-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Do you Houserule Sorcerers?
- Thread starter Kai Lord
- Start date
Hi everybody,
I houseruled sorcerers because I gave the spontanous casting to all casters. So I gave the sorcerer the feat from FRCS where you have a common theme for your magic and access to ALL spells, though spells from other spell lists can only be learned at one level higher (yes that gives the sorcerer the ability to cast cure spells). By this the sorcerer is a lot more flexible yet not overpowered.
Greetings
Firzair
I houseruled sorcerers because I gave the spontanous casting to all casters. So I gave the sorcerer the feat from FRCS where you have a common theme for your magic and access to ALL spells, though spells from other spell lists can only be learned at one level higher (yes that gives the sorcerer the ability to cast cure spells). By this the sorcerer is a lot more flexible yet not overpowered.
Greetings
Firzair
Pbartender
First Post
Caliber said:
Just a little.
As long as a spellcaster has a Spell Component Pouch in their inventory, they assumed to have any spell component that does not specify a price...
From the SRD:
"Spell Component Pouch: A small, watertight leather belt pouch with many small compartments. A spellcaster with a spell component pouch is assumed to have all the material components and focuses she needs except those that have a listed cost, divine focuses, or focuses that wouldn’t fit in a pouch (such as the natural pool that a druid needs to look into to cast scrying)."
Caliber said:
It's "Spell Thematics", from Magic of Faerun.
All of your spells have a "theme"... Fire, or skulls, or blood, or whatever. Rules-wise, spells work the same, but the visual and audible displays of your spells follow the pattern of the theme. A Magic Missile might look like a glowing, fanged skull flying out to bite your enemy, for example.
The benefit is that the feat makes it more difficult for other spellcasters to use the spellcraft skill to identify your spells as they are being cast... Thereby making it a little more difficult to counterspell you.
Last edited:
Deadguy
First Post
That's because Monte wants to make money from this one!Death said:
It's in the Book of Eldritch Might II: Songs and Souls of Power, which is available either as a downloadable PDF from his site, or a printed book released through Sword & Sorcery.
Re
We created quite a few houserules for sorcerer's. They are strong, but a well-played wizard still outshines a sorcerer. This is the main reason we house-ruled sorcerer's, so they would be more entertaining to play.
Sorcerer's gain bonus feats in our campaign:
1st level: Eschew Materials (Gave this to them almost immediately after the Tome of Blood hit the shelves. Fits perfectly for a sorcerer.)
It is still easier to cast spells with components, but in a pinch a sorcerer can still cast any of their low cost component spells as a full round action per the usual rules for metamagic.
Bonus feat at 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th: We gave sorcerers bonus feats every 5 levels just like wizards.
They may choose from the following list: Any metamagic feat, spell focus, spell penetration, arcane preparation or extra spell known.
In my opinion, sorcerer's are not wizard warriors or pseudo-wizards. Sorcerer's are a class who can innately channel magic. They love magic just as much as a wizard and spend their lives trying to master it and channel it as effectively as possible.
Thus, sorcerer's gain bonus feats because of the immense amount of time they spend learning to channel the magic they do know. They do not gain item creation feats, because they do not care about making items that harness magic. There primary concern is learning the secrets of metamagic or focusing on certain types of magic such as ecovation or enchantment to improve the power of their personal magic.
Sorcerer's are the ultmate channelers of magical energy. Magic is an art to them and not a science as it is to wizards. In my opinion, sorcerer's should be better at mastering metamagic and the spells they do know should be more powerful than a wizards. This is the reason for the varied bonus feat list.
Bonus spells known for High Intelligence Sorcerer's gain bonus spells known based on their intelligence. I felt that a more intelligent sorcerer's would be able to learn more spells than a less intelligent sorcerer.
In average campaigns, this is likely to give a sorcerer an extra 1st or 2nd level spell, while at the same time taking a fairly high stat from dex, con, str, or wisdom. I felt that this was a balancing factor in the choice to allow a sorcerer to know more spells than normal.
In the long term, a sorcerer who obtains magical items to boost their intelligence will be more powerful, but still nowhere near as versatile as a wizard. I have not noticed any imbalance in power in favor of the sorcerer as of yet in any of my campaigns because of this rule.
