malien said:
I was trying to build a sorcerer, and I came to the idea... shouldn't they have some sort of theme for spells? I mean, maybe you focus all on elemental magic, or you use only shadowy things... stuff like that.
Anyone else do this? Any groups you've put together? Reading through spell lists in D&D and trying to find a nice unifying concept for a sorcerer's spells feels pretty daunting. But I loathe the idea of just picking some random 'cool' spells.
Although that's a great concept (and, in fact, something I myself strive to do with all of my spellcasting characters), it's not a good idea to force someone to do. Picking all spells with a theme sounds cool, but it makes you suck as a caster, when you get down to it. After all, if you're only choosing elemental spells, chances are you're gonna end up with primarily offensive spells (since most defensive spells have nothing to do with elements), and although it's good to have offensive spells, considering how limited Sorcerers already are, having nothing but offensive spells hurts you more than anything else. Who cares if Bob the Sorcerer can blast you twelve different ways? Joe the Sorcerer can only blast you with a Fireball, but he's got Mage Armor, Shield, Invisibility, and Dimension Door. That's a