Level Draining: D&D 5e Undead Homebrew Throwback

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A character’s over-confident demeanor evaporates into complete fear as the undead creature sucks away its vital life energy. The character suffers from level drain. “This was supposed to be easy!” says the player. “You should fear the disturbed dead far more than you do…”

After a noble battle, the player asks the DM, “When does this level drain go away? I can rest and be good to go, right?” The DM smirks, “As I said, you should learn to fear the undead.”

Past editions of D&D used a mechanic that D&D 5e left behind: Level Drain. A character whose levels were drained would become a lower-level character. Does that sound nuts? It kind of is! It was also semi-permanent. Spells, blessings, or leveling up could allow a character to slowly or immediately gain back levels, but it wasn’t easy.

Level draining is a terrifying threat! When I played Baldur’s Gate 2 for the PC, I panicked when fighting vampires. I kept plentiful restoration spells handy when undead creatures were around. The game is difficult to beat if you can’t deal with undead creatures’ level draining effects.

Frodo in The Lord of the Rings never fully recovered from his Nazgul wound at Weathertop. It plagued him for the rest of his life. Frodo’s wound example is the kind of effect I picture with level draining.

From a logistical point of view, it may have been an excellent move to omit level draining from D&D 5e. I say that solely because I cannot imagine players in my game groups being capable of decreasing their characters’ levels in the middle of combat. Level drain can dramatically slow down the game, but maybe we can make it work for D&D 5e without bogging down the game or burdening player upkeep.

Here’s what you’ll find in this article to help you implement level draining into D&D 5e (click to skip ahead):

My Experience with Level Drain
Existing Level-Drain-Like Effects
Homebrew Level Drain Ideas
How to Cleanse or Prevent Level Drain

By the way, I long to hear perspectives from people who have played with level draining at their game. I’ve only dealt with it through a video game, so I’d like to hear about how well level draining works in a tabletop RPG. Please comment at the bottom of this article if you have experiences with level drains to share, or complete the poll below if you don’t feel like writing!

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My Experience with Undead Level Draining

You know I love Baldur’s Gate 2 if you read many of my articles, and one of the biggest threats in much of that game came from undead vampires! Whenever I was fighting vampires, I’d prepare every spell I could to deal with level drain. Characters are devastated by level drain. They became less effective in combat, closer to dying, and spellcasters lost their high-level spell slots.

These vampires alone made me feel like it was mandatory to have two Clerics in the party (or any character who could cast restoration spells) to complete the game. I feared level draining more than any other effect.

Even after recovering from level drain, spellcasters must re-prepared spells. Characters required heaps of healing for the damage they suffered and the hitpoints that were drained. It was tedious! Sure, other effects like getting stunned were potentially far more devastating, but level draining was what I feared most.

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Analyzing Modern D&D 5e Versions of Level Draining Effects

Evaluate existing effects that imitate or resemble level draining in D&D 5e already. It’s wise to learn what exists before making changes! You may find that the current mechanics of 5e are good enough for you without needing to homebrew, so let’s check them out.

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Monsters with Level-Drain-Like Effects in D&D 5e

Several monsters in 5e Monster Manual have effects that remind me of the level draining concept, but they’re debatably not as terrifying. The 5e level draining effects include stat draining and hitpoint draining from undead monster attacks, though non-undead monsters may have similar features.

Remember, some of the effects listed below can disqualify a creature from being resurrected by spells other than Wish. Dying in these ways should terrify your players as they fret for their characters’ lives!

Spells like Sickening Radiance inflict temporary exhaustion. These are effects that could be reflavored as level draining spells because they inflict exhaustion. You may be able to use exhaustion as your draining mechanic (more on that later).

Here is a non-exhaustive list of level draining monsters with summaries of their level draining effects:

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Undead Abilities Resembling Level Drain

Vampires (undead): Drain max HP! Bites from a vampire will heal the vampire while lowering the temporary hitpoints of a victim. Reducing max HP to zero will kill a creature outright with no death saving throws. Vampires bites have other classic effects, but the drain on maximum hitpoints is similar to old school level draining. Victims regain their maximum hitpoints when they long rest. A Vampire Spawn is created when a creature dies from max HP reaching zero in this way (that’s why vampires often need to visit victims on multiple nights to avoid killing them in other ways).

