I’m starting a 3.5 DS campaign and I’m wondering in all the current rules for 3.5 beyond just player preference and the Raze feats for defilers what is the benefit and draw back from being a preserver over being a defiler? I remember in 2nd it being that Defiler leveled faster. I don’t want to jip my players by handling this incorrectly. I’m sure this is a simple answer that I am over complicating. Thanks for any help.

Defiling gives you a higher spellcaster level when you cast a spell. The various “raze” feats gives you much more possibilities.
Instead, preserving doesn’t give you anything but some more respect from the ones who know the differences between a preserver and a defilier :)

Well back in 2nd ed, the “Defilers and Preservers” supplement split the wizard spells into 3 paths: Path Sinister (defilers only), Path Dexter (preservers only), and Path Concordant (both). Path Sinister was a handful of death magic spells that it just wouldn’t make sense for a preserver to cast, and Path Dexter was some nature magic that it wouldn’t make sense for a defiler to use. Most spells fell into Path Concordant & could be cast by either. The supplement also stated that defilers specialzed more in invocation & necromancy and got a +15% to learn these spells, but were less skilled with abjuration & divination and had a -15% to learn them; this was reversed for preservers. I’m fairly sure that the 3 Paths of magic were retained for 3rd ed, but I’m not quite sure which spells fall into them.

Personally, I still feel that defilers and preservers need more drastic differences to distinguish them. I kicked around the idea of having both of them as specialist wizards – defilers as necromancers & preservers as illusionists – and combining them with the necromants and the shadow wizards respectively. Defilers wouldn’t be able to cast illusion spells, but would have a +1 level adjustment for necromancy spells, and preservers wouldn’t be able to cast necromancy spells, but would have a +1 level adjustment for illusion spells. As far as drawing on the Grey and Black, it would only be for necromancy or illusions spells. All other spells would be powered by life energy as usual, with defilers killing off plant life with all spells – even including necromancy spells, since opening a portal to the Grey to access its energy would require burning up life energy. Also, there’s the advantage that making preservers into shadow wizards means they’re a bit more spooky & mysterious, so it makes more sense that the common people fear them… In standard DS rules, preservers seemed to me too much like druids that cast wizard spells.

Nice, after my summer class final this week I will have to go back over and check out the different paths. I do agree that there needs to be more of a difference. I was also wondering on how to handle defiling, each edition seems to say to play it a different way, and I was wondering from people’s actual game experience which is the best way to handle it? Do it on cast only, allow for it to happen when the spell is memorized and what happens if you defile inside where do you put your radius if it is on cast? I am sure I’m beating a dead horse here, but all other Dark Sun experience I had was either a decade ago or I was playing a Half-Giant or Thri-kreen melee monkey and wasn’t paying attention.

I am pretty sure my player is going to go preserver regardless seeing as the group has a slightly good tinge, which is odd for our group.

Don’t forget that a Defiler is one of the most hated people in the Dark Sun world…They are the cause of the current conditions of the environment….99.9% of the world would attack or rat you out if they knew what you did…

The other 0.01% who wouldn’t are the other defilers…..