Deck of many things question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Deck of many things question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
alix
07-31-07, 08:14 AM I have a situation:
Player with 3000xp (3rd level) gets deck of many things and he draws some cards:
1) Fool - lose 10000xp, and mist draw once more
he draws
2) Jester - gain 10000xp

What destiny he has ?
1) He dies because of his expirience (not level) became below 0 ?
2) He remains absolutely same expirience going to (-7000xp) and then back to (3000xp)
3) On 1st draw he goes to 0xp, becoming 1st level character, but then goest to 10000 xp, becoming 5th level?

Thanks in advance
RobbyPants
07-31-07, 09:09 AM I don't know that there are any rules for PCs dying from experience loss. I could be wrong on this. I guess I would just drop him to level 1, maintaining the negative XP total. So, in the long run, a 10,000 XP loss followed by a 10,000 XP gain would just balance out.

The real question is, what's a 3rd level PC doing with a Deck of Many Things?!? :P
vaerdhdragonkin
07-31-07, 09:56 AM The real question is, what's a 3rd level PC doing with a Deck of Many Things?!? :P

Mooooooooooooonty Haaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuullllllllll! :D
hjones
07-31-07, 10:06 AM I have a situation:
Player with 3000xp (3rd level) gets deck of many things...

That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign. That items is a minor artifact and should not be in the hands of any character that is not on his way to epic levels.

My advice is to ignore the card draw and take the item away, if not you might as well scrap your game and start over.
Rogue Shadows
07-31-07, 10:14 AM That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign.

You kiddin'? I've used the Deck to start a campaign. That thing is a walking plot hook.

That items is a minor artifact and should not be in the hands of any character that is not on his way to epic levels.

You restrict minor artifacts to epic level?

I once threw the Sword of Kas at my 7th-level party just for the possibilities. Um...litterally, actually, someone threw it at them. Forget why, but it made for a great vampire-oriented campaign.

I mean, come on. Even from a roleplaying standpoint, you shouldn't restrict artifats mercilessly like that, or even regular magical items. Look at the classic example of The Lord of the Rings.

Frodo was, at best, 5th level when he entered Moria, yet he had a orcbane short sword +1, a mithril chain shirt, and The One Ring, a major artifact if ever there was one. He was handed a cloak of elvenkind by Galadriel, as well as something to the effect of a Everburning spiderbane bottle. And that bread?

As far as I'm concered, the price given for magical items is there if the players are actually looking around to buy them. In the wild, they could find almost anything.

As long as I make sure that they're having fun and I'm having fun, it's all good.

...

Though, in general, I'm with this guy (http://www.bookofratings.com/artifacts.html) on the Deck.

"This is a deck of cards you can put in the dungeon if you want to screw your players over. In theory they can end up with good stuff, like twenty-five pieces of jewelry, but on the other hand they may wind up with their souls trapped on a distant plane of existence. When the upside is a couple dozen trinkets and the downside is your spirit gets torn from your body, that equals screwjob. The nasty thing is, it's a deck of cards. How can anyone possibly resist drawing from it? If it were a magical telemarketer adventurers would have no trouble hanging up on it, but a deck of cards is just too alluring. A"
Seeker95
07-31-07, 10:32 AM I would rule that he drops to -7000xp from the first card;
he is returned to 3000xp with the second card.

Nothing in the rules implies that you cannot go to negative experience, and the consequence of doing so is unexplained. The implied consequence is that he has a long way to go before he begins to gain levels again.

Not that different than starting a campaign with an LA. :D
Mark Thorson
07-31-07, 10:34 AM That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign.

It certainly killed one of ours fast enough.
RobbyPants
07-31-07, 10:41 AM That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign.
It certainly killed one of ours fast enough.
Yeah, it's hailed the destruction of every game I've ran or played in.

