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How to Apply Negative Levels in Dungeons and Dragons

Most monsters in "Dungeons &Dragons" are content with just trying to turn you into an adventurer sandwich. Those monsters are bad enough, but other monsters---Wights and Vampires, for instance---will go one step beyond and actually drain your character's hard-earned levels if they hit you. Level drains are usually not permanent---unless you're playing with a particularly hard-nosed DM---but they are annoying because now you've got to go back and actually remove the benefits those lost levels conveyed on your character.

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the appropriate amount of hitpoints. Characters gain more HP with each level-up. When you lose a level, you will have to remove the HP you gained at said level-up from your total HP. If you have a character with a total HP of 40, and you gained five HP last level, you would have to re-work your total so that you only have 35 total HP upon level-drain.
- 2
  Remove any feats you gained last level. Every D&D character gains a feat every so often, usually at each third level. If you gained a feat last level, you'll have to remove it when you apply the negative level.
- 3
  Remove any spells or learned powers.
- 4
  Remove any attack bonus and saving throw modifiers.
- 5
  Remove any ability score increases. This one hurts the most. Your character gains a new ability point to spend on any of his six primary stats at every fourth level. You will need to remove this point---if applicable---every time you apply negative levels.

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