In case you thought a return to Dark Sun meant shying away from some of its darker elements, the Defiler Sorcerer is here to drain you dry.
One of the core tenets of Dark Sun is that magic is harmful to the point of being inimical to life. Through an art known as Defiling, an arcane magic user can leech the life force out of the ground and even out of nearby creatures.
This practice is what turned the world of Athas into the blasted, brutal wasteland of Dark Sun. So it’s very exciting to see that this is not only a part of the lore, it’s a part of one of the subclasses! The new Defiler Sorcerer does not shy away from the setting’s promise.
As you level up, you’ll grow in power, and you absolutely can continue to defile the world around you. And it’s got a surprisingly broad suite of features – especially compared to the Druid – that hone in on the fact that you’re using necrotic powers that can absolutely corrupt the world around you.
The Defiler Sorcerer – Power Corrupts, But Especially This Power
And boy oh boy, does the Defiler Sorcerer live up to its promise to be all about devouring life essence to empower magic. As you’ll see, there’s a surprisingly robust suite of features. I’m all for it, even if this does tend to flavor the character as a little bit of a darker one.
“Your innate power siphons life essencef rom the surrounding world. At your command, creatures grow sick and plants wither to husks. You draw power from the corruption of life itself, draining vitality to fuel destructive magic.”
And the defilement starts right away with the core level 3 feature, Defile and Empower. This is a benefit you can use once per turn. Whenever you roll damage for a spell you cast using a spell slot. At a baseline, you can siphon your own life energy to empower a spell. You can spend some of your own Hit Dice (half the level of the spell slot used), and roll and add those to one damage roll of the spell.
Or… you can draw on another creature’s life essence instead. Pick a target within 30 feet of you, they make a Constitution save against your spell save DC, and if they fail, you can spend the target’s hit dice instead of your own. This can be a great way of upping the damage you can deal. Many monsters, for instance, have d10 or d12 hit dice.
This is such a fantastic mechanic. It’s ripe with flavor, and it shows you mechanically why people would choose to do the harmful thing. Drawing on another creature’s life force is often just better numerically. It doesn’t put you at risk. You can do it as often as you have spell slots – you just have to have creatures nearby to defile. No wonder the world is the way it is.
You also gain a list of Defiler Bonus Spells. These are extra spells that fit flavorwise (and are great additions to a Sorcerer’s spell list without taking away your precious spells known choices). You get things like Blindness/Deafness. Or Contagion. And Blight.
Higher Level Corruption
The Defiler Sorcerer doesn’t stop there, though. At higher levels, you’ll get even more toys top lay with. Starting at level 6, with Corrupted Caster. This ability grants you two benefits as you further tap into the corrupting magic within.
For one, you can ward yourself from harm whenever you convert Sorcery Points into a spell slot, gaining temporary hit points (that also deal damage to creatures that hit you while you have them). And you get to ignore Necrotic and Poison Resistance (but only with Sorcerer features and spells). All in all, a great enhancement for the Defiler.
At level 14, you’ll gain a Withering Aura that extends out 15 feet from you whenever you activate Innate Sorcery. This aura lets you reduce incoming damage by your Charisma modifier, as well as siphon the life essence from enemies that die within your aura, turning one enemy into 1d4 Sorcery Points. You can only do it once per Innate Sorcery. I guess this is a fine limit, though I wonder if there isn’t a little more wiggle room.
Finally at level 18, the Defiler Sorcerer gains immunity to both Poisoned and Exhaustion, as well as an increase to the size and strength of the 14th level Withering Aura – it becomes 30 feet and prevents enemies from regaining hit points.
This is a stellar example of what a subclass can be. I love that it has a central theme, but the whole focus of the subclass isn’t just on one mechanic. All of the mechanics reinforce the theme. I think we need more like this from WotC in the future. And if you think so too, you should let them know – by filling out the playtest feedback survey linked at the end of this article. Even you don’t agree, this is your chance to let WotC know what you think, and have your hand on the rudder of the future of D&D.
Until next time, defile away!
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