There are no rules for losing levels. Previous editions of D&D had rules for that, but they're not remembered very fondly.
You're free to do whatever you like in your own games including adding, changing or removing rules and exploring specific themes. Just make sure it's something your players want to do.
Personally I don't think leveling down is a great narrative fit for this because people rarely forget skills they had previously mastered, they just get rusty. I think dropping their HP, proficiency bonus and/or ability scores is more believable than telling players they've lost access to features they used to have.
there were a ton of monsters that could do that back in 1e, ADND, 2e, and 3e. i like them because it adds and immediate and devistating effect on a hit. as for the leveling down not fitting the thing, monsters again. maybe while they were drunk, they got on the bad side of, a magnesium spirit or something, and then got beat up.
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About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Fun Fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
At session zero I would tell the players that there are monsters in your world that could remove levels. Even cause death by dropping then below level one. But I would limit those monsters to just the most powerful of the undead or spirit like evil monsters. It used to require a physical touch by the creature along with a failed save by the character. This way characters who know these things exist could chose to not fight them and instead run away or not volunteer for those missions.
As for characters with two classes you could handle it a few different ways. The player rolls to see which class looses a level, the player remembers or notes what class is leveled up when, and the lest one leveled is the first one lost or the DM picks.
There also used to be monsters, like above, that would age you a few years with each touch. But that would require age mechanic to be introduced to the game. Stats used to change because of age. Long lived races normally didn't care about this effect.
Effects like this were the worst, other than death, that players would fear. Death you can come back from in a few ways but the others took a wish or better.
I'm working on an Eberron campaign and I want to have my characters start in The Last War. They would be an over the top elite military unit like The Expendables for the first session (After session 0). I'd like to do this at level 12 and throw some titans and other fun stuff at them. After that I want to "fast forward" a few years. The characters would choose something that caused their character to regress like alcoholism, PTSD, gambling, Injury ETC. I think this opens up great RP opportunities and allows the players to test a high level build to see if they like it. This may be a dumb idea, but it sounds fun to me. They would start at level 3 after the "Last War" Session. I hope this helps add depth to their characters. Does something like this sound like it will work? Is losing the level something that is in the rules? Didn't find anything in the DMG. Are subjects like PTSD, addiction, etc too deep? Sorry for rambling and thanks in advance!
I'd say no. No, this wouldn't work the way you want it to. It will confuse and frustrate your players. Also, precisely how is depth going to come from killing titans - then not being able to one session later on?
Avoid topics your players didn't chose - like PTSD, gambling, alcoholism and so on. It's their characters, not yours. Also, such things may be fun to RP for some, but I've only met one such player, and since the rest of the party had no such desires, it was a pain allround.
I'd go with the Last War flashback being at level 2. You can do plenty of epic stuff at level 2, provided the opposition is level 1. Provide the players with really good intel that allows them to sneak into an enemy camp for a decapitation attack. Who says the enemy general has to be level 20? He could be an unclassed military genius.
I dunno. Or not. I wouldn't do it, but I'm sure there's people who could make it work =)
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I would say no if there was no discussion on session 0 if it was a spontaneous level drop I wouldn't say it's fair especially if it was only 1 player who was singled out and with no magical means or Deck of many things to do it it is up to your dm really but a conversation to start with within session 0 would really help un blur the line of what is expected in the campaign
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there were a ton of monsters that could do that back in 1e, ADND, 2e, and 3e. i like them because it adds and immediate and devistating effect on a hit. as for the leveling down not fitting the thing, monsters again. maybe while they were drunk, they got on the bad side of, a magnesium spirit or something, and then got beat up.
Pronouns: Any/All
About Me: Godless monster in human form bent on extending their natural life to unnatural extremes /general of the goose horde /Moderator of Vinstreb School for the Gifted /holder of the evil storyteller badge of no honor /king of madness /The FBI/ The Archmage of I CAST...!
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Fun Fact: i gain more power the more you post on my forum threads. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Vampires from 1e: allow us to introduce ourselves
I personally do not see a problem with it.
At session zero I would tell the players that there are monsters in your world that could remove levels. Even cause death by dropping then below level one.
But I would limit those monsters to just the most powerful of the undead or spirit like evil monsters. It used to require a physical touch by the creature along with a failed save by the character.
This way characters who know these things exist could chose to not fight them and instead run away or not volunteer for those missions.
As for characters with two classes you could handle it a few different ways. The player rolls to see which class looses a level, the player remembers or notes what class is leveled up when, and the lest one leveled is the first one lost or the DM picks.
There also used to be monsters, like above, that would age you a few years with each touch. But that would require age mechanic to be introduced to the game. Stats used to change because of age. Long lived races normally didn't care about this effect.
Effects like this were the worst, other than death, that players would fear. Death you can come back from in a few ways but the others took a wish or better.
I'd say no. No, this wouldn't work the way you want it to. It will confuse and frustrate your players. Also, precisely how is depth going to come from killing titans - then not being able to one session later on?
Avoid topics your players didn't chose - like PTSD, gambling, alcoholism and so on. It's their characters, not yours. Also, such things may be fun to RP for some, but I've only met one such player, and since the rest of the party had no such desires, it was a pain allround.
I'd go with the Last War flashback being at level 2. You can do plenty of epic stuff at level 2, provided the opposition is level 1. Provide the players with really good intel that allows them to sneak into an enemy camp for a decapitation attack. Who says the enemy general has to be level 20? He could be an unclassed military genius.
I dunno. Or not. I wouldn't do it, but I'm sure there's people who could make it work =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I would say no if there was no discussion on session 0 if it was a spontaneous level drop I wouldn't say it's fair especially if it was only 1 player who was singled out and with no magical means or Deck of many things to do it it is up to your dm really but a conversation to start with within session 0 would really help un blur the line of what is expected in the campaign