HYPERBOREA / [2E] Restoration

**Posted by DMPrata** 4/02/2023 8:46 am

I used this spell in campaign play for the first time yesterday, thanks to a brutal encounter with a wight where the party’s 3rd-level ranger was reduced to 1st level (and nearly killed, had he not somehow made three of five death saves). Despite a decade of work on this game, I never noticed before that, as written, a single restoration spell can counteract multiple energy drains. Whereas the AD&D version of this spell explicitly increases level by one, no such text in this game so limits it, and the example of a 7th-level fighter drained to 5th level and restored to 64,000 XP seems to support the more liberal interpretation. Does anyone disagree?

**Posted by Aelric** 4/02/2023 1:09 pm

FWIW, the [3E] wording likewise has no explicit delimiters, only "restores drained energy or physical/mental attributes/abilities ..." albeit no example case is provided.

The 1E AD&D version was 7th level cleric and as noted by the OP, explicitly restored but one drained level per casting.

The "Lesser, Nominative, and Greater" versions of Restoration seem to have been a 3.# invention.

Last edited by Aelric (4/02/2023 1:10 pm)

**Posted by Ghul** 4/04/2023 2:36 pm

I tend to think it's a big deal (11th level cleric!) to either have a PC or NPC in proximity that can cast this most incredible spell; thus, I am of the opinion that the process is akin to a miracle, completely restoring the beleaguered PC.

**Posted by Jimm.Iblis** 4/27/2023 3:54 pm

Level draining was removed from monsters in 3rd edition.

**Posted by Chainsaw** 4/28/2023 9:14 am

Where there's ambiguity, I almost always use the player-advantageous intepretation because my tendency as a referee is already toward pretty tough situations. Tie goes to the runner!

**Posted by Doctor_Rob** 5/13/2023 8:10 am

Ah Restoration…. It is written in the Tablets of Zin Ra that such is necromancy and a price must always be paid. The greater the malady restored, the higher the price exacted by the gods or demons that are trafficked with. The Powers demand part of the soul so ‘restored’, be it in the form of salving the decay in rare ointments, blood sacrifice, corrupting carnality, or other unsavoury practices. Yes, one will be ‘fully restored’, but the wise know that one gets nothing for nothing. The Tablets of Zin Ra also speak of ‘resurrection’, but let us not tread that dread path just yet.