I was in a game where an epic wizard was at a tavern letting our 2nd level PCs draw from it for kicks. He also had some unexplained way of negating any of the really bad effects. My character didn't really get anything from it. One was boosted to 5th level, and another got something else nice. After that point, the group really becomes three entirely separate PCs rather than a party. Of course, this is the same DM that later gave one PC the vampire template without taking LA into account. Suddenly, my level 2 PC is hanging around with a 5th level PC, and an ECL 10 2rd level PC.

I quit next week.
Mark Thorson
07-31-07, 10:54 AM Yeah, it's hailed the destruction of every game I've ran or played in.

I was in a game where an epic wizard was at a tavern letting our 2nd level PCs draw from it for kicks. He also had some unexplained way of negating any of the really bad effects. My character didn't really get anything from it. One was boosted to 5th level, and another got something else nice. After that point, the group really becomes three entirely separate PCs rather than a party. Of course, this is the same DM that later gave one PC the vampire template without taking LA into account. Suddenly, my level 2 PC is hanging around with a 5th level PC, and an ECL 10 2rd level PC.

I quit next week.

That's horrible. I'd quit that game too.
alix
07-31-07, 11:59 AM So going to negative expirience is possible ? I suppose nothing is game rules specifies that there is possibility to go below 0.
Taking as example ability score loss, rules state that if you have ability score reduced to 0, it can not be reduced below, no matter what happens. Sure in case of CON and creature is living one, it dies. But thats not a point.

Any ideas on clarifying that ?
WotC_Logan
07-31-07, 12:50 PM You should kill his character on principle for being dumb enough to draw from the deck.
RobbyPants
07-31-07, 01:24 PM So going to negative expirience is possible ? I suppose nothing is game rules specifies that there is possibility to go below 0.
Taking as example ability score loss, rules state that if you have ability score reduced to 0, it can not be reduced below, no matter what happens. Sure in case of CON and creature is living one, it dies. But thats not a point.

Any ideas on clarifying that ?
Well, at the same time, there's nothing specifying that it can't go below zero. Taking Hit Points as an example, this would seem quite acceptable (and you'd die at -10 :P).

Although I am also curious as to whether or not there's an official ruling. D&D did away with 0-level characters after 2E. My opinion is that you'd just drop to level 1, and have to earn a lot of XP to get to level 2.
Seeker95
07-31-07, 02:50 PM So going to negative expirience is possible?
rules state that if you have ability score reduced to 0, it can not be reduced below, no matter what happens.
Any ideas on clarifying that ?Ability scores represent an in-game mechanic of absolute value. A level 1 character with a Strength of 13 is as strong as a 20th level character with a Strength of 13. Losing a point of strength affects each exactly the same.

Experience points, on the other hand, are very much like hit points. The value of a single point is relative to your character level and your maximum total. And hit points most certainly *can* go negative. :D

(Warning: All of the above is an ad hoc explanation designed solely to further a conversation that begins and ends with opinion.)
GnomeBoy
07-31-07, 05:56 PM I think the rules state that all card draws for a character must be resolved in a fairly short period of time, and that only one(?) card specifically says 'don't draw any further cards'. Since you specify how many a character will draw before the start, I tend to think the total outcome is in limbo until the full draw is done, unless something on a card specifically counters this.

I think the dude stays his same level, losing and gaining the same XP. The alternate would be if you said there is no such thing as negative XP, in which case he'd be at 7000 XP.

As for people's reactions to a 3rd level character holding a DoMT, well, if they're having fun, who're we to complain?

And I've crossed paths with the Deck in many groups in many campaigns -- never had less than fun with it.
ZuulMoG
07-31-07, 09:48 PM I have a situation:
Player with 3000xp (3rd level) gets deck of many things and he draws some cards:
1) Fool - lose 10000xp, and mist draw once more
he draws
2) Jester - gain 10000xp

What destiny he has ?
1) He dies because of his expirience (not level) became below 0 ?
2) He remains absolutely same expirience going to (-7000xp) and then back to (3000xp)
3) On 1st draw he goes to 0xp, becoming 1st level character, but then goest to 10000 xp, becoming 5th level?

