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Dark Sun 5E conversion - draft
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<blockquote data-quote="toucanbuzz" data-source="post: 7555101" data-attributes="member: 19270"><p><strong>Defiler Points (a proposal and 3rd edition conversion).</strong>Defiling magic is a key trope of Athas, and overuse of defiling magic is the central reason the land is a harsh brutal desert rather than a lush land of wonder. It is a constant temptation to take "just a little" from the earth in exchange for power. While most casters are trained to avoid taking too much energy and killing all plant life in the vicinity, every caster also knows she is voluntarily limiting her power this way. Doing so is an evil act, but many a good-hearted caster has resorted to defiler magic in desperate straits or when facing a greater evil.</p><p></p><p><em>Because it's THE reason the world is screwed, it may justify a more complex mechanic.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Defiler Points :</strong> Instantly apply metamagic effects to your arcane spells. <em>In order to make this work, we'd have to remove the sorcerer class because this stomps all over its core feature.</em></p><p></p><p>When casting a spell, you can boost it with one effect by accepting a # of <strong>defiler points</strong> equal to 1/2 your caster level.</p><p></p><p><u><strong>Effect and Points Earned</strong></u></p><p></p><p>Distant Spell, 1 point</p><p>Subtle Spell, 1 </p><p>Careful Spell, 1 </p><p>Extended Spell, 2</p><p>Empowered Spell, 2</p><p>Heightened Spell, 3</p><p>Quickened Spell, 4</p><p>Twinned Spell, 4</p><p></p><p>Recover expended spell slot as an action that provokes AoO, 2 per spell level</p><p>Cast a spell without material component, 1 per 500cp (ceramic piece, equivalent to a D&D gold coin)</p><p></p><p><em>Replace all Charisma modifier effects with Intelligence, obviously.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>The Taint of Defiling</strong>: Once you have defiler points, they have immediate affect and are cumulative until purged. <em>The junkie effect.</em></p><p></p><p><u><strong>Defiler Points and Effect</strong></u></p><p></p><p>1+, -2 on Wisdom and Charisma ability checks. </p><p></p><p>11+, -1 on Constitution saves and ability checks. If you engage in strenuous activity (fighting, running, DM discretion) for more than 1 minute, you must make a DC 0 + # of current defiler points Constitution save or gain 1 level of exhaustion. </p><p></p><p>21+, another -2 penalty on Wisdom and Charisma ability checks.</p><p></p><p>31+, another -1 on Constitution saves and ability checks. Your alignment changes to evil if it isn't already.</p><p></p><p>41+ You become a t'liz (undead defiler) and become an NPC under the DM's control.</p><p></p><p><strong>Purging Defiler Points</strong>. You can <strong>"Assume the Taint,"</strong> or go to rehab, aka <strong>"Meditate" aka "Apologize to the Land"</strong> <em>because you promised you wouldn't then you lied and stole from it to feed your habit. </em></p><p></p><p><strong>Assume the Taint:</strong> At the end of a long rest, you may purge away all your defiler points and their negative effects, including any exhaustion caused by defiling. Add 1/2 of your defiler points to a permanent <strong>"defiler score."</strong> Reset your defiler points to 0. <em>Your defiler score is different than points and is used solely to determine the effect of (new) Dark Sun spells that detect and damage defilers. There is no limit to your defiler score.</em></p><p></p><p>If you fail to purge points or cast (a lot), this can add up to undeath. Some really evil casters might even want this.</p><p></p><p><strong>Meditate:</strong> <em>Aka go to rehab.</em>Meditating in an undefiled area of Athas is the only way to eliminate defiler points. If a druid helps you, it doubles the rate, but druids like to kill defilers, so that would be a tough sell. </p><p></p><p><strong>Terrain and Reduction</strong></p><p>Lush (forest, garden), 2 hours per point</p><p>Abundant (grassland, farm, mud flat), 4 hours per point</p><p>Fertile (oasis, scrub plain), 8 hours per point</p><p>Infertile (badlands, bare mountain), 1 day per point</p><p>Barren, 1 week per point</p><p></p><p><strong>Defiling Range:</strong> Every bit of nonsentient plant life in the immediate vicinity is turned to ash, and the land is rendered sterile, unable to sustain life for possibly decades or centuries after. For one year, no matter what is done, the defiled area can never be viable. Even afterwards, all the lifegiving nutrients have been leeched from the soil. <em>This is tougher. Do we make it simple to calculate, or go more realistic in that trees provide more power versus scrub?</em></p><p></p><p><u><strong>Terrain and Radius</strong></u></p><p></p><p>Lush, 1 foot x # of defiler points used</p><p>Abundant, 5x</p><p>Fertile, 10x</p><p>Infertile, 20x</p><p>Barren, 30x</p><p></p><p><em>Successive defiling in an area that has been recently defiled (in the last minute) expands the radius by 50%. For example, a maximized fireball (4 points) on a scrub plain (fertile land) = 40 foot radius. An extended mirror image cast next round (2 points) would increase the destruction by another 10 feet (normally 20 feet, halved for an already defiled zone), as all apparent plant life has been destroyed and now we're leeching even deeper. We're at 50 feet of ash, and now our defiler uses recovery to get his fireball back (2 points per level = 6), doing another 30 feet of destruction.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>When calculating defiler points (by the way, our defiler has to be at least 12th level because he just spent 6 points on one defiler effect, and he maxes out at 1/2 his level), our defiler has picked up 4 for the maximized fireball, 2 for the mirror image, and 6 for the spell slot recovery. He's up to 12, and assuming he's started the day clean, he now has a -2 to Wisdom and Charisma checks, a -1 to Constitution saves and checks, and risks exhaustion with a DC 12 save until he can purge the points. Anyone who defiles that much might be able to meditate it away with enough time, but any druid that crosses his path with the sense to have the (new) <strong>Detect Defiler</strong> spell will probably aim to kill on sight. Given there's no penalty to just accepting the taint, this really does a good job of explaining why defiling is so easy to get into.