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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 8725628" data-attributes="member: 58172">Huh. On rereading the Defiler according to the original 1991 Dark Sun Setting Guide, I have to agree with you. I feel the original Dark Sun is the one 5e must prioritize.The original concept is: defiling is "easy", but preserving is "difficult".Note, there are two kinds of Defilers. One is servants of a sorcerer king. The other is persecuted by sorcerer kings (for disobedience) and by everyone else (for destroying the planet). Later supplements have the sorcerer kings secretly training their Defilers. Implying the knowledge of how to defile is difficult to obtain. But the original Dark Sun makes it clear that anyone who wants to defile, can, easily.That said. The original Dark Sun has something like two separate Wizard subclasses, one for Defiling and an other for Preserving. These separate subclasses can easily be two separate 5e feats. For 5e, the only real concern is mechanical gaming balance. Whatever mechanics can grant a satisfying Defile effect while maintaining balance, is fine for 5e. If investing in a feat is necessary to gain the design space for a satisfying effect, then fine. If it is possible to find the design space in some other balanced way, then also fine.The main point of the 2e Defiler is, this kind of Wizard gains class levels at a faster rate than the normal 2e Wizard class. This approach where some player characters are higher level than other player characters is less suitable for 5e. But this precociousness can inspire 5e mechanics. The challenge is maintaining 5e gaming balance.Maybe "Defilement" is a "supernatural region"? (see Tashas, Environmental Hazards, 150). In the 1991 2e Dark Sun setting, a unique arcane event has fundamentally altered the nature of the elements. "The essence of every living thing, from the highest to the lowest, has been warped in some grotesque way that makes it more vicious, more cunning, and more terrifying than its [ancient] forebears. ... Perhaps it was the influence of a sinister power. ... Perhaps, as some say, the dragon itself is at the heart of the matter." This arcane event effectively transforms plant life into an easily accessible supernatural region. When in this region − namely when within 10 feet of lush plant life − the arcane spell caster gains the following effects.The destruction of the adjacent plant life spontaneously grants the Wizard a free spell slot when using an action to cast an arcane spell. The more lush the plant life, the higher the spell level of this one slot can be. Most plant life is a form of cactus. Cactuses tend to be one of the few sources of water. Any Wizard recognizes what spell level a particular patch of plants can yield. (It is an Easy challenge, but a DM doesnt require an Arcane skill check unless there are unusual circumstances. That make the check more difficult.) The Wizard destroys the plants instead of expending ones own spell slots.The above can probably happen during gameplay in a balanced way because the plant life is itself is quite rare. Also, this supernatural region is unique to planet Athas, so players cannot transport into verdant settings where plant life is ubiquitous.Note. According to the 1991 Dark Sun, only the dragon is able to extract living energy from living creatures, instantly killing living beings, in a way that can freely cast arcane spells even in barren landscapes. At least, narratively: "Even the sorcerer kings 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." But mechanically, the Dragon of Tyr is a unique epic level monster 20+, whose only anti-life traits are PSIONIC powers: Death Field and Life Draining. Other monsters can have these two powers too. The monster entry doesnt mention defiling, except that it has Defiler spells.Similarly, 5e Spelljammer has psionic creatures whose traits can extract living energy in order to restore its own hit points. Effectively, using defiling for a vampiric benefit. What is unique about the 5e Defile trait is that it destroys plants as well.However, for a 5e Dark Sun setting, when using Defile to fuel arcane spells, only plants are easy enough to derive benefit from. Only the epic levels of dragon can gain the epic boon of extracting arcane fuel directly from living creatures.Heh, everything about a 5e Dark Sun is an approximation and a translation of 2e Dark Sun. Even the 2e Dark Sun itself is inconsistent at times.</blockquote>

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