Spelljamming Mongol Hordes

In one campaign I ran, the evil guys invented a furnace that drained xp (or
"life energy") from victims.

Basically, they would be chained to the thing, and the bad guys could then draw
and very temporarily store this life energy. It could drain one life level per
turn. Since most of it's victims were 0 or 1st level, it usually killed the
victim, or left them so weak, they were helpless.

The bad guys would then take this life energy and use it to make magic items.

I also once had an evil cleric that was granted a spell that drained exp from
his followers when he performed a ritual. He would use the ritual to create
magic items.

A wizard had a similar spell, but he would Summon Monster, drain them, and then
use that to create magic items. My PCs ended up with the spell, and they used
it for the wizard to be able to make the other party members magic items. For
example, if the Fighter wanted a +1 shield, the wizard used this spell to "pay"
for the exp. For game balance, all of the exp has to come from the same person
to create the one item, and the wizard decides which properly prepared item is
created. If the wizard decides he wants to create a prepared sword instead of a
shield, then tough. Also, the process drains a little bit more exp than if the
wizard had done it himself.

Ultimately, NPCs and PCs are people, and they will find ways to solve the
problems they are presented, especially if there's magic laying around.

-eric-

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