I am also currently working on a rule to allow sorcerer's to unlearn spells in favor of different spells at a later time. It can't be an easy process to ensure that it is not done often, but it shouldn't be impossible either. They should have put some means of changing spell slots in the actual game rather. It seems rather unreal that a sorcerer can't given time change out a spell slot.
I made the above changes to make the sorcerer a more interesting character class with more customizable features. I feel the above houserules allow a person to make varied sorcerer's without all of them being combat mongers. For example, instead of making a combat monger sorcerer, you could make a buffing sorcerer. Load up with spells that buff other players like haste, greater magic weapon, the various ability increasing spells, fly, and other such spells. Supplement these abilities with metamagic feats such as extend spell, persistent spell, and chain spell, and you have a great buffing sorcerer.
Even with the above changes, I feel the wizard is still a far more viable class for anything less than inflicing mass destruction upon enemies, which wizards are none to shabby at either. At the current time, I play one sorcerer and two wizards. The sorcerer has more firepower than my wizards, but my wizards would win in a duel and are more helpful to the adventuring party. Their versatility makes up for the lesser number of spell slots and the lack of spontaneous casting.
Anyway, those are the houserules we use for the sorcerer. They have not to date proven to imbalance our campaign. The only effect they have had so far is to make the sorcerer a more viable and customizable class.
We created quite a few houserules for sorcerer's. They are strong, but a well-played wizard still outshines a sorcerer. This is the main reason we house-ruled sorcerer's, so they would be more entertaining to play.
Sorcerer's gain bonus feats in our campaign:
1st level: Eschew Materials (Gave this to them almost immediately after the Tome of Blood hit the shelves. Fits perfectly for a sorcerer.)
It is still easier to cast spells with components, but in a pinch a sorcerer can still cast any of their low cost component spells as a full round action per the usual rules for metamagic.
Bonus feat at 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th: We gave sorcerers bonus feats every 5 levels just like wizards.
They may choose from the following list: Any metamagic feat, spell focus, spell penetration, arcane preparation or extra spell known.
In my opinion, sorcerer's are not wizard warriors or pseudo-wizards. Sorcerer's are a class who can innately channel magic. They love magic just as much as a wizard and spend their lives trying to master it and channel it as effectively as possible.
Thus, sorcerer's gain bonus feats because of the immense amount of time they spend learning to channel the magic they do know. They do not gain item creation feats, because they do not care about making items that harness magic. There primary concern is learning the secrets of metamagic or focusing on certain types of magic such as ecovation or enchantment to improve the power of their personal magic.
Sorcerer's are the ultmate channelers of magical energy. Magic is an art to them and not a science as it is to wizards. In my opinion, sorcerer's should be better at mastering metamagic and the spells they do know should be more powerful than a wizards. This is the reason for the varied bonus feat list.
Bonus spells known for High Intelligence Sorcerer's gain bonus spells known based on their intelligence. I felt that a more intelligent sorcerer's would be able to learn more spells than a less intelligent sorcerer.
In average campaigns, this is likely to give a sorcerer an extra 1st or 2nd level spell, while at the same time taking a fairly high stat from dex, con, str, or wisdom. I felt that this was a balancing factor in the choice to allow a sorcerer to know more spells than normal.
In the long term, a sorcerer who obtains magical items to boost their intelligence will be more powerful, but still nowhere near as versatile as a wizard. I have not noticed any imbalance in power in favor of the sorcerer as of yet in any of my campaigns because of this rule.
I am also currently working on a rule to allow sorcerer's to unlearn spells in favor of different spells at a later time. It can't be an easy process to ensure that it is not done often, but it shouldn't be impossible either. They should have put some means of changing spell slots in the actual game rather. It seems rather unreal that a sorcerer can't given time change out a spell slot.
I made the above changes to make the sorcerer a more interesting character class with more customizable features. I feel the above houserules allow a person to make varied sorcerer's without all of them being combat mongers. For example, instead of making a combat monger sorcerer, you could make a buffing sorcerer. Load up with spells that buff other players like haste, greater magic weapon, the various ability increasing spells, fly, and other such spells. Supplement these abilities with metamagic feats such as extend spell, persistent spell, and chain spell, and you have a great buffing sorcerer.
