Dark Sun-style Defiling

[cathexis (Colin Booth)]

@Dean

Yeah, but it’s already been established that Spirit Binders are in place too. In fact, I intend on playing a Spirit Binder in Ten’s campaign, so the Defilers will likely all be NPCs. In which case, the more the GM can defile specific spirits, the more he can mess with my character, the more fun we all have.

I’m fine with Defilers avoiding tax by passing it off to the spirits, but only so long as this nets them a Corruption test. Defiling should be a quick road to Corruption.

I’m not sure how I feel about Defiling leading to corruption, unless you word Corruption 10 as: becomes a Sorcerer-King since the standard “dragged down to be one with the gods of corruption” doesn’t sit right with the mega-power that Defiling brings. That said, if Corruption 10 does turn you into a Sorcerer-King (go evil and mad with power, become NPC!) I’m all for it.

My specific issue is that high-end Defilers shouldn’t worry about dying due to their craft, they should worry about becoming the bane of the world.

[Alex_P]

@cathexis

I’m not sure how I feel about Defiling leading to corruption, unless you word Corruption 10 as: becomes a Sorcerer-King since the standard “dragged down to be one with the gods of corruption” doesn’t sit right with the mega-power that Defiling brings. That said, if Corruption 10 does turn you into a Sorcerer-King (go evil and mad with power, become NPC!) I’m all for it.

My specific issue is that high-end Defilers shouldn’t worry about dying due to their craft, they should worry about becoming the bane of the world.

Becoming a Sorcerer-King sounds like something that should require more than just advancing Corruption 10. Like maybe you have to test something to see how you turn out? Or perhaps the ascension is contingent on having a Grey stat (either Grey Corruption or just any Grey stat)?

And if you fail your body just can’t handle it and you eat yourself up, or something. And the great Sorcerer-Kings laugh at yet another petty upstart’s failure.

Or am I overthinking it and the “failure case” is just that a crappy defiler who becomes a Sorcerer-King is not long for this world anyway?

[cathexis (Colin Booth)]

I think if you can advance Corruption 10 without getting killed by a) Athas, b) the Sorcerer-Kings, c) yourself, you can probably walk the walk (though you’re still losing the character). Maybe have a note that says “Upon achieving Corruption 10, a character’s body and spirit are so tainted that they become unto the Sorcerer-Kings. The character retires as a PC and will presumably be killed in a bid for power.”

[Alex_P]

I’m sold.

[Ten_of_Swords]

Yeah, I was planning to rewrite the Corruption chart and put a lot of dragonish traits on there. At Corruption 10 the sorcerer has basically become a monster.

[Ten_of_Swords]

@cathexis

That way you don’t need to track the current health exponent of the land and healthy areas aren’t curiously better at resisting the tax entirely.

In the current model, thanks to Dean and CarpeGuitarrem, healthy lands are more powerful batteries for the defiler, but they cannot resist him at all. Each time he casts the land loses life and the domain recedes. Are you thinking of my first idea, where the defiler would roll to take dice and more powerful spirits might not be meaningfully harmed at all?

[cathexis (Colin Booth)]

That’s probably what I was thinking about, when you could get spirits to roll for the drain.

[Steerpike]

I ran the DS game that Noclue was in, for Corruption 10 I had it set that you became a Dragon or died in the attempt with a Corruption roll Ob 10 I think. Which I snagged from Under A Serpent Sun. Also a few traits that you would probably pick up along the way for stuff like always having to Defile when you cast and the effects being worse.

• Colin