathfinder answer - the OP's son is playing 3.5. In 3.5, when you die and get raised, you actually lose a level - there is no negative level there to remove, you simply have to just regain your levels normally by adventuring.


Coming back from the dead is an ordeal. The subject of the spell loses one level (or 1 Hit Die) when it is raised, just as if it had lost a level or a Hit Die to an energy-draining creature. If the subject is 1st level, it loses 2 points of Constitution instead (if this would reduce its Con to 0 or less, it can’t be raised). This level/HD loss or Constitution loss cannot be repaired by any means.

[ArendK]

This is the Pathfinder answer - the OP's son is playing 3.5. In 3.5, when you die and get raised, you actually lose a level - there is no negative level there to remove, you simply have to just regain your levels normally by adventuring.

Psyren is correct. Level drain used to be flat out terrifying pre-Pathfinder. It was how DM's brought the god wizards to their knees; it made you fear death and the undead as opposed to being heartless speedbumps on the way to the next level. Being smacked down for half your levels definitely levels most any playing field. While from a game perspective, I prefer the mechanical answer of Pathfinder to the negative level problem for balance and group fun (they still are terrifying from smart casters), the 3.5 and earlier answers made players fear death.

[Lazymancer]

Ignoring Florian who can't read:


1. When you die and you're raised back to life through any means EXCEPT True Ressurrection, and you gain a level (because, unless you use True Ressurrection, you lose a level,) do you gain all your bonuses for leveling up or do you simply keep what you had before you died? Whenever you level up, you gain 1 hit die, base attack bonus, saves, skill points, and spells if you're a caster.
If you get resurrected via effect that makes you lose a level (there are several ways to avoid it, not only True Resurrection), you lose a level: your Hit Die/BAB/saves gets decreased to the previous level character has.

If character had experience enough to advance to the next level, this epxerience is not used to bring characer back to the current level. It is all ignored: XP set to the half necessary to get to the current level (i.e. level character had before level loss).


LEVEL LOSS
A character who loses a level instantly loses one Hit Die. The character’s base attack bonus, base saving throw bonuses, and special class abilities are now reduced to the new, lower level. A 2nd-level rogue, for example, normally has the evasion ability, but when she is drained to 1st level, she loses that ability. Likewise, the character loses any ability score gain, skill ranks, and any feat associated with the level (if applicable). If the exact ability score or skill ranks increased from a level now lost is unknown (or the player has forgotten), lose 1 point from the highest ability score or ranks from the highest-ranked skills. If a familiar or companion creature (such as a paladin’s mount) has abilities tied to a character who has lost a level, the creature’s abilities are adjusted to fit the character’s new level.
The victim’s experience point total is immediately set to the midpoint of the previous level. For example, a character drained from 2nd to 1st level would drop to 500 experience points.



2. Does a Druid's animal companion advance on it's own as well as gaining bonuses based on the Druid's effective Druid level or does the animal companion ONLY level up with the Druid's ECL? For instance, an animal companion that shares an effective Druid level of 4 gains +2 bonus HD, +2 natural armor, +1 STR and DEX as well as learning one more bonus trick. Does the animal companion not also gain experience on it's own and advance naturally based on it's HD?
No. Druid's animal companion is part of druid class and does not advance on it's own. Abilities of druid's animal companion are tied to the number of druid class level (not characters ECL).

So, for example, Aasimar (+1 LA) with three levels of Druid is treated as 4th level character for the purposes of getting XP to level-up, but animal companion gets abilities only from three levels of Druid. If Aasimar gets a level in Fighter class, it will become 5th level character, but only three levels of Druid will be relevant to the animal companion.

[Florian]

Oh, damn, sorry! The old rules were so bad and punishing at this, I permanently blocked them out.

[Psyren]

Ignoring Florian who can't read:

There's no need to be a jerk :smallannoyed:


Psyren is correct. Level drain used to be flat out terrifying pre-Pathfinder. It was how DM's brought the god wizards to their knees; it made you fear death and the undead as opposed to being heartless speedbumps on the way to the next level. Being smacked down for half your levels definitely levels most any playing field. While from a game perspective, I prefer the mechanical answer of Pathfinder to the negative level problem for balance and group fun (they still are terrifying from smart casters), the 3.5 and earlier answers made players fear death.

Death is penalizing in Pathfinder too, since without Greater Restoration you need multiple weeks in-game to recover from significant setbacks. The difference here is that PF players can't game the system using Wights and Thought Bottles and whatnot, or drain their RHD away for more class levels, or exploit being lower level than the rest of the party for crafting purposes, and other such abuses.