Defiler Magic In OD&D

[Punkrabbitt]

Once upon a time back in the 90s, I ran a Dark Sun campaign using the AD&D 2nd edition rules. (If you are unfamiliar with Defilers and defiling, you can check it out here: www.athas.org/articles/defiling-a-history-and-a-look-ahead ) I thought the Defiler magic was a VERY interesting twist on spellcasting. So much so that I am considering dropping into my OD&D-S&W-DD-Etc campaign. My roadblock is that the original Defiling rules are more complicated on their own than the entirety of mishmashed rules I am currently using.

My first thought was that defiling could be most easily treated as "casting a spell using defiling allows the spell to be cast before any other actions in the round, but causes all vegetation within a number of yards radius equal to the spell level to turn to grey ash." This would also stimulate some roleplaying opportunities.

I am curious what the collective OD&D Hivemind can suggest regarding this. I am interested in ideas about casting defiling spells by normal Magic Users, not in pursuing a separate Defiler class.

Thank you for any and all discussion.

[Azafuse]

A quick way to handle Defiler Magic could be consider a pool of Environmental Hit Points.

The DM sets the number of EHP for the particular area.
Each time a Defiler casts a spell his player rolls a die (for example d3 for 1st level spells, d4 for 2nd level spells, and so on), lowering the amount of EHP.

[Red Baron]

Leveling up could simply increase the radius a character can draw upon - 10'r at 1st level, 20'r at 2nd, etc. and thus allow a much greater hit point pool of plant life.

[Punkrabbitt]

Thanks, guys. I have some ideas gathered from other forums as well, so I am going to synthesize something sweet and simple tonight or tomorrow. Then I will share it here :-)

[Punkrabbitt]

Alrighty, here is what I came up with; it is largely a re-write of the original defiling-for-Preservers rules in Dragon 202.

Defiler Spell Casting

Additional Spells
By using defiling magic, a magic user may cast a spell that he has already cast, or he can cast one he still has memorized without losing it from memory. A magic user has access to a number of bonus defiler spell levels (not spells) equal to his current experience level minus one. The bonus spell levels can be used only to cast spells that the magic user has memorized, or to cast spells that he had memorized and expended. The bonus spell levels only apply to one battery of memorized spells; they cannot be accessed again until the magic user has had a chance to replenish his normal spell selection.

Decreased Casting Time
Casting a spell using defiling allows the spell to be cast before any other actions in a round.

Defiling Consequences
A defiling spell causes all vegetation within a number of yards radius equal to the spell level to turn to grey ash, and cause notable discomfort or even non-damaging pain to all living things within this area. There are also social consequences; Lawful beings will be repulsed by the caster's disregard for the life around them, and should be role-played accordingly.

[ritt]

Jul 19, 2015 2:25:01 GMT -6 Azafuse said:

A quick way to handle Defiler Magic could be consider a pool of Environmental Hit Points.

The DM sets the number of EHP for the particular area.
Each time a Defiler casts a spell his player rolls a die (for example d3 for 1st level spells, d4 for 2nd level spells, and so on), lowering the amount of EHP.

This is a great idea!

Each sandbox hex could have 6 levels:

1) Verdant
2) Thinning
3) Scrub
4) Wasteland
5) Desert
6) Deadzone- Totally Biological sterilization.