Defiler

Defiler
Class Group:	Wizard
Source:	Dark Sun Boxed Set: Defiler (DS)
Ability Score Requirements:	Intelligence 9 Plus if Specialist, per the subclass
Prime Requisite:	Intelligence
Races Allowed:	Human, Elf, Half-elf (Subclass (Specialist) may restrict further)
Alignment Allowed:	Generally Evil

Played identically to either a Mage or a Specialist Wizard. The only change is that their spells damage the environment around them.

Defilers wield magic with no concern for their dying world. 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.

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 verbal, somatic, and material 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 remain 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.

Defiler Magical Destruction Table
Terrain Type	Spell Level
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Stony Barrens	10	14	17	20	22	24	26	28	30
Sandy Wastes	10	14	17	20	22	24	26	28	30
Rocky Badlands	10	14	17	20	22	24	26	28	30
Salt Flats	10	14	17	20	22	24	26	28	30
Boulder Fields	10	14	17	20	22	24	26	28	30
Silt Sea	10	14	17	20	22	24	26	28	30
Mountains	10	14	17	20	22	24	26	28	30
Scrub Plains	3	4	4	5	5	5	5	6	6
Verdant Belts	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	4
Forest	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	3	3

The number shown is the radius, in yards, around the defiler where all vegetation is turned to ash. The effect is instantaneous with the casting 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 stony 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 that location, then add one yard for every other spell cast. (Spells equal to the highest level spell are treated as additional spells).

For example, the defiler Grifyan casts a lightning bolt, a 3rd-level spell, while in the scrub plains. The area of ash around him will be 4 yards. In the next round, he casts a magic missile spell, expanding the radius of ash by 1 yard, bringing the total of burnt earth to 5 yards. In the third round, Grifyan decides to unleash an advanced illusion, a 5th-level spell. Since this is the highest-level spell cast from this location, the area of ash is recalculated; 5 yards for the 5th-level spell, plus 1 yard each for the two lower-level spells cast, for a total radius of ash of 7 yards.

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 dealer's magic suffers an immediate initiative modifier penalty equal to the level of the defiler spell cast. No matter how high the resulting initiate 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.