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Ritual Defling

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Sarlax
Aug 14, 2010 19:44:54 How about it? I was thinking of allowing an option something like the following:

Ritual Defiling
When casting a ritual that has Arcana as its key skill you can choose to use Ritual Defiling. You cannot defile Restoration rituals or the rituals Brew Potion or Enchant Magic Item.

Using Ritual Defiling requires the assistance of allied participants. Heroic tier rituals require at least one ally, paragon rituals require at least two, and epic rituals require at least three.

When you complete the casting of a defiled ritual, you destroy all mundane plant life within a number of squares equal to the level of the ritual. The area might become defiled terrain at the Dungeon Master's discretion.

Your allied participants suffer a defiling penalty: -1 to all attack rolls, skill checks, saving throws, and ability checks. This defiling penalty fades after the ally reaches three milestones. Multiple defiling penalties are cumulative.

A defiled ritual's casting time and component costs are halved.
#2
phoffman
Aug 14, 2010 23:57:21 I would require players to take a feat to modify rituals to include defiling into them. I would also not restrict defilement to arcane rituals. I see rituals as spells that might not be fully understood by those enacting the magic. They might not understand the significance of each action that is part of the ritual. Thats why you could have a class that doesn't perform magic as a feature with the capability to perform rituals via a feat.

I like the idea of channeling the surrounding plant life and perhaps small animal life to bring people back from the dead (Raise Dead), or any other healing ritual. [Have you seen the HBO Series 'Carnivale'?] I could see those who are experts in defiling perverting rituals that rely on nature, healing and/or arcane. The bard specific rituals might be harder to justify for defiling though and thats likely best handled on a situational basis.

I wouldn't reduce the casting time of the rituals, but halving the costs could be substantial for those rituals that are very expensive.

If you need to reduce the casting time of a ritual for an NPC as part of an encounter, just go ahead and do it.
#3
el_ahrairah
Aug 15, 2010 21:16:48 Carnivale is an excellent example of defiling, the visuals especially.

Good call, Phoffman.
#4
Sarlax
Aug 16, 2010 13:53:24 The reason I prefer not to use a feat or other requirement is that defiling is about temptation. If a feat is required to use the technique, it becomes a specialized ritual skill, rather than a danger that any ritualist my slip into.

Likewise, I went with Arcana rituals as a requirement both for flavor and a little edition bias. Defiling has always been the domain of arcane magic. I suppose, however, rituals like Speak with Dead can just as easily be arcane in flavor as religious. Perhaps it could be restricted simply as an option available only to characters with an arcane class.

However, I'm still inclined to eliminate restoration rituals, except perhaps for a few cases (like Spirit Idol). Restoration rituals bring back the dead, heal, cure disease, etc. and this is well outside the traditional domain of arcane magic, and definitely seems to run against the idea that in Athas, arcane magic consumes life energy.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Sarlax Aug 14, 2010 19:44:54	How about it? I was thinking of allowing an option something like the following: Ritual Defiling When casting a ritual that has Arcana as its key skill you can choose to use Ritual Defiling. You cannot defile Restoration rituals or the rituals Brew Potion or Enchant Magic Item. Using Ritual Defiling requires the assistance of allied participants. Heroic tier rituals require at least one ally, paragon rituals require at least two, and epic rituals require at least three. When you complete the casting of a defiled ritual, you destroy all mundane plant life within a number of squares equal to the level of the ritual. The area might become defiled terrain at the Dungeon Master's discretion. Your allied participants suffer a defiling penalty: -1 to all attack rolls, skill checks, saving throws, and ability checks. This defiling penalty fades after the ally reaches three milestones. Multiple defiling penalties are cumulative. A defiled ritual's casting time and component costs are halved.
#2 phoffman Aug 14, 2010 23:57:21	I would require players to take a feat to modify rituals to include defiling into them. I would also not restrict defilement to arcane rituals. I see rituals as spells that might not be fully understood by those enacting the magic. They might not understand the significance of each action that is part of the ritual. Thats why you could have a class that doesn't perform magic as a feature with the capability to perform rituals via a feat. I like the idea of channeling the surrounding plant life and perhaps small animal life to bring people back from the dead (Raise Dead), or any other healing ritual. [Have you seen the HBO Series 'Carnivale'?] I could see those who are experts in defiling perverting rituals that rely on nature, healing and/or arcane. The bard specific rituals might be harder to justify for defiling though and thats likely best handled on a situational basis. I wouldn't reduce the casting time of the rituals, but halving the costs could be substantial for those rituals that are very expensive. If you need to reduce the casting time of a ritual for an NPC as part of an encounter, just go ahead and do it.
#3 el_ahrairah Aug 15, 2010 21:16:48	Carnivale is an excellent example of defiling, the visuals especially. Good call, Phoffman.
#4 Sarlax Aug 16, 2010 13:53:24	The reason I prefer not to use a feat or other requirement is that defiling is about temptation. If a feat is required to use the technique, it becomes a specialized ritual skill, rather than a danger that any ritualist my slip into. Likewise, I went with Arcana rituals as a requirement both for flavor and a little edition bias. Defiling has always been the domain of arcane magic. I suppose, however, rituals like Speak with Dead can just as easily be arcane in flavor as religious. Perhaps it could be restricted simply as an option available only to characters with an arcane class. However, I'm still inclined to eliminate restoration rituals, except perhaps for a few cases (like Spirit Idol). Restoration rituals bring back the dead, heal, cure disease, etc. and this is well outside the traditional domain of arcane magic, and definitely seems to run against the idea that in Athas, arcane magic consumes life energy.