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="toucanbuzz, post: 7555101, member: 19270"] [B]Defiler Points (a proposal and 3rd edition conversion).[/B]Defiling magic is a key trope of Athas, and overuse of defiling magic is the central reason the land is a harsh brutal desert rather than a lush land of wonder. It is a constant temptation to take "just a little" from the earth in exchange for power. While most casters are trained to avoid taking too much energy and killing all plant life in the vicinity, every caster also knows she is voluntarily limiting her power this way. Doing so is an evil act, but many a good-hearted caster has resorted to defiler magic in desperate straits or when facing a greater evil. [I]Because it's THE reason the world is screwed, it may justify a more complex mechanic.[/I] [B]Defiler Points :[/B] Instantly apply metamagic effects to your arcane spells. [I]In order to make this work, we'd have to remove the sorcerer class because this stomps all over its core feature.[/I] When casting a spell, you can boost it with one effect by accepting a # of [B]defiler points[/B] equal to 1/2 your caster level. [U][B]Effect and Points Earned[/b][/U] Distant Spell, 1 point Subtle Spell, 1 Careful Spell, 1 Extended Spell, 2 Empowered Spell, 2 Heightened Spell, 3 Quickened Spell, 4 Twinned Spell, 4 Recover expended spell slot as an action that provokes AoO, 2 per spell level Cast a spell without material component, 1 per 500cp (ceramic piece, equivalent to a D&D gold coin) [I]Replace all Charisma modifier effects with Intelligence, obviously.[/I] [B]The Taint of Defiling[/B]: Once you have defiler points, they have immediate affect and are cumulative until purged. [I]The junkie effect.[/I] [U][B]Defiler Points and Effect[/B][/U] 1+, -2 on Wisdom and Charisma ability checks. 11+, -1 on Constitution saves and ability checks. If you engage in strenuous activity (fighting, running, DM discretion) for more than 1 minute, you must make a DC 0 + # of current defiler points Constitution save or gain 1 level of exhaustion. 21+, another -2 penalty on Wisdom and Charisma ability checks. 31+, another -1 on Constitution saves and ability checks. Your alignment changes to evil if it isn't already. 41+ You become a t'liz (undead defiler) and become an NPC under the DM's control. [B]Purging Defiler Points[/B]. You can [B]"Assume the Taint,"[/B] or go to rehab, aka [B]"Meditate" aka "Apologize to the Land"[/B] [I]because you promised you wouldn't then you lied and stole from it to feed your habit. [/I] [B]Assume the Taint:[/B] At the end of a long rest, you may purge away all your defiler points and their negative effects, including any exhaustion caused by defiling. Add 1/2 of your defiler points to a permanent [B]"defiler score."[/B] Reset your defiler points to 0. [I]Your defiler score is different than points and is used solely to determine the effect of (new) Dark Sun spells that detect and damage defilers. There is no limit to your defiler score.[/I] If you fail to purge points or cast (a lot), this can add up to undeath. Some really evil casters might even want this. [B]Meditate:[/B] [I]Aka go to rehab.[/I]Meditating in an undefiled area of Athas is the only way to eliminate defiler points. If a druid helps you, it doubles the rate, but druids like to kill defilers, so that would be a tough sell. [B]Terrain and Reduction[/B] Lush (forest, garden), 2 hours per point Abundant (grassland, farm, mud flat), 4 hours per point Fertile (oasis, scrub plain), 8 hours per point Infertile (badlands, bare mountain), 1 day per point Barren, 1 week per point [B]Defiling Range:[/B] Every bit of nonsentient plant life in the immediate vicinity is turned to ash, and the land is rendered sterile, unable to sustain life for possibly decades or centuries after. For one year, no matter what is done, the defiled area can never be viable. Even afterwards, all the lifegiving nutrients have been leeched from the soil. [I]This is tougher. Do we make it simple to calculate, or go more realistic in that trees provide more power versus scrub?[/I] [U][B]Terrain and Radius[/B][/U] Lush, 1 foot x # of defiler points used Abundant, 5x Fertile, 10x Infertile, 20x Barren, 30x [I]Successive defiling in an area that has been recently defiled (in the last minute) expands the radius by 50%. For example, a maximized fireball (4 points) on a scrub plain (fertile land) = 40 foot radius. An extended mirror image cast next round (2 points) would increase the destruction by another 10 feet (normally 20 feet, halved for an already defiled zone), as all apparent plant life has been destroyed and now we're leeching even deeper. We're at 50 feet of ash, and now our defiler uses recovery to get his fireball back (2 points per level = 6), doing another 30 feet of destruction. When calculating defiler points (by the way, our defiler has to be at least 12th level because he just spent 6 points on one defiler effect, and he maxes out at 1/2 his level), our defiler has picked up 4 for the maximized fireball, 2 for the mirror image, and 6 for the spell slot recovery. He's up to 12, and assuming he's started the day clean, he now has a -2 to Wisdom and Charisma checks, a -1 to Constitution saves and checks, and risks exhaustion with a DC 12 save until he can purge the points. Anyone who defiles that much might be able to meditate it away with enough time, but any druid that crosses his path with the sense to have the (new) [B]Detect Defiler[/B] spell will probably aim to kill on sight. Given there's no penalty to just accepting the taint, this really does a good job of explaining why defiling is so easy to get into.[/I] [/QUOTE]
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