In D&D 3.5e, resurrection can be achieved using several different spells.
Only the 9th level spell True Resurrection, however, comes with a completely monetary cost; all other more economic versions have the character lose one level (i.e. go back to the middle of the previous level).
Of course, the XP table makes it so the character gradually catches up, but what do you do when you do not count XP per encounter, but by milestones (all characters level up when the story mandates it)?
A character in a game I am running just got killed by a roll-in-the-open critical strike and, as a group, we'd be tempted to just resurrect him at the same level everyone else is (easier to track, less penalizing). If there is no XP loss, Raise Dead becomes just a cheap version of True Resurrection, a spell that nobody would ever use. So, what do I do?