Scroll of Raise Dead - bug?

[ShottyMonster]

I lost some party members on core, and didn't want to save scum, as I prefer to RP as far as is possible and only scum to rescue a complete campaign write off.

So anyway, I saved up the gold required to raise one of my dead party members (yes 2 died...) and, I read the "Scroll of Raise Dead" scroll and it says:

"Coming back from the dead is an ordeal. The subject of the spell gains two permanent negative levels when it is raised, just as if it had been hit by an energy-draining creature, thought it can not gain a number of negative levels equal to or greater than its total Hit Dice this way."

Which to me reads as, the resurrected character will have an effective level 2 less than it's current "de-facto" level.

In other words, if my character was level 5, and I use this scroll on them, they will resurrect as if they were level 3, and if they level up, they will get their level 4 abilities (already chosen from when they were level 4 before) as well as me being allowed to pick there level 6 stat increases + feats etc (even though they won't have access yet). At least until I cast a greater restoration spell on them, at which point they will recover their innate level again.

Anyway, what I am observing is that yes, the raise dead scroll does raise my dead character, but they are not having the -2 levels applied to them. I can't see any debuffs on that character, and I can still cast spells from the characters current level etc.

Is this a bug?

[ShottyMonster]

Or am I supposed to just know what negative levels from pathfinder 1e ruleset is;

"For each negative level a creature has, it takes a cumulative –
1 penalty on all ability checks, attack rolls, combat maneuver
checks, Combat Maneuver Defense, saving throws, and skill
checks. In addition, the creature reduces its current and total
hit points by 5 for each negative level it possesses. The
creature is also treated as one level lower for the purpose of
level-dependent variables (such as spellcasting) for each
negative level possessed. Spellcasters do not lose any
prepared spells or slots as a result of negative levels. If a
creature's negative levels equal or exceed its total Hit Dice, it
dies"

In other words, it's quite specifically, -x on various checks, and -x*5 hp, where x=number of negative levels

??

[Player#2201]

Probably a bug. It could also be intertwined with the option under difficulty settings to remove debuffs after rest. If that's active it would also remove those negative levels, or if you've rested since they died perhaps incorrectly set to remove the levels retroactively.

But you are correct, they should have those penalties.