Wights (undead): Drain max HP! Unlike the vampire, all the Wight’s attacks potentially reduce max HP (not just bites); however, Wights only drain max HP after a failed Constitution saving throw. Victims regain their maximum hitpoints when they long rest. Wights create zombies when they reduce victims to zero max HP in this way (24 hours later). Specters have a similar Life Drain.

Shadows (undead): Drain a stat! These dark silhouette creatures may seem weak, but look again! Their attacks will drain a victim’s Strength stat, potentially killing them outright when Strength reaches zero. For perspective, a level-twenty Wizard with 8 Strength could be killed in two hits by a CR 1/2 Shadow that rolls two 4s on its 1d4 Strength Drain. There is no saving throw for this; it’s part of their attacks. A short rest restores the Strength stat to normal.

Mummies (undead): Curse with Mummy Rot! You can debilitate and terrify players with mummy curses. Each day that passes by will take away their maximum hitpoints until they turn to dust. This curse is terrific! I’d love to see more nasty curses and other effects from undead creatures.

Wil-O’-Wisp (undead): Consume Life coup de grâce! PCs with zero hitpoints may feel safe with their death saves or stabilized condition until a Wil-O’-Wisp floats up and consumes their life. Consume Life doesn’t drain life, but it’s an example of a “death spiral” ability that can make PCs drop.

Banshee (undead): Wail! Banshee screams can drop characters to zero hitpoints instantly if they fail the Con save. This is a brutal ability that can bring down the mightiest heroes.

Ghost (undead): Horrifying Visage! You can become frightened by this ability, but you can also rapidly age. Instant death is possible from aging if you’re already old or playing a race with a short lifespan. This is cured by casting Greater Restoration, which is an important detail that I’ll use in my recommendations.

Aberration and Demon Abilities Resembling Level Drain

Intellect Devourers (aberration): Reduce a stat to zero! This brain drain isn’t what I’d consider a level drain, but it’s similar. Devour Intellect can reduce a victim’s Intelligence score to zero and stun them until they regain a point of Intelligence. This is even scarier if Body Thief is the follow-up action. There is not a suggested way to recover Intelligence from this effect in the Intellect Devourer’s statblock.

Mind Flayers (aberration): Instant kill! This isn’t what I’d consider a level drain like the Intellect Devourer, but it’s similar. The Mind Flayer’s Extract Brain ability will instantly kill a creature reduced to zero hitpoints by its damage. Victims don’t get death saving throws in this way; they die right then and there. Extract Brain feels far more frightening than the Vampire’s reduction to max HP.

Sibriex (demon, Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes): Exhaustion and poison! This gruesome, grotesque demon can warp a victim’s form, causing poison and exhaustion to accumulate. Killing a creature with exhaustion in this way will instantly transform them into a living abyssal wretch. Three repeatedly successful saving throws against the effect will end it and remove inflicted levels of exhaustion. Exhaustion is a fitting mechanic for inflicting level drain in 5e.

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6 Homebrew Level Draining Ideas for D&D 5e

These are my ideas for how a DM could introduce level draining to their game. Some of them are severe and specific, and others are broad and mild. They depend on the mechanics you’re focusing on already and the playstyle or genre you’re evoking.

Inflicting level drain typically happens automatically when a draining monster lands a melee or ranged attack (depending on the ability). You can choose to involve a saving throw (like Wights do) or make it automatic/inherent to the draining attack (like Vampires bites). It depends on the level of intensity you’re going for. Make sure you consider and understand how a monster becomes more potent with the level-draining effects you introduce. Monsters can potentially kill PCs in a single round depending on how you work level draining into your campaign, so be warned!

Please don’t overdo it, either. If every monster your PCs fight has level draining effects, that seems excessive. Level draining should be a signal that something is bad news. You want your player characters to feel threatened, not hopeless. Games derail fast when players perceive hopeless odds regardless of their choices.

You’ll need to consider whether you’re running milestone or XP progression for leveling up. Milestones would be easy since you could simply change the levels. XP progression might be the same, but you could also focus on the XP for level drain (“your character loses 5,000 XP, but write it down for when you are restored“).

