All wizards upon Athas are either preservers or defilers,
even those who learn to draw energy from more unique sources than the plant life of Athas,
as it represents a philosophy, a way of life.
Preserving
Preservers suffer none of the drawbacks associated with defiling, though they gain
none of the benefits either. Preservers, due to their training and beliefs, do not
make gathering checks as they are not fascinated by the uncontrolled rush of power that
comes from gathering all the life-energy in an area, as are defilers. Nor are they
willing to deplete the natural life-force of an area beyond the point of its
sustainability.
Perservers always gather just enough energy to power their intended spell(s),
leaving the rest be and returning anything left afterwards to the land.
This also means that preservers rarely use the method of
energy-storage, as they do not wish to take more than is necessary, and stored energy is
not immediately useful, neither does it leave an area untouched, for some energy has still
been taken from the life of the area.
When they do use this method, and hold stored energy while attempting to gather and
cast, they must make an action check, with the difficulty set to the same as their
spell-casting difficulty. Failure indicates that they could not safely gather and do
not draw from the area, though they retain their pool of stored energy.
A preserver could merely let their stored energy go (but would be greatly opposed
to doing so) and avoid the difficulty of making a check to gather, though some preservers
are known to take the time to infuse the land with their stored energy, emptying their
reserve, before gathering and casting (the infusion requires one action to complete) to
avoid the difficulty.
Defiling
From a game standpoint, casting a spell requires two seperate action checks for
defilers. One for drawing the energy, and one for casting the actual spell; though
the former may be forgone if the energy being used to cast is stored. Both are Reason actions.
When a defiler attempts to store the energy for spells, they
bargain that they can draw and hold more than they should rightly be able to. Sometimes
this pays off, and sometimes it doesn't.
With the difficulty based on the terrain type the defiler is attempting to draw
energy from, a Reason check must be made. A failure indicates that they have drawn the
amount of energy they were attempting to, while a mishap indicates that they have only
drawn half the normal amount with the rest dissipating uncontrollably.
If they succeed at the check, then the defiler has managed to grasp and store more
energy than they were attempting to, equal to twice the amount attempted.
When a defiler draws energy while casting a spell, they make
the same sort of bargain, hoping that they can draw enough energy to make the spell
easier. Once again, the check is made, with a failure meaning the spell's difficulty
is as normal and a mishap indicating that the defiler has only barely managed to pull
enough energy for the spell. The latter makes the spell more difficult to cast by one rank
(i.e. difficulty is increased by four points).
If success is achieved, then the defiler has managed to make the spell one rank of
difficulty easier to cast (i.e. difficulty is reduced by four points).
(Alternately, on a mishap the difficulty might increase
proportionate to the amount the gathering check failed by, while a success indicates the
difficulty would be reduced proportionate to the amount the gathering check succeeded by.)
Attempting to draw energy while casting a spell when there is
still stored energy available makes things more difficult for the defiler, as they are
attempting to both draw energy through themselves and hold onto the energy they have
already gathered. The difficulty of gathering is increased by one rank in this case.
Failure indicates they could not hold on to both types, and the player should
decide whether they used their store to cast or the energy drawn to cast. The land
is defiled in either case.
Or they can choose to let all their stored energy go, wasting it, but assuring that
the gathering difficulty does not thus increase (something defilers have little moral
problem with...though the loss of power may make them think twice).
Terrain
Type |
Gathering
Difficulty |
Energy
Per Yard |
Action
Penalty |
| Lush |
Average (8) |
8 |
1 |
| Abundant |
Challenging (12) |
4 |
1 |
| Fertile |
Daunting (16) |
2 |
2 |
| Infertile |
Desperate (20) |
1 |
2 |
| Barren |
Impossible (24) |
1/2 |
3 |
As stated defiling causes the land and all nearby plants to turn to infertile ash in an area around the caster. To determine the exact radius that the defiling affects depends upon both the energy drawn for the spell being attempted and the lushness of the surrounding terrain. The more powerful the spell, the more plant-life is destroyed due the limited amount of life-energy that each yard of ground contains.
While a defiler cannot actually draw energy from a creature to power spells, their method of drawing energy does cause pain to all living creatures within their defiling radius. This translates into a one to three point action penalty based on the lushness of the terrain to any action attempt undertaken by those creatures during that time. The defiler does not suffer this penalty.
Switching Paths
Though it seems the paths of defiling and preserving are mutually exculsive, and the Veiled Alliance states that one-time defilers are always defilers, the two paths often intersect in the gray areas between, and even some Alliance wizards occasionally use defiling methods when absolutely necessary (though it is never spoken of, or approved).
The Road to Corruption
In extreme circumstances, a preserver may use defiling methods to gather energy without sacrificing their status as a preserver. However, no preserver can do this forever without suffering the consequences of their actions. Any time a preserver uses defiling methods, they must make a Spirit check with the difficulty based on the cost, in spellpoints, of the spell being cast.
Failing this check means the preserver has been corrupted and turned to the path of easy power, they have become a defiler.
The wizard immediately reduces their Endurance score by two points as the energy drained by the spell comes from their own life-force instead of the life-force of the environment. They should also change either their nature or demeanor to a card of neutral or evil bent to reflect the change in attitude. Corrupted preservers learn Path Dexter spells as though they were of the opposite path, though they gain no ability to learn Path Sinister spells any better than a preserver until trained by another defiler (see "Spells and Incantations" for more information on learning spells).
Also, should a preserver know more spells of Path Sinister than Path Dexter, or cast more spells of Path Sinister than Path Dexter (even if cast using preserving methods), a similar check should be made, with the difficulty based upon the amount of usage or knowledge of Path Sinister the wizard has (this is left to the Narrator's discretion) and the effects as above if it is failed.
The corrupted preserver can turn back to the path of preservation only through the undertaking of an arduous task that shows their commitment to the preserver's way. During this time, they cannot use defiling techniques to gather energy, but successful completion of the quest will restore them to the status of a preserver. However, they may find that there is little trust placed in them by other preservers (Presence actions are penalized by two points).
Should a restored preserver ever fall to using defiling magic again they are forever lost to the path of preservation and are a defiler for the rest of their life.
The Road to Redemption
For the trained defiler, turning away from the path of defilement is an ardous process.
For those with a 'C' or lower skill code in Sorcery, they must spend a week undergoing a rigorous purification process accompanied by meditation, casting no spells and gathering no energy. The wizard must also remove as many Path Sinister spells as possible from their spellbooks, so that more from Path Dexter are within.
After all of this, the defiler is considered a preserver, however, they must search out a teacher who can instruct them in the magic of preservation or they continue to suffer the defiler's penalty to learn Path Dexter spells.
For those with a 'B' or 'A' skill code in Sorcery, the process of turning from their path is much more difficult. The defiler must find a preserver patron to protect and teach him, one who knows the ritual spell which will cleanse the defiler of his magical knowledge and habits and allow him to pursue the path of preservation. They must spend six months with their patron, learning both the preserver way and how to cast magic all over again. During this time (or before it), they must destroy their old spellbook completely and prepare a new one, as well as give away or destroy all their items of magic.
At the end of this period, the reformed defiler is considered a preserver.
No matter their skill in Sorcery, all reformed defilers suffer a two-point penalty to their Presence actions when applicable. Similarly, a reformed defiler who returns to the path of defiling is forever after a defiler; they have no second chance.
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