Thanks in advance
While it's only my opinion, I like the idea expressed by Gnomeboy, namely that until all cards are drawn, none take effect, and then they all happen at once. In this case, your player's character automatically draws one more card, and may choose to draw another, and then those are resolved as well, and his XP total remains static, barring the effects of further draws.

The one card that really ruins parties is the Star (I think) (+50kxp and an MI). All of a sudden, one character is immensely powerful compared to the others. I recommend removing the Star, the Dunjon, the Jester and the Fool, to prevent such nonsense and hopefully balance the results.

And I have to say that DoMT should not be encountered by a 3rd level PC.
alix
08-01-07, 06:32 AM Ok, I've got the point.

Main plot of messing with Deck is, that I was a player here. And general idea was that we were riding old mage tomb, solving riddles 1 by 1. And last step, was that we teleported in room without exits with skeleton sitting in room with Deck of many things. To exit room we had to play.
:cool:
shadzar
08-01-07, 08:25 AM I would rule that he drops to -7000xp from the first card;
he is returned to 3000xp with the second card.

Nothing in the rules implies that you cannot go to negative experience, and the consequence of doing so is unexplained. The implied consequence is that he has a long way to go before he begins to gain levels again.

Not that different than starting a campaign with an LA. :D

also there was a former edition that had character start with -500 xp.

the module was called "Treasure Hunt". the concept was the player didn't even chose their class yet until they were at 0 xp.

with that in mind positive XP is meaning less without a class. so a player is just a commoner until he chose an adventuring class in which to devote his experience to. then XP determines how mcuh ability and knowledge in that given class he has.

there could effectively be 15th level scribes out there. what do they get for their level? well their abilities have grown over the years of scribing that they make less mistakes, they are quicke, etc. which means that are more proficient at their jobs. the same as for adventuring classes.

the quesiton then would be if using negative XP works for adventuring classes.

say the character didn't draw the card which grants 10k XP, what would you have ruled his XP to be?

negative 7000 or 0?

since cards are drawn fromt he deck one at a time they didn't both happen simultaneaously. you can with this set precedent for your entire game when you decide the effects of XP that would result in a number lwoer than 0.

once you have that figured out you will be able to proceed.

in either case you must decide what the effects are of levelling up agian. as well as going gown in the levels. do you use any rules that are contained within the books that say lost levels only prevent the abilities granted at those levels from being used until the elvel is regained.

does that fact in losing all levels and XP. aince the experience remains but XP are gone what happens? or does the XP take with it the knowledge of the evnts that gave it in the first place.

the character could stay the same class and just choose other things back up to level 3 if their were any choices to be made. this would make sense if the player goes up to level 5 and gets to choose those from gaining the XP due to the card.

i would say it could possibly be a reincarnated character in the way that he could become an entirely new class.

ah the fun of the DoMT!
Seeker95
08-01-07, 08:33 AM we teleported in room without exits with skeleton sitting in room with Deck of many things. To exit room we had to play.You couldn't just teleport back out? Even if you didn't have another one rpepared, it wouldn't be *that* hard to wait it out and prepare a new one. (Or did your DM railroad you in and then railroad you into playing with the deck?)
Seeker95
08-01-07, 08:35 AM say the character didn't draw the card which grants 10k XP, what would you have ruled his XP to be?

negative 7000 or 0?-7000. He has a long way to go before gaining his next level.
Rogue Shadows
08-01-07, 09:32 AM -7000. He has a long way to go before gaining his next level.

Well, not technically, since he then drew again from the Deck and gained 10,000 XP, putting him at having lost nothing.

Though I, personally, would rule that negative XP ain't possible.

If I did, I'd say that you age backwards 1 year per 1000 XP lost (if human or something of a similar age), or more or less depending on race. You'd lose ability score points as appropriate.