Level Drain Option #1: Exhaustion

Exhaustion is the most effortless existing mechanic to lean on to introduce level drain. When a character is level drained, you tell them they gain one level of exhaustion. Exhaustion is devastating as it stacks up, and it’s not something that a single long rest can remedy if multiple levels have accumulated. Exhaustion can also be remedied by Greater Restoration, which is consistent with past editions’ remedies for level draining conditions.

Level Drain Option #2: Proficiency Bonus Reduction

Every character depends on the Proficiency Bonus (PB). A character becomes mathematically worse at everything they’re usually good at when PB is reduced. Level draining can reduce PB by one per instance of level drain. This will evenly penalize any character (attacks, skills, spells, and more) irrespective of class or playstyle.

Level Drain Option #3: Spell Slot Depletion

If you want to tailor level draining to a particular character, here’s one example for spellcasters: you can drain spell slots. I’m referring to the loss of spell slots and the inability to restore it by resting or waiting. Loss of spells was one of the worst parts of traditional level draining effects. Spellcasters will panic when they lose spell slots and can’t replenish them until cleansed of level drain. You can determine what level of spell slot or how many spell slots are lost based on damage taken, or you can start at the low-level spell slots and work your way up (or vice versa if you’re savage/traditional).

Level Drain Option #4: Enfeeblement

You may consider penalizing a character’s damage rolls on the flip side of the spell slot depletion. A cumulative -1 to damage per instance of the level drain will make wide-eyed Fighters sweat. This penalty avoids dealing with stats that may or may not matter to a character so that you can focus on the bottom line: damage.

Level Drain Option #5: Constitution Reduction

A Constitution reduction is similar to the existing maximum hitpoint drains. Draining a character’s Constitution also resembles the Shadow’s Strength Drain attack that I mentioned earlier. In other words, this marries two existing mechanics by focusing on Constitution. Hitpoints are reduced, Con saves are weaker (including concentration), Barbarians lose AC, and the list goes on.

As mentioned earlier, you can focus on any stat you want for stat draining effects. Constitution seems the safest for achieving a similarity to level drain, but any stat can be drained to fit a monster’s theme.

Level Drain Option #6: Hit Dice Depletion

This method only matters if your game pacing involves short rests. Level draining can deplete Hit Dice with each instance. This is my least favorite version of 5e level drain, but it’s a mild version if you want something easy or you want Hit Dice to matter. I want Hit Dice to be a valuable resource, so I like that aspect of this idea.

Level Drain Option #7: Complete Level Drain

Mad lad DMs may want actually to allow class level draining in 5e. You’d have to trust that your players can handle this kind of bookkeeping as they lose levels. You may help players manage this by prompting them to keep their spell slot progression charts, class progression charts, and any resources that would assist them in figuring out how their characters function at lower levels.

Tracking hitpoints may be the easiest part, but will you make them keep track of when they received feats or stat boosts? Test your players by seeing if they can calculate their hitpoint reversion to past levels. If they can handle that, that’s a good sign that you can consider moving forward.

Ask your players first because you’ll be asking many of them by implementing actual level draining conditions!

Level Drain Option #8: Better Max HP Drain (“Vile Damage”)

You can edit the max HP draining effects of 5e to last longer. Instead of restoring max HP at the long rest, make it last several days, a week, or whatever makes sense to your group (emphasis on your group, not what you as the DM assume will be fun). Another option would be to regain one max HP per long rest for a slow recovery. Greater Restoration could completely restore the max HP.

A Redditor expressed to me how they refer to max HP drain as “Vile Damage” and I think that’s fantastic. I get tired of explaining to players when their max HP is reduced, so telling them they take vile damage is a suitable fix for me.

Level Drain Option #9: Curses

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (reviewed here by DragnaCarta) has a Horror Toolkit section on p.192 that includes suggestions for creating curses. This toolkit includes how to lay curses, invent their components, classify their burdens, and identify their resolutions. Curses can be persistent beyond their resolution instead of ending immediately. There are sample curses in the toolkit that may be helpful for making your undead creatures menacing.

I believe you’d need to invent your own curses to suitably be inflicted by an undead monster, but you’ll find fantastic guidance from Van Richten’s toolkit. Check it out if you have the book.

Level Drain Option #10: Stress and Fear

Taking another tip from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, you can use the mechanics for fear and stress on pages 195-196. Encountering monsters who resist or ignore attack damage, for example, may result in a character’s stress increasing. Stress level becomes its own mechanic that penalizes a character’s rolls until the stress is reduced or relieved entirely. It’s a pretty simple mechanic for horror games that can be helpful in a campaign that uses undead monsters.

Stress accumulates at the DM’s discretion. I’ve heard from friends using stress rules that it helps players to roleplay fear and help one another overcome their fears. It also gives more uses for the Calm Emotions spell. I highly recommend trying stress and fear rules!

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How to Cleanse or Prevent Level Draining in D&D 5e

Resting off a level drain effect seems too easy. I want it to be challenging to cleanse all at once or require time to ease out of it slowly. An example of the latter is exhaustion. Resting can relieve one level of exhaustion, but multiple levels of exhaustion will require more time to heal. Some spells and features can relieve exhaustion, and we can do the same with level drain.

I want to remember class features that already deal with effects that resemble level drain, and I don’t want to mess up those features. An example of this is the Necromancy Wizard’s Inured to Undeath feature which gives necrotic damage resistance and immunity to effects that lower maximum hitpoints. If you use any of my ideas for level drain in D&D 5e, please keep your player characters’ features in mind to not negate them; instead, you can make some characters feel buffed if their features apply to more nasty conditions.

Lesser Restoration / Greater Restoration

The restoration spells are excellent for cleansing level drain effects. I recall visiting temples in Baldur’s Gate 2 to have my character restored after getting level drained by vampires. Lesser and Greater Restoration fill that role. However, I believe level draining is severe enough to require Greater Restoration. If you want to enable Lesser Restoration to help with level drain, consider doing two different types of level draining where the lesser version is easier to cleanse.

Regenerate / Heal / Power Word Heal

These powerful healing spells seem like candidates for cleansing level drain conditions. Regenerate is a continuous effect, so it might make a character immune to level drain if you think it fits the level drain concept.

Protection from Evil and Good

This spell won’t cure a character’s level drain, but it will prevent it. A character who is affected by this spell is immune to level drain. Allowing this spell to be buffed in this way will inflate its value against undead creatures, which fits the Clerics, Paladins, and other characters who specialize in this spell. It requires concentration, so it’s not a full-proof defense, but the low-level spell slot cost is tempting to use when level drain is a threat.

Time, heaps of time!

It may take months to recover from level drain partially. You can allow one level drain instance to heal when a character levels up, or you may require weeks, months, or years of recovery. It depends on your intent with the rule.

You can make a macro change to your general campaign format by making long rests require a week and short rests require eight hours. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s from the DMG p.267 for rest variants. Lengthening rest times is found under the “Gritty Realism” section of that page, and it’s described as good for campaigns where dungeon delving and monster fighting is rare. Altering rests like this is obviously a massive change to the average campaign, so I don’t recommend it unless your group unanimously wants this kind of rest system.

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Conclusion

Raising the stakes becomes easy when you’re throwing level-draining monsters at your players. Be wise in how you handle it, and you’ll have a happy gaming group. You don’t want to have a scenario where level draining is polarized between being a disaster death spiral or a minor nuisance; a balance must be found for your group, especially if they don’t want to be forced to prepare certain spells solely to deal with level draining effects. That’s not how I feel, but some groups may not enjoy those scenarios.

Select the homebrew method that works for you, or settle into existing mechanics if they’re good enough for your goals. Consider how you’ll inflict and remedy level drain conditions so players clearly understand the stakes and what they can do about them.

Commune with older editions by using level drain! Undead creatures become horrendous and dangerous if even the weaklings can siphon your lifeforce.

Don’t forget to cast Sending by commenting with your own experiences and ideas regarding level drain, or take the poll I embedded earlier in this article (it’s green). You can find other ideas for homebrewing in D&D 5e from Flutes Loot right here and DM tools here.

You might enjoy our articles about playing D&D 5e on hard mode, or our article to play on safe mode.

Share this article with your 5e gaming friends! Thank you for reading; enjoy your game this weekend.