Drain v. Purify

[obcidian_bandit]

My question is an intent versus wording question. I believe the wording in the book may be wrong, even though it is very clear and specific.

This is the only thing that Drain says about it's effect on an undead:

If cast upon an undead, it will remove any Purify effects on the undead.

Purify, on the other hand, says the following about the living:

This effect will remove all harmful effects from the spirit, leaving protectives. “Harmful effects” includes everything in the effects groups Alteration, Binding, Command, Curse, and Necromancy.
(...)
This spell will affect an undead as a Drain affects the living.

According to the wording, Purify is a cure-all for the living, but it only fixes Purify on an undead. According to the wording, Drain will not remove Binding, Curse, or Healing spells (like Turn Undead or Restore) from an undead creature, making it not a necromantic analog of Purify (I believe the intention is that if should fill this role), and in fact making it significantly weaker for the spell level. However, Turn Undead says:

A Dispel or Control Undead will rid the creature of this spell, allowing it to return. One casting of Control Undead will remove all Turn Undead effects.

which continues to specifically exclude Drain.

I'm aware that the rulebook very clearly supports the fact that Drain removes the Purify effect and nothing else, but I believe that this is a holdover from when Drain was a very different 5th level spell, and just never got updated with Purify when it moved to 8th.

 

[Polare]

ARC has conferred on this issue and is releasing the following clarification.

Replace this text under Drain:

If cast upon an undead, it will remove any Purify effects on the undead.

with this text:

If this spell is cast upon an undead creature, it will have the same effect as a Purify has on a living creature. In this capacity, Drain will remove Healing effects instead of Necromancy effects.

-Bryan Gregory
ARC

 

[Polare]

I have updated the above clarification with a minor change after feedback.