Since Experience represents how much a character has learned over time, regressing to 0 XP would mean that they start as a blank slate at the minimum starting age for their class. To enter negative experience would mean that they're beginning to forget the fundemenetals of their class and then later of themselves, and so they're essentially ageing backwards and I'd say that they're physically ageing backwards as well, because I'd rather have a 6-year-old running around than a 16-year-old with the brain of a 6-year-old.

I'd probably be sort of nice and let them stay as apprentice-level characters (level 0) for as long as they remain in the Young Adult catagory.
Seeker95
08-01-07, 10:13 AM Well, not technically, since he then drew again from the Deck and gained 10,000 XP, putting him at having lost nothing.He asked how I would rule if the PC did NOT draw the second card. :rolleyes:

I'd say that you age backwards 1 year per 1000 XP lost (if human or something of a similar age), or more or less depending on race. You'd lose ability score points as appropriate.I have never played in a campaign that had PCs earning experience points at the rate of only 1000 per year. If there was any relationship between age and xp, a 7000xp loss *might* regress the average PC somewhere between one and six months. And a wizard or other caster definitely does not get younger by expending experience points in the process of creating a magic item.
Experience represents how much a character has learned over time, regressing to 0 XP would mean that they start as a blank slate at the minimum starting age for their class.I disagree. In my opinion, experience points do not represent where you have been, but rather are a measure of how long before you get to your next destination. A wizard who creates a 1000xp magic item does not lose knowledge. he simply increases the time it will take to reach the next level, since it is a fixed threshold that he has moved further away from.
Rogue Shadows
08-01-07, 10:16 AM Oh.

Well, see my previous post for my thoughts on that anyway.
alix
08-01-07, 12:13 PM You couldn't just teleport back out? Even if you didn't have another one rpepared, it wouldn't be *that* hard to wait it out and prepare a new one. (Or did your DM railroad you in and then railroad you into playing with the deck?)

