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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pukunui" data-source="post: 9734855" data-attributes="member: 54629">Here are (some of) the details from the 2e Dark Sun Rule Book:[spoiler=Defilers]DefilerAbility Requirements: Intelligence 9Prime Requisite: IntelligenceRaces Allowed: Human, Elf, Half-elfDefilers are wizards who have decided to take a faster, darker approach to mastering the use of magical spells. In the gave and take of spell casting, defilers are well versed in the taking, but give nothing in return. With every spell cast, a defiler leeches the life-energy out of the plants and soil around him, leaving a lifeless zone. Because of this, defilers can only have non-good alignments.Just like preservers, defilers can opt to specialize.The actual amount of damage to the environment done by a defiler casting spells depends upon the level of spell and the nature of the defiler's surroundings when he is casting it. The rules governing this process are given in Chapter 7: Magic.In most cases, defilers are outlaws (even in the eyes of the corrupt sorcerer-kings), so they keep their magical abilities under cover. Unlike preservers who have a loose organisation in their underground, outlaw defilers tend to be loners, keeping their ambitions and powers to themselves. A sorcerer-king tolerates a select few defilers in his employ, to carry out day-to-day magical tasks that he has no patience for. These defilers are always at the beck and call of their master, and the sorcerer-king himself oversees the training of new recruits. The sorcerer-king's defilers are feared and hated far and wide. Wherever they travel, they leave behind a swath of ashen destruction.[/spoiler][spoiler=Preservers]PreserverAbility Requirements: Intelligence 9Prime Requisite: IntelligenceRaces Allowed: Human, Elf, Half-elfThe preserver is a wizard of the old, established school of magic. In the give and take of spell casting, preservers have mastered the balance. A preserver's magical spells are cast in harmony with nature. When a preserver casts a spell, there is no damage to the nearby environment.Dark Sun preservers are treated just as the mages described in the Player's Handbook. They may specialize freely ... In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules about mages in the Player's Handbook should be used.[/spoiler][spoiler=Defiling]DefilingDefilers wield magic with no concern for their dying world: indeed, defilers are much to blame for Athas's current state. With each spell they cast, defilers draw magical energy from the life force of plants in the vicinity and channel it to their own selfish ends.Even the sorcer-kings, however, are not the most dread users of defiler magic: the great dragon's defiler magic is so powerful that it destroys living animals as well. All magic cast by defilers up to 20th level, including all 1st through 9th level spells, destroys plant life only. Any creatures in the area, however, suffer great pain.Casting Defiler Spells: Spells cast by defilers use all the necessary ... components. The absence of any of these precludes the successful casting of the spell. The range, duration, casting time, area of effect, and saving throws are unchanged.When a defiler casts a spell, all vegetation in a sphere around him turns to ash. The radius of that sphere depends upon two things: the abundance of vegetation in the area, and the level of the spell cast. [ATTACH=full]415072[/ATTACH]The number shown is the radius, in yards, around the defiler where all vegetation is turned to ash. The effect is instantaneous with the cast of the spell.Note that these numbers adjust for specific situations. For example, in a city, the mud pits might have no more vegetation than the stone barrens, while the gardens of the sorcerer-king will be equal to a teeming forest.Casting Multiple Spells from the Same Location: If a defiler casts more than one spell from the same location, the radius of destroyed vegetation expands around him. Consult the Defiler Magical Destruction Table for the highest level spell cast from the location, then add one yard for every other spell cast. (Spells equal to the highest level spell are treated as additional spells.)Effects on Living Creatures: Though only plants are destroyed within the radius, living creatures are caused great pain. Any being in the radius of a defiler's magic suffers an immediate initiative modifier penalty equal to the level of the defiler spell cast. No matter how high the resulting initiative roll, though, the pain can never keep a character from performing an action during a round. The initiative penalty only postpones when the action occurs.Ash: The ash created by defiler magic is black and grey, completely devoid of life or life-giving elements. Nothing will grow in an area of ash for one year. The ash itself is very light and usually blows away, leaving behind a lifeless, circular scar on the ground. Even with the ash gone, though, the defiler's magic has leeched all life-giving nutrients from the soil, so that an area defiled may take many years to recover life, if it ever does.[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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