Defilers and Preservers

All forms of life contain a spark of magical energy, sharing a mystical life force that a wizard can use to power his spells. In order to cast a spell, the wizard slowly and carefully gathers this power of life until he has accumulated enough energy to create the enchantment he desires. Wizards who cast their spells in this manner are known as either defilers or preservers, depending on whether they destroy the vegetation from which they draw their magical power or work carefully so that the vegetation may live. Most wizards can only draw energy from plant life, but at the very highest levels, defilers and preservers can actually draw away the life force of animals as well.

Wizards who rely on the energy of life in order to cast their spells are a fairly common archetype in fantasy literature, but the model you may be most familiar with is the Dark Sun campaign setting. While defilers and preservers may seem to be inextricably tied to the world of Athas, there’s no reason the DM couldn’t introduce this system of magic into any campaign. Defilers and preservers use the spell point system as described at the beginning of this chapter with the following options:

The wizard can exceed his normal spell level limit by using the optional rules described previously.

The wizard may decide to cast spells for greater effect by accumulating extra spell points before actually casting the spell.

The wizard can save on spell points by choosing to cast spells with reduced power.

The defiler or preserver uses his allocation of spell points to select his array of spells normally. However, none of these spells may be cast until the wizard gathers enough energy to do so. To gather energy, the wizard concentrates on drawing the life force that surrounds him into his body, draining it away from the nearby vegetation. If the wizard chooses to defile his surroundings, the vegetation is destroyed by this process, but a careful wizard can draw only enough energy to cast his spell, leaving the vegetation around him alive and intact.

A preserver can accumulate spell energy at the rate of 4 spell points plus 1 spell point per level each round; for example, a 4th-level preserver can accumulate 8 spell points in one round of absorbing energy. If the preserver can gather the required number of spell points in a single round, he may cast his spell in the same round, but otherwise he may be forced to extend his casting time by one or two full rounds in order to collect the required energy. A preserver can’t “hold” the energy; he can only collect life energy as part of casting a spell.

Since accumulating energy takes time, the character may suffer penalties to his initiative depending on how many spell points he draws in a single round, as shown on the Table 22 : Initiative Modifiers for Preservers and Defilers. Accumulating energy requires the character’s full attention, so he cannot engage in melee or move at more than a fast walk while doing so. However, drawing energy is not actually part of the spellcasting process and is not interrupted by suffering damage, failing saving throws, or other such things as long as the character remains conscious and free of movement.

The initiative modifier is based on the number of spell points accumulated in the round in which the spell is cast. In other words, a character may be wise to draw the minimum number of points necessary to avoid a hefty initiative penalty for “overcharging” himself for the spell.

Dynos, a 5th-level preserver, is casting a haste spell. He can accumulate as many as 9 SPs per round (4+5), but his spell requires 10 SPs to cast. Dynos spends one entire round gathering energy and must gather at least 1 more spell point in the following round in order to cast his haste spell. If he draws his full allotment of 9 more SPs, he suffers a +1 penalty to his initiative. On the bright side, if he only draws the one point in the second round, his haste spell will gain an initiative bonus to its casting time.

Rowan, an 11th-level preserver, normally gathers 4+11, or 15 spell points per round. In order to cast her cone of cold (a 5th-level spell), she must gather 15 spell points in one round, plus an additional 7 in the following round, which causes her to take a +1 penalty to her casting time in the second round. However, Rowan is capable of casting any spell of 4th level or less in a single round.

Instead of drawing just enough energy to cast the spell desired, a preserver or defiler can choose to continue to accumulate energy in order to increase the effective casting level of the spell, as described in the first part of this chapter. Each additional casting level requires an investment of 50% more spell points, so Dynos could cast his haste as a 6th-level wizard by spending 15 SPs instead of 10 SPs to cast it. Similarly, a character may draw less energy and cast a reduced-power version of the spell. In any event, the initiative modifier is always based on the number of points accumulated in the round in which the spell is finally cast. Rowan could decide to cast her cone of cold with one extra level of ability, but she now requires 33 SPs to do so and must gather energy for two full rounds before unleashing the spell in the third.

The great advantage of the defiler lies in the speed with which he can gather energy, since he doesn’t care whether the life around him survives or not. Defilers accumulate 4 spell points plus 2 spell points per level in one round of gathering energy. For example, a 4th-level defiler can amass 12 spell points per round, instead of the maximum of 8 allowed a preserver of the same level. Unfortunately, the act of defiling destroys an area of 1 foot in radius per spell point acquired in this fashion, so the defiler above would raze a circular area 12 feet in radius in one round of defiling.

Once a preserver or defiler casts a spell, it is wiped from their memory just like a normal wizard’s spell. Preservers and defilers can re-study their spells or change their spell selections as if they were standard mages.

The Pain of Defiling: On the surface, it may seem that there’s no reason to be a preserver when defiling offers such easy access to power. However, there’s a price to be paid. The wanton destruction of life for personal power is not a good act; defilers can t be good in alignment. In fact, most defilers tend to have evil tendencies, if not an evil alignment. Secondly, the land destroyed by a defiler remains useless for hundreds of years; the ground may as well have been salted or poisoned by the character. Of course, if the general populace of an area were to find out that a character is a defiler, that character would most likely be hunted down. Destroying the land is considered an evil act by most people—especially the people who have to work with it.

In addition to destroying mundane vegetation, defiling inflicts 1d3 points of damage per spell level (a successful saving throw vs. spell allows half damage) to any plant-based monsters or creatures caught in the radius of destruction. And while animals (including humans and demihumans) don’t suffer damage from the energy drain of most defilers, it is a painful and unnerving experience that forces those characters caught in its grip to suffer a +1 penalty to initiative per spell level; a 5th-level defiler casting a fireball will cause those standing near him to take a +3 penalty on their next initiative roll.

High-level defilers (21st level or higher) may also gain the ability to drain life energy from animals as well as plants, increasing their power draw to 4 SPs plus 3 SPs per level. All living things caught in the defiler’s radius of destruction (except the defiler himself) suffer 1d6 points of damage per spell level. Obviously, this is an act of irredeemable evil, and it will make the defiler an enemy of all the forces that protect life and nature.

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