Yep, railroad. I remind that we were 3rd lvl party :) we just hear "puff" and appear in room.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
alix 07-31-07, 08:14 AM	I have a situation: Player with 3000xp (3rd level) gets deck of many things and he draws some cards: 1) Fool - lose 10000xp, and mist draw once more he draws 2) Jester - gain 10000xp What destiny he has ? 1) He dies because of his expirience (not level) became below 0 ? 2) He remains absolutely same expirience going to (-7000xp) and then back to (3000xp) 3) On 1st draw he goes to 0xp, becoming 1st level character, but then goest to 10000 xp, becoming 5th level? Thanks in advance
RobbyPants 07-31-07, 09:09 AM	I don't know that there are any rules for PCs dying from experience loss. I could be wrong on this. I guess I would just drop him to level 1, maintaining the negative XP total. So, in the long run, a 10,000 XP loss followed by a 10,000 XP gain would just balance out. The real question is, what's a 3rd level PC doing with a Deck of Many Things?!? :P
vaerdhdragonkin 07-31-07, 09:56 AM	The real question is, what's a 3rd level PC doing with a Deck of Many Things?!? :P Mooooooooooooonty Haaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuullllllllll! :D
hjones 07-31-07, 10:06 AM	I have a situation: Player with 3000xp (3rd level) gets deck of many things... That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign. That items is a minor artifact and should not be in the hands of any character that is not on his way to epic levels. My advice is to ignore the card draw and take the item away, if not you might as well scrap your game and start over.
Rogue Shadows 07-31-07, 10:14 AM	That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign. You kiddin'? I've used the Deck to start a campaign. That thing is a walking plot hook. That items is a minor artifact and should not be in the hands of any character that is not on his way to epic levels. You restrict minor artifacts to epic level? I once threw the Sword of Kas at my 7th-level party just for the possibilities. Um...litterally, actually, someone threw it at them. Forget why, but it made for a great vampire-oriented campaign. I mean, come on. Even from a roleplaying standpoint, you shouldn't restrict artifats mercilessly like that, or even regular magical items. Look at the classic example of The Lord of the Rings. Frodo was, at best, 5th level when he entered Moria, yet he had a orcbane short sword +1, a mithril chain shirt, and The One Ring, a major artifact if ever there was one. He was handed a cloak of elvenkind by Galadriel, as well as something to the effect of a Everburning spiderbane bottle. And that bread? As far as I'm concered, the price given for magical items is there if the players are actually looking around to buy them. In the wild, they could find almost anything. As long as I make sure that they're having fun and I'm having fun, it's all good. ... Though, in general, I'm with this guy (http://www.bookofratings.com/artifacts.html) on the Deck. "This is a deck of cards you can put in the dungeon if you want to screw your players over. In theory they can end up with good stuff, like twenty-five pieces of jewelry, but on the other hand they may wind up with their souls trapped on a distant plane of existence. When the upside is a couple dozen trinkets and the downside is your spirit gets torn from your body, that equals screwjob. The nasty thing is, it's a deck of cards. How can anyone possibly resist drawing from it? If it were a magical telemarketer adventurers would have no trouble hanging up on it, but a deck of cards is just too alluring. A"
Seeker95 07-31-07, 10:32 AM	I would rule that he drops to -7000xp from the first card; he is returned to 3000xp with the second card. Nothing in the rules implies that you cannot go to negative experience, and the consequence of doing so is unexplained. The implied consequence is that he has a long way to go before he begins to gain levels again. Not that different than starting a campaign with an LA. :D
Mark Thorson 07-31-07, 10:34 AM	That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign. It certainly killed one of ours fast enough.
RobbyPants 07-31-07, 10:41 AM	That should NEVER happen in any game. I have never seen a deck of many things not completely destroy a campaign. It certainly killed one of ours fast enough. Yeah, it's hailed the destruction of every game I've ran or played in. I was in a game where an epic wizard was at a tavern letting our 2nd level PCs draw from it for kicks. He also had some unexplained way of negating any of the really bad effects. My character didn't really get anything from it. One was boosted to 5th level, and another got something else nice. After that point, the group really becomes three entirely separate PCs rather than a party. Of course, this is the same DM that later gave one PC the vampire template without taking LA into account. Suddenly, my level 2 PC is hanging around with a 5th level PC, and an ECL 10 2rd level PC. I quit next week.
