This ability has always vexed me. It never made any sense the way it is presented. It's one of the few deadly attacks that gets no saving throw! A lowly 3 HD wight can decimate a party with this one ability. None of the methods of level draining presented in any of the rule systems seems correct as described.
So I keep searching for a rationale to keep this in the game other than avoiding creatures who have this ability. My player character's are deathly afraid of the level-draining undead. The druid in the party actually wished for immunity to undead level-drain after losing two levels to wraiths! They've faced vampires and (wisely) fled from the encounter after one hit on the ranger. Of course, by then I was using my house rule of Constitution drain instead. But even this seems rather lacking.
How does level equate with Hit Dice? Monsters are traditionally expressed as having Hit Dice and characters are stated as having levels. ALL monster Hit Dice are listed as being d8, while character Hit Dice range from d4 to d10 (or d12 if barbarians are an option). Some classes even start the game with an extra HD (rangers and monks). Witchdoctors and shamans can have levels in magic-user and/or cleric but this does not actually change their base HD which are calculated differently. So, as far as 1st edition goes, HD are NOT fully equivalent to Level.
So, Level is a measure of character POWER; Hit Dice are a measure of life energy. All creatures have Hit Dice; not all creatures have Levels. So it is safe to assume that Energy Drain, an attack that drains away one's life force, should not actually affect Level (which is gained through experience). Hit Dice are tied to character levels for advancement purposes but do not simply reflect physical health, but also luck, divine assistance, and expert skill. In essence, all player characters really are 1 HD creatures (as evidenced by the fact that animate dead treats all humanoids as 1 HD for purposes of creating skeletons and zombies). They achieve higher Hit Dice through life experience, but they are essentially 1 HD creatures no matter their actual level.
So it makes sense that the undead feed on Hit Dice instead of Levels. For example, a wight that hits a third level fighter causes him to face doubts, shakes his soul to its core, and strips away a bit of that divinity, luck, or confidence that gives him the edge he needs in combat. It should NOT take away the hard earned experience he achieved through his actions over those 3 levels.
Imagine a 9th level fighter facing off against a vampire. While the rest of his party is dealing with the undead minions and summoned wolves, the fighter is handling the vampire's powerful attacks. During the combat the fighter is struck a total of 3 times, each blow causing 2 levels of energy drain. Under the old system, the fighter is now 3rd level and will likely die in this combat. If instead, the vampire drains away his Hit Dice, then he is now a 9th level fighter with only 3 HD. All the fighter's "to hit" rolls, saves, and other level dependent abilities remain intact (as do his XP). The only difference is that his hit points are now reduced back to 3rd level maximums. So, he might be a 9th level Lord with only 25 hit points! Restoration spells would be able to restore lost Hit Dice as if they were levels, but obviously no higher than the character's Level. Also, if the character cannot afford a Restoration, he is forevermore a 9th level fighter with 3 HD. When he makes 10th level, he will have 4 HD. In fact, if he makes it to 20th level without losing any more Hit Dice to level draining, he would only have 9 HD +15 hp. A regular 20th level Lord would have 9 HD + 30 hp.
In this method, as with the old method of level loss, hit points gained for each level should be recorded on the character sheet. If the character is multiclassed, the Hit Die drain will occur to EACH class since Hit Dice are averaged over a level. So a 2nd/2nd/3rd level elven fighter/magic-user/thief will lose 1/3 HD from each class on the first hit, and 1/3 HD from each class on the second hit. He will be left acting as a 3rd level thief thereafter with 1-2 hp until restored. When he makes next level in each of his classes he will have the average of a d10, d4, and d6 added to this total as a 3rd/3rd/4th level character. If the undead hit him a third time before being restored, he would be dead.
This does provide a reason for early retirement of some characters. Imagine a poor 7th level paladin locked in a pitched battle with a wraith. If the paladin is struck about 4 times, he is now a 3 HD 7th level paladin. He is too weak to join his companions facing a dragon in another dungeon and may be relegated to a henchman status or retired from play. It would be interesting to play such a character, in my opinion, but other players see weakness as a detriment to their fun. The role-playing possibilities are very intriguing, however. Imagine that this paladin character decides that he would be better off serving as a cleric, seeing that direct conflict is not the path he wishes to continue. If his wisdom is high enough, he could opt to dual class as a cleric, perhaps one of a peaceful deity, and forego use of the sword and armor in favor of tending the wounded in the rear of a conflict. Such a character would be most welcome at my table! It gives the character an interesting background and progresses his story without starting over with a new character. Such a character would have a healthy fear of the undead to be sure!
Now, one might ask "what happens when a character slain by an energy-draining undead is raised from the dead?" The question is pretty much moot, however, since energy-draining undead who slay a character cause it to rise as the same type of undead (at half strength). Therefore, death to energy drain is permanent! There are no hit dice left to raise - the soul has essentially been consumed. What remains (or replaces) is a husk or a shadow of the character which is filled with the same hunger for life force.
This version of energy drain is less time-consuming and less fidgety than previous versions. The only stat being affected in combat is hit points (which are tied to Hit Dice). Attacks, saves, and other abilities dependent on LEVEL are not affected until all hit dice are consumed in that class (at which time the character is either dead or acting as only his or her remaining classes if multiclassed).
The last example one has to consider is that of the dual classed character. In this case, I believe that the current class Hit Dice would be drained first, then the previous class Hit Dice. Note that unlike multi-class characters, dual-classed characters keep their full Hit Dice over all their levels - they are not averaged across levels. To use the example above, the former 7th level paladin (3 HD) turned cleric is now as high as 4th level in cleric when he encounters another wraith. He fails to turn the creature and ends up in pitched battle against it. If he is drained, he will first lose 4 HD of cleric before losing his abilities to function as that class (although he doesn't LOSE the class). He will then be drained of his remaining paladin HD until dead. If he is drained 4 HD, he is currently acting as a 0-level character. If he gains another level in cleric through experience, he is restored to a 5th level cleric/7th level paladin status. However, prior to that time frame he is unable to turn undead or cast cleric spells. He is also unable to function as a paladin since his cleric class does not exceed his paladin class as of yet. He will also have only 3 paladin HD and 1 Cleric HD unless he can get the other HD restored. I would allow him to still fight but as a 0-level character. So adventuring might be very difficult for such a character, but not impossible. A Restoration would allow him to function as a cleric again, since I assume that it would only restore a HD in his current class, not his former class. Thus, if he were drained lower than his 4 cleric HD, his paladin HD would be even lower and are probably not recoverable until he is able to restore all his current cleric HD.
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