Even with the above changes, I feel the wizard is still a far more viable class for anything less than inflicing mass destruction upon enemies, which wizards are none to shabby at either. At the current time, I play one sorcerer and two wizards. The sorcerer has more firepower than my wizards, but my wizards would win in a duel and are more helpful to the adventuring party. Their versatility makes up for the lesser number of spell slots and the lack of spontaneous casting.
Anyway, those are the houserules we use for the sorcerer. They have not to date proven to imbalance our campaign. The only effect they have had so far is to make the sorcerer a more viable and customizable class.
Tetsubo
First Post
My house rules for Sorcerers:
Sorcerers
Sorcerers have a D6 for hit dice rather than a D4.
Sorcerers do not normally require spell components. In their place the Sorcerer has in their possession a magical spell focus known as a Fetish. The Fetish may be any small physical object. Most often it is an item that the Sorcerer associates with the first manifestation of their power. Once acquired the Sorcerer suffers a temporary CN lose of 1 point. This reflects the life force that the Sorcerer is investing into the Fetish. Each time the Sorcerer gains a new spell level they suffer another such lose. This spell component substitution is similar to the Eschew Material Component Feat. The Sorcerer needs no components for a spell requiring components that cost less than 1 sp (note I am running a silver-based campaign). If the spell requires components that cost more than 1 sp they have two options. One is to acquire the needed component(s). The second is to expend 1 xp for each sp value of the component(s). A Sorcerer can not spend enough xp to lower themselves below their current class level. This has no effect on the level of the spell.
There are consequences if the Sorcerer looses their Fetish however. All spells cast without a Fetish are considered one spell level higher (i.e. 0-level spells are now considered 1st level). All spells cast without a Fetish cause the Sorcerer to take 1 hp of damage for each spell level of the dwoemer. Without the Fetish the Sorcerer literally begins to consume their own body to channel their magic. If the Fetish is recovered within 1 day per Sorcerer level (plus the CH bonus if any) all ill effects vanish. Though hit points must be recovered normally. If the Fetish can not be recovered or the time limit elapses a new Fetish can be fashioned. Again the Fetish can be any small physical object. Once chosen the Sorcerer invests one temporary CN point into it for each spell level the caster has based on character level. The Sorcerer may choose to invest a limited number of CN points at a time. The new Fetish will allow the Sorcerer to cast spells normally up to the level equal to the amount of CN invested. Example: an 18th level Sorcerer looses his Fetish. He could chose to invest 5 points of CN and be able to cast up to 4th level spells. The additional CN could be invested at a later date to allow the full range of all nine-spell levels. Temporarily lost CN points are recovered at the rate of one per day.
Obviously Sorcerers protect their Fetish at all costs. They are often disguised as jewelry or a mundane item. To function a Fetish must be in physical contact with the Sorcerers naked skin. The Fetish does not count against the magic item "slots" available to the character.
Knowledge (Arcana) is no longer a Class Skill for Sorcerers. Sorcerers do not over think their spellcasting, it is purely intuitive. The Sorcerer may choose another IN based skill to replace Knowledge (Arcana). They may of course learn Knowledge (Arcana) as a non-class skill if they choose.
Sorcerers may "upgrade" to a more powerful version of a spell as they gain levels. For example: If the Sorcerer had Monster Summoning II and wanted to acquire Monster Summoning III, by doing so they would "absorb" the lower level version freeing up that spell slot for another spell choice. They would no longer have access to the lower spell that had been "absorbed". They can of course ignore this option if they choose.
Optional Rule: Many Sorcerers possess a physical manifestation of their magical abilities. This manifestation appears as some form of minor physical oddity. It could be an oddly colored hair, eyes, skin or enlarged canines, extra digits, bony ridges or a reflection that isn't backwards. This is an entirely option feature of playing a Sorcerer.
Sorcerers
Sorcerers have a D6 for hit dice rather than a D4.
Sorcerers do not normally require spell components. In their place the Sorcerer has in their possession a magical spell focus known as a Fetish. The Fetish may be any small physical object. Most often it is an item that the Sorcerer associates with the first manifestation of their power. Once acquired the Sorcerer suffers a temporary CN lose of 1 point. This reflects the life force that the Sorcerer is investing into the Fetish. Each time the Sorcerer gains a new spell level they suffer another such lose. This spell component substitution is similar to the Eschew Material Component Feat. The Sorcerer needs no components for a spell requiring components that cost less than 1 sp (note I am running a silver-based campaign). If the spell requires components that cost more than 1 sp they have two options. One is to acquire the needed component(s). The second is to expend 1 xp for each sp value of the component(s). A Sorcerer can not spend enough xp to lower themselves below their current class level. This has no effect on the level of the spell.