Mark Thorson 07-31-07, 10:54 AM	Yeah, it's hailed the destruction of every game I've ran or played in. I was in a game where an epic wizard was at a tavern letting our 2nd level PCs draw from it for kicks. He also had some unexplained way of negating any of the really bad effects. My character didn't really get anything from it. One was boosted to 5th level, and another got something else nice. After that point, the group really becomes three entirely separate PCs rather than a party. Of course, this is the same DM that later gave one PC the vampire template without taking LA into account. Suddenly, my level 2 PC is hanging around with a 5th level PC, and an ECL 10 2rd level PC. I quit next week. That's horrible. I'd quit that game too.
alix 07-31-07, 11:59 AM	So going to negative expirience is possible ? I suppose nothing is game rules specifies that there is possibility to go below 0. Taking as example ability score loss, rules state that if you have ability score reduced to 0, it can not be reduced below, no matter what happens. Sure in case of CON and creature is living one, it dies. But thats not a point. Any ideas on clarifying that ?
WotC_Logan 07-31-07, 12:50 PM	You should kill his character on principle for being dumb enough to draw from the deck.
RobbyPants 07-31-07, 01:24 PM	So going to negative expirience is possible ? I suppose nothing is game rules specifies that there is possibility to go below 0. Taking as example ability score loss, rules state that if you have ability score reduced to 0, it can not be reduced below, no matter what happens. Sure in case of CON and creature is living one, it dies. But thats not a point. Any ideas on clarifying that ? Well, at the same time, there's nothing specifying that it can't go below zero. Taking Hit Points as an example, this would seem quite acceptable (and you'd die at -10 :P). Although I am also curious as to whether or not there's an official ruling. D&D did away with 0-level characters after 2E. My opinion is that you'd just drop to level 1, and have to earn a lot of XP to get to level 2.
Seeker95 07-31-07, 02:50 PM	So going to negative expirience is possible? rules state that if you have ability score reduced to 0, it can not be reduced below, no matter what happens. Any ideas on clarifying that ?Ability scores represent an in-game mechanic of absolute value. A level 1 character with a Strength of 13 is as strong as a 20th level character with a Strength of 13. Losing a point of strength affects each exactly the same. Experience points, on the other hand, are very much like hit points. The value of a single point is relative to your character level and your maximum total. And hit points most certainly can go negative. :D (Warning: All of the above is an ad hoc explanation designed solely to further a conversation that begins and ends with opinion.)
GnomeBoy 07-31-07, 05:56 PM	I think the rules state that all card draws for a character must be resolved in a fairly short period of time, and that only one(?) card specifically says 'don't draw any further cards'. Since you specify how many a character will draw before the start, I tend to think the total outcome is in limbo until the full draw is done, unless something on a card specifically counters this. I think the dude stays his same level, losing and gaining the same XP. The alternate would be if you said there is no such thing as negative XP, in which case he'd be at 7000 XP. As for people's reactions to a 3rd level character holding a DoMT, well, if they're having fun, who're we to complain? And I've crossed paths with the Deck in many groups in many campaigns -- never had less than fun with it.
ZuulMoG 07-31-07, 09:48 PM	I have a situation: Player with 3000xp (3rd level) gets deck of many things and he draws some cards: 1) Fool - lose 10000xp, and mist draw once more he draws 2) Jester - gain 10000xp What destiny he has ? 1) He dies because of his expirience (not level) became below 0 ? 2) He remains absolutely same expirience going to (-7000xp) and then back to (3000xp) 3) On 1st draw he goes to 0xp, becoming 1st level character, but then goest to 10000 xp, becoming 5th level? Thanks in advance While it's only my opinion, I like the idea expressed by Gnomeboy, namely that until all cards are drawn, none take effect, and then they all happen at once. In this case, your player's character automatically draws one more card, and may choose to draw another, and then those are resolved as well, and his XP total remains static, barring the effects of further draws. The one card that really ruins parties is the Star (I think) (+50kxp and an MI). All of a sudden, one character is immensely powerful compared to the others. I recommend removing the Star, the Dunjon, the Jester and the Fool, to prevent such nonsense and hopefully balance the results. And I have to say that DoMT should not be encountered by a 3rd level PC.
alix 08-01-07, 06:32 AM	Ok, I've got the point. Main plot of messing with Deck is, that I was a player here. And general idea was that we were riding old mage tomb, solving riddles 1 by 1. And last step, was that we teleported in room without exits with skeleton sitting in room with Deck of many things. To exit room we had to play. :cool:
