In my last post I got some slack because I enjoy the AD&D rules, and strive to adhere to them as close as possible, however this doesn’t imply that I never question the game, after all, that is what DMs are expected to do. I have never played this game with blind faith alone, I never said that I did, I always recommend looking at the rules and questioning why they are there. I do suggest taking AD&D and turning it into your own personal hotrod! Like a mechanic, the DM should know what is under the hood of his rules, and how they all function. I do enjoy tweaking and meddling, if I didn’t, then I’d probably play the 3rdEdition. I enjoy the leeway that AD&D provides, and it does allow you to do stuff all on your own. What I do want is a properly balanced game; I believe that balance is what keeps AD&D functional for the long term.
There are always two sets of rules in play, the core rules and supplemental rules. One can tinker with supplemental rules and create their own, which keeps the game fresh and interesting, but when it comes to the core rules, you really have to question implications and consequences of altering it.
Supplimental rules have to comply with Core Rules, else the game falls apart, but what if you really don’t like the core rule? I’d like to lift up the hood of AD&D with you and examine what’s in there. Things that annoy lots of people and are usually house ruled, or even dramatically altered in later additions.
We’ll call it, The Mechanic Series.
ENERGY DRAIN
I dare say that no attack is more terrifying to players than this one, instead of just taking hit points from your beloved character, this attack takes Hit Dice! Some feel that this is the most broken mechanic in the core rules.This attack is a 9th level Wizard Spell, but primarily it is the teeth of powerful undead creatures. It has been with the game since the beginning, and it was, at one point easier to deal with, but with the advanced mechanics of AD&D, it becomes more difficult. Players may lose proficiencies, spell levels, or thief abilities, which if you let it, can take away from the excitement of a really good encounter. You don’t want to stop your exciting battle with the Vampire just so that everybody can modify their characters down two levels for every hit; the DM will have to keep track of these changes in his head until the scenario is completed, and then deal with the actual damage done on the Character Sheets.
ENERGY DRAIN ISN’T BALANCED
Players complain that they didn’t get a saving throw; however, they kind of did. This is a touch attack; the creature must make a successful attack against your armor class, so in effect the DM rolls your saving throw.
Players also may gain access to this spell themselves, once a mage can cast 9th level spells, or if they find magical treasure that casts this spell for them. But, is it really balanced? I think that it is, I’ve heard people claim that it is a fate worse than death! But here is the deal; you will eventually get all of this stuff back. It may take awhile, but you’ll do it. Some DMs have home brew rules which actually make this thing worse! Permanent Stat reduction, or permanent hit point loss is much worse in the long term than just losing a couple of HD. Personally, I find Energy Drain to be quite elegant and clean. It doesn’t require extra book keeping, and if you haven’t dealt with a death at its hands, then you just don’t know what you are missing!
I have also heard that this ability is particularly devastating during Adult games which can only be played once a month if you are lucky. It can take years to recover the XP lost in infrequent games; to this I say, have you got something better to do? This allows players to play their favorite characters longer, as once they hit 20th level, the game will fall apart and they’ve got to retire the thing anyway. Besides, a well used Energy Drain can keep players in the proverbial sweet spot longer than they normally would be.
If we take out Energy Drain, then we have fundamentally destroyed our undead, you wouldn’t take away a dragon’s breath weapon because the attack is too devastating, that is the point! And Energy Drain is the point behind using powerful undead. Where it becomes a problem is when it is abused by the DM. Any creature that uses this attack requires intent on the part of the DM; it is his job to keep this in balance. If one abuses it, or if the dice-gods are angry, it can make it impossible for the players to complete the scenario that was prepped; this will lead to total party kill, or the DM cheating in favor of the players which undermines the game.
MANAGING POWERFUL UNDEAD
Energy Drain isn’t always a bad thing for our games, but players do get frustrated, so we should give hints that a creature is capable of it. Players will modify their tactics if they know that they are going to have to deal with a vampire, this is good for the game as it is exciting to risk your character in this way, but we don’t want to constantly drop this on their heads for no real reason, powerful undead are special and should be memorable. We’ve got to respect what they bring to the table and keep them rare, and never old-hat. If you really don’t want to drop an energy drain on your players, you can create a lesser undead who has a different attack which is comparable but not as permanent, however I have seen some strange over compensation which actually turned out worse than just using the attack itself. Permanent HP loss which can never be regenerated is one example I’ve played with; by the time that you are high level you really start to feel it. Permanent Stat Loss is bad too, and has effects which last longer than Energy Drain as well. I’ve even seen people claim that this was temporary, and would only last 2 months, meanwhile it would had only taken a couple of adventures to reclaim the HD through play.
If you are adamant, you can make yourself some options, for instance instead of taking away an entire HD per touch, one touch takes a percentage of XP, or if you like math (and I know you do!) you can calculate something like: A successful attack by the Lesser Wight drains 1d10x10,000xp. That solution isn’t perfect as once a HD is gone, with the current XP attack that isn’t recalculated to new levels, it will end up draining more XP than if you had just used real attack normally.
You can also cause a temporary Stat Loss, which is regained through rest, which works well with high levels were it can take a long time to regain HD, but not so well at lower levels of play.
If a battle went bad and your party was devastated by this thing, and you can’t live with the result or the error was your fault, then there are always supplemental ways of dealing with correcting this faster. I have seen a battle with powerful undead go REALLY bad, like the players losing over half of their hit dice from one combat with angry dice, in that case they are going to have to leave the dungeon, and seek high powered help. If you can justify it, a difficult ritual with divine intervention can help quickly restore most of the levels lost. Of course they will have to repay this high powered spell with service to the God who allowed it. It’ll push the game into a new direction, but it will also allow the party to quickly get back to the business of stopping the powerful undead from doing whatever it is trying to do . . . maybe.
SHOULD ENERGY DRAIN BE REMOVED FROM THE GAME?
No. It brings more to the game than just a rarely used attack. It can make a story more interesting, and take it into unseen directions which may not had been planed for, which in turn, enriches your setting. It also scares the players themselves which is a good thing. While on first inspection, this spell appears to be unbalanced, it really isn’t as bad as you think that it is.
FURTHER READING
Echoes from the Geekcave: Up or Down Drain Is an excellent and well thought article, not to mention a very inspiring:
That, is worthy prose! It should be a tattoo or something.
Echoes from the Geekcave: Up or Down Drain Is an excellent and well thought article, not to mention a very inspiring:
There is a saying that comes up at my table from time to time, usually when some mechanic of classic D&D or a retro-clone is brought under scrutiny. "You can't 'fix' D&D." This doesn't mean D&D is a "broken" or hopeless game. It's the idea that for all its rough patches and quirks, it's still the patriarch, the fount from which our hobby springs. While house-rules and so forth are perfectly acceptable expressions of our interest and involvement in the game, to try and "fix" the game's foibles is an often futile attempt to make it into something other than the inspiring mess that it sometimes seems to be.
That, is worthy prose! It should be a tattoo or something.
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