There are consequences if the Sorcerer looses their Fetish however. All spells cast without a Fetish are considered one spell level higher (i.e. 0-level spells are now considered 1st level). All spells cast without a Fetish cause the Sorcerer to take 1 hp of damage for each spell level of the dwoemer. Without the Fetish the Sorcerer literally begins to consume their own body to channel their magic. If the Fetish is recovered within 1 day per Sorcerer level (plus the CH bonus if any) all ill effects vanish. Though hit points must be recovered normally. If the Fetish can not be recovered or the time limit elapses a new Fetish can be fashioned. Again the Fetish can be any small physical object. Once chosen the Sorcerer invests one temporary CN point into it for each spell level the caster has based on character level. The Sorcerer may choose to invest a limited number of CN points at a time. The new Fetish will allow the Sorcerer to cast spells normally up to the level equal to the amount of CN invested. Example: an 18th level Sorcerer looses his Fetish. He could chose to invest 5 points of CN and be able to cast up to 4th level spells. The additional CN could be invested at a later date to allow the full range of all nine-spell levels. Temporarily lost CN points are recovered at the rate of one per day.
Obviously Sorcerers protect their Fetish at all costs. They are often disguised as jewelry or a mundane item. To function a Fetish must be in physical contact with the Sorcerers naked skin. The Fetish does not count against the magic item "slots" available to the character.
Knowledge (Arcana) is no longer a Class Skill for Sorcerers. Sorcerers do not over think their spellcasting, it is purely intuitive. The Sorcerer may choose another IN based skill to replace Knowledge (Arcana). They may of course learn Knowledge (Arcana) as a non-class skill if they choose.
Sorcerers may "upgrade" to a more powerful version of a spell as they gain levels. For example: If the Sorcerer had Monster Summoning II and wanted to acquire Monster Summoning III, by doing so they would "absorb" the lower level version freeing up that spell slot for another spell choice. They would no longer have access to the lower spell that had been "absorbed". They can of course ignore this option if they choose.
Optional Rule: Many Sorcerers possess a physical manifestation of their magical abilities. This manifestation appears as some form of minor physical oddity. It could be an oddly colored hair, eyes, skin or enlarged canines, extra digits, bony ridges or a reflection that isn't backwards. This is an entirely option feature of playing a Sorcerer.
Although I like the way Monte Cook's variant sorceror looks on paper, my players always choose the PHB sorceror instead (as do I when I play). I think that we tend to like "theme" sorcerors, and the Monte's spell restrictions limit those -- in fact, none of the sorceror concepts I've had would work with his class.
I do modify the PHB sorceror slightly. I use a variant of the Eschew Materials idea -- sorcerors in my game do not need "cheap" components, can spend xp in place of expensive components, and can have a focus of some sort (staff, etc.) to sustitute for spell foci. I also allow sorcerors to choose some spells from other class lists if it fits their "theme" -- I strictly control this, though, and usually limit it to no more than one spell per spell level. These rules have worked well for me so far...
My changes are not because I think the PHB sorceror is "weak." Instead, they are to encourage players to create something other than "combat" sorcerors (with Magic Missile, Shield, Fireball, etc.). If anything, sorcerors in my game are sometimes weaker than in other games I've seen because my players choose sub-optimal spells...
I do modify the PHB sorceror slightly. I use a variant of the Eschew Materials idea -- sorcerors in my game do not need "cheap" components, can spend xp in place of expensive components, and can have a focus of some sort (staff, etc.) to sustitute for spell foci. I also allow sorcerors to choose some spells from other class lists if it fits their "theme" -- I strictly control this, though, and usually limit it to no more than one spell per spell level. These rules have worked well for me so far...
My changes are not because I think the PHB sorceror is "weak." Instead, they are to encourage players to create something other than "combat" sorcerors (with Magic Missile, Shield, Fireball, etc.). If anything, sorcerors in my game are sometimes weaker than in other games I've seen because my players choose sub-optimal spells...
Similar Threads