shadzar 08-01-07, 08:25 AM	I would rule that he drops to -7000xp from the first card; he is returned to 3000xp with the second card. Nothing in the rules implies that you cannot go to negative experience, and the consequence of doing so is unexplained. The implied consequence is that he has a long way to go before he begins to gain levels again. Not that different than starting a campaign with an LA. :D also there was a former edition that had character start with -500 xp. the module was called "Treasure Hunt". the concept was the player didn't even chose their class yet until they were at 0 xp. with that in mind positive XP is meaning less without a class. so a player is just a commoner until he chose an adventuring class in which to devote his experience to. then XP determines how mcuh ability and knowledge in that given class he has. there could effectively be 15th level scribes out there. what do they get for their level? well their abilities have grown over the years of scribing that they make less mistakes, they are quicke, etc. which means that are more proficient at their jobs. the same as for adventuring classes. the quesiton then would be if using negative XP works for adventuring classes. say the character didn't draw the card which grants 10k XP, what would you have ruled his XP to be? negative 7000 or 0? since cards are drawn fromt he deck one at a time they didn't both happen simultaneaously. you can with this set precedent for your entire game when you decide the effects of XP that would result in a number lwoer than 0. once you have that figured out you will be able to proceed. in either case you must decide what the effects are of levelling up agian. as well as going gown in the levels. do you use any rules that are contained within the books that say lost levels only prevent the abilities granted at those levels from being used until the elvel is regained. does that fact in losing all levels and XP. aince the experience remains but XP are gone what happens? or does the XP take with it the knowledge of the evnts that gave it in the first place. the character could stay the same class and just choose other things back up to level 3 if their were any choices to be made. this would make sense if the player goes up to level 5 and gets to choose those from gaining the XP due to the card. i would say it could possibly be a reincarnated character in the way that he could become an entirely new class. ah the fun of the DoMT!
Seeker95 08-01-07, 08:33 AM	we teleported in room without exits with skeleton sitting in room with Deck of many things. To exit room we had to play.You couldn't just teleport back out? Even if you didn't have another one rpepared, it wouldn't be that hard to wait it out and prepare a new one. (Or did your DM railroad you in and then railroad you into playing with the deck?)
Seeker95 08-01-07, 08:35 AM	say the character didn't draw the card which grants 10k XP, what would you have ruled his XP to be? negative 7000 or 0?-7000. He has a long way to go before gaining his next level.
Rogue Shadows 08-01-07, 09:32 AM	-7000. He has a long way to go before gaining his next level. Well, not technically, since he then drew again from the Deck and gained 10,000 XP, putting him at having lost nothing. Though I, personally, would rule that negative XP ain't possible. If I did, I'd say that you age backwards 1 year per 1000 XP lost (if human or something of a similar age), or more or less depending on race. You'd lose ability score points as appropriate. Since Experience represents how much a character has learned over time, regressing to 0 XP would mean that they start as a blank slate at the minimum starting age for their class. To enter negative experience would mean that they're beginning to forget the fundemenetals of their class and then later of themselves, and so they're essentially ageing backwards and I'd say that they're physically ageing backwards as well, because I'd rather have a 6-year-old running around than a 16-year-old with the brain of a 6-year-old. I'd probably be sort of nice and let them stay as apprentice-level characters (level 0) for as long as they remain in the Young Adult catagory.
Seeker95 08-01-07, 10:13 AM	Well, not technically, since he then drew again from the Deck and gained 10,000 XP, putting him at having lost nothing.He asked how I would rule if the PC did NOT draw the second card. :rolleyes: I'd say that you age backwards 1 year per 1000 XP lost (if human or something of a similar age), or more or less depending on race. You'd lose ability score points as appropriate.I have never played in a campaign that had PCs earning experience points at the rate of only 1000 per year. If there was any relationship between age and xp, a 7000xp loss might regress the average PC somewhere between one and six months. And a wizard or other caster definitely does not get younger by expending experience points in the process of creating a magic item. Experience represents how much a character has learned over time, regressing to 0 XP would mean that they start as a blank slate at the minimum starting age for their class.I disagree. In my opinion, experience points do not represent where you have been, but rather are a measure of how long before you get to your next destination. A wizard who creates a 1000xp magic item does not lose knowledge. he simply increases the time it will take to reach the next level, since it is a fixed threshold that he has moved further away from.
Rogue Shadows 08-01-07, 10:16 AM	Oh. Well, see my previous post for my thoughts on that anyway.
alix 08-01-07, 12:13 PM	You couldn't just teleport back out? Even if you didn't have another one rpepared, it wouldn't be that hard to wait it out and prepare a new one. (Or did your DM railroad you in and then railroad you into playing with the deck?) Yep, railroad. I remind that we were 3rd lvl party :) we just hear "puff" and appear in room.