@mikemearls how would you deal with defiling/preserving in 5e? — Philip K. Creswell (@rogby_uu) November 25, 2017

Glad you asked! Preserving I use casting as normal. For defiling, apply defiling effect and roll a d20 after casting. 11+, spell slot is kept and can be reused. Designed to make it VERY tempting to players… https://t.co/SbwgdsiirY — Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) November 26, 2017

Keep in mind that this assumes you’re running a campaign where defiling is literally a kill on site offense for the staggering majority of the Athasian population. — Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) November 26, 2017

Would also assume that most populations have means of reliably killing a powerful defiler mage. Often I find that the only way for normal people to contest even mid-level mages (even without infinite spell slots!) is to overwhelm with numbers, knowing that 80% of them will die.Since everyone on Athas is psionic, that helps seriously even the odds. One person in the crowd with the right power can overwhelm a mage — Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) November 26, 2017

Speaking of which: At this point, how would you do Wild Talents? Just a talent (psionic cantrip)? Access to a discipline with a couple (2) power points and a talent? Something else entirely maybe? I’m totally curious to pick your brain about this one! I’d do it as an ability that comes with its own pool of points — Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) November 26, 2017

Would you use the two method of gathering spell energy through defiling magic? Or simply gathering energy when the spell is cast? I’d use it when casting — Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) January 13, 2018