Its main application is in the securing of a SK's garden walls, ensuring only those within the enclosure can access the energy. Ever wondered how a SK can police the illegal use of his garden by hit-and-run wizards? This is the thing. How can a SK prevent illegal use of his trees of life's aura of protection? This is it.
I'm sure there's a ton of things wrong with it, so shoot at me, i want you to! :D
[quote]Sorcerer-monarchs are some of the few beings who know of the ancient process to turn ordinary building material into a substance opaque to a wizard’s energy gathering process. Floors and walls (see Dungeon Terrain, Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide) made of materials so treated block a wizard’s access to the life energy beyond them. When a wizard draws energy from the land for the casting of a spell, tendrils of bright green energy flow from the plants and into the wizard, but when sorcerous material is present between the wizard and the plants the latter are unaffected by the energy gathering. In effect the sorcerous material deforms a wizard’s energy gathering circle. This has no effect on a preserving wizard besides preventing him from accessing the terrain type present on the other side of a wall. For example, a preserving wizard standing on barren terrain next to a sorcerer-monarch’s private garden, considered abundant terrain, and which is surrounded by a wall of sorcerous material will not be able to take advantage of the garden's terrain type while casting.
For every 5 feet that sorcerous material encroaches on a wizard’s defiling circle on one side, his circle is enlarged an additional 5 feet on the other side. Being blocked on more than one side adds the additional values to the opposing sides.
For example, a wizard casting a 7th-level spell normally gathers energy within a 35-foot (7 squares) radius centered on himself. If he were casting his spell at 10 feet of a wall made of sorcerous material, his energy gathering radius would extend 10 feet in the direction of the wall and 60 feet (35 feet plus the 25 feet cut from the wall side) on the opposite side.
A wizard’s defiling radius so deformed inflicts all its associated penalties and damage over its new area. The Distance Raze feat cannot be used to move the defiling circle of a wizard beyond a wall made of sorcerous material.
In addition, sorcerous material has the property of blocking a tree of life’s aura of protection, which cannot propagate through it. The magic of a sanctum amulet is the only known method for successfully bypassing sorcerous material so as to access a tree of life located on its other side.
Sorcerous material has all the properties of the building material from which it is made. To be effective in blocking access to plant and animal life energy, sorcerous material must enclose an area with a continuous wall at least 10 feet tall and which touches the ground at all points; in the case of a breach or a non-continuous wall, a wizard can access the area with his energy gathering if within range and as long as he has line of sight with the targeted location. A wizard standing on top of the wall is effectively prevented from gathering energy from either side of it as the wall is not conductive to life energy.
Moderate abjuration; CL 11th; Craft Wondrous Item, antimagic field; Price +7,500 Cp per 10
You found an elegant way to explain and make logical the blocking of energy gathering by the material.
And the way the circle of defilement is deformed is great. :angelhide
PS: for a name, perhaps you could use something similar to nen or rahn-rath, after the organic building materials used by the rhulisti and nowadays rhul-thauns, as the SKs could have experimented on these materials as one or the other seems to be imprevious to energy gathering.
As for the way the circle of defilement is deformed, yeah, its a great find! The author of the idea must be real smart! :P
On pages 44 (fluff) and 92 (rules).The porous, rocklike plant the rhulisti first used and pith, the basic substance composing the building block of life, are described on page 78.
I just have it that the SKs have their gardens warded so that if anyone attempts to defile them they are immediately made aware of the exact location of the criminal and his/her true appearance. They are dealt with immediately usually by psionic means, but if that fails, the SK (assuming (s)he has the leisure to do so) deals with the criminal in person. If not templars and or royal defilers are immediately dispatched.