20 Miscellaneous Rules
20.0.1 Energy Drain
Certain undead and evil magic inflict negative levels, causing serious, semi-permanent harm to characters. Each negative level does the following:
Reduces the victim’s hit points by an amount equal to one hit die.
Imposes a -1 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, and any other d20 rolls.
Imposes a -5% penalty on percentile rolls (such as thief skills).
Causes spellcasters to lose access to one of their highest-level spell slots.
Whether the victim gets a saving throw to resist depends on the specific source of the energy drain.
If the victim’s hit points fall to zero or below from energy drain, they are instantly slain. If the energy drain comes from an undead, the victim is often transformed into that undead type (details vary by monster).
Removing Negative Levels:
Magic such as the restoration spell can remove negative levels. When removing a negative level, divide the total hit points lost by the number of negative levels currently affecting the character (round normally) to find out how many hit points are restored.
Example:
A character with 3 negative levels lost a total of 13 hit points (6 + 5 + 2). Removing the first negative level restores 13 ÷ 3 = 4 hit points (rounded). Now 2 negative levels remain, and 9 hit points lost. Removing the second level restores 9 ÷ 2 = 5 hit points. One negative level remains, with 4 hit points lost, which will be restored when the last negative level is removed.
Characters suffering energy drain often appear gaunt and haggard, noticeable to careful observers.
20.0.2 Reaction Roll table
| DC + CHA + Leadership or Diplomacy Skill Bonus | Reaction |
|---|---|
| 1 (5%) | Violently hostile, immediate attack |
| 2-5 (20%) | Hostile, immediate attack |
| 6-9 (20%) | Uncertain but prone to negative |
| 10-11(10%) | Neutral, uninterested, uncertain |
| 12-15 (20%) | Uncertain but prone to positive |
| 16-19 (20%) | Friendly, immediate action |
| 20 (5%) | Enthusiastically friendly, immediate acceptance |
20.0.3 DC
| Percentile% (2d10) | (1d6) | (1d20) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85% | 1-5 | DC 3 | Very Easy |
| 70% | 1-4 | DC 6 | Easy |
| 50% | 1-3 | DC 10 | Normal |
| 35% | 1-2 | DC 13 | Hard |
| 15% | 1-1 | DC 15 | Very Hard |
| 5% | - | DC 20 | Extremely Difficult |
20.0.4 Mishap Table
| (1d20) | Description |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | Total Failure with major consequences |
| 5-8 | Total Failure with minor consequences |
| 9-12 | Partial Success with major consequences |
| 13-16 | Partial Success with minor consequences |
| 17-20 | Mostly Successful but poorly executed |