In your quest for revenge against an evil who has harmed you or a loved one you have turned to the dark arts. You thought you could use it without it changing you but in your heart you know the truth..
Unlike other spellcasters Defilers draw their mana from living things. All lifeforms contain a portion of magical energy or mana, sharing a mystical life force that a wizard can use to power his spells. In order to cast a spell, the Defiler gathers this power of life until he as accumulated enough energy to create the enchantment he desires. He can draw mana from plant, animal and even humanoid life. To gather energy, the wizard concentrates on drawing the life force that surrounds him into his body, draining it away from the nearby vegetation first, then animals and then people. If the spellcaster chooses to defile his surroundings, the vegetation is destroyed by this process and any animals and people also caught up in it take D6 damage per 10 mana drained. The act of defiling destroys an area of 1 metre in radius per 10 mana acquired in this fashion. Defilers accumulate mana at a rate of INT + WIS x4 per round of gathering energy. 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 years; the ground may as well have been salted or poisoned by the character. All living things caught in the defiler's radius of destruction (except the defiler himself) suffer D6 points of damage per spell level.
| Step 1: Attributes | ||
| Roll attributes as normal but raise INT to 15 and WIS to 14, or if already over add +1 instead. Hit points = CON +8, +8 per level. | ||
| Step 2: Skills | ||
| Choose skills in
the normal manner but also gain the following free ones; Knowledge Artifacts Knowledge Demons Knowledge Geomancy Knowledge Magic Knowledge Planar Knowledge Undead |
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| Step 3: Abilities | ||
| Defilers gain all the
following free; Spellcast - The first sphere the Defiler learns from is free and must be Diabolic, each subsequent sphere costs 5 points. He starts with one spell per INT point over 9, he can learn an equal amount per level. Thus INT 13 = 4 spells +4 per level. The spells can come from any sphere of magic except Divine and in any combination. Defilers can tap into the world’s natural mana at a rate of INT + WIS x4. Mana is recovered at a rate of 10 per hour if remain active (but not using magic) and 20 per hour if asleep. +10 Mana at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. +1 Spell save at levels 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16 and 20. +1 Sanity save at levels 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19. +1 Willpower save at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. +1 thaco and AC vs undead at levels 3, 5, 9, 11, 15, 17 and 19. +1 Spell Bonus at levels 7, 11, 15 and 19. Additionally Defilers start with 35 Points to spend on any of the following abilities. As they earns more experience they may buy or rebuy more abilities. |
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| Ability | Cost | Notes |
| Astralwalk | 10 | The ability to shift one's soul into
the astral plane. The character's spirit is intangible and invisible
while in this plane but he can see and hear others. He can instantly appear at
a known location or fly to an unknown one at 2.997925 x108 metres
per second. He can remain in the astral plane for 1 minute per WIS, +1
minute per level. While in this form he can still use all his abilities and cast any of his spells. |
| Damage Bonus | 10 | +1 or +25% damage each time bought (whichever is highest) and only applies to one sphere of magic. Must be rebought for each additional sphere. |
| Destroy Undead | 5 | Defilers can turn undead much like a
Deacon but using unholy darkness instead; 1) Others are revealed as they truly are regardless of any form of concealment, disguise or illusion. 2) Spirits are banished unless spell save. 3) Undead are destroyed unless they spell save. If they do save they lose half their HPs in damage. See the table below. |
| Extend Duration | 10 | Spell duration increases by +1 round and only applies to one sphere of magic. Must be rebought for each additional sphere. |
| Familiar Link | 10 | The Defiler may summon and permanently psionically link with a companion of the character's choice, traditionally it is a small animal. At any point he may see through the familiar's eyes, smell through its nose, hear with its ears, taste with its mouth or link with any of its other senses (including supernatural ones). The two are always in constant telepathic contact. |
| Range Boost | 5 | +25% range for spells and only applies to one sphere of magic. Must be rebought for each additional sphere. |
| Relive Trauma | 5 | Any victim touched will relive all his sins and be traumatised. He must then save vs. Sanity or become incoherent for D6 days after which he will recover but will develop one random insanity and a phobia of the character. This can be used once per day per 5 WIS. |
| True Sight | 5 | Can see the true image of any person or object regardless of any form of concealment, disguise, illusion or invisibility. This also includes the ability to detect whether it is magical, and the exact nature of the magic. |
| Unholy Aura | 5 | Enemies within line of sight suffer -1 per 5 CHA of the character on all their rolls. |
| Unholy Fortitude | 5 | Immune to any form of supernatural special attacks (including fear) and all types of Possession. Further he gains +1 save per level vs Diabolic magic. |
| Step 4: Careers | ||
| Possible related careers include; Librarian, Antique seller, Archaeologist, Museum representative, Historian, Stage Magician and Academic Researcher (specialising for instance in Demonology, etc). | ||
| Step 5: Disadvantages | ||
| Templars, Apostulates and
other holy people will recognise you for what you are. Don't expect to be
welcome in a LOT of places. +20 points. Gain 1 Psychological Limitation Insanity per year of using Diabolical Magic. Why? Because despite all your best intentions you are damned to burn in hell and you know it.. |
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| Turning Undead Table | |
| This table shows what types of Undead the Priest can begin affecting with his Holy Judgment ability at each level. | |
| Level | Type |
| 1 | Skeleton, Zombie |
| 2 | Ghoul |
| 3 | Shadow, Ghost |
| 4 | Wight, Ghast |
| 5 | Wraith, Mummy |
| 6 | Spectre |
| 7 | Vampire |
| 8 | Lich |
| 10 | Lesser Supernatural Intelligence |
| 15 | Greater Supernatural Intelligence |