the ability of some monsters in d&d to permanently drain experience levels kind of sucks and i don't know how anyone could play test that mechanic and think it was fun
i think it's actually enough to say "this isn't a fun mechanic" and move on with our lives but i actually do want to think about why it's not a fun mechanic
here are some thoughts i had:
- the guides mostly introduce this mechanic as a way to make, e.g., vampires scary and powerful
- as a result there is very little thought put into the dynamic consequences of this loss
for one, there's no immediate narrative value to losing an experience level without the dm inventing one whole cloth—despite d&d's myriad mechanical struts for narrative stuff, there is no hint to be had of a way of regaining a lost level of experience besides... going out and getting more experience
a character in this position is thus left at a permanent deficit to the rest of the party. crucially, it is a deficit from which the party cannot meaningfully help them recover, as there are no catch-up mechanics unless, again, the dm invents them whole cloth
additionally, gaining a level of experience often takes more time than, for example, bringing a character back to life, which really incentivizes both the player and the party to ditch this character at the nearest inn and roll a new compatriot
a major loss for a character can be a pivot point for great storytelling, but i think it's useful to assume that at least some of your game runners are going to be new, and when you provide major consequences for things, like being grazed by a vampire in the slightest, also provide suggestions for how a dm can turn that into something interesting instead of something pointlessly frustrating
or just don't introduce frustrating one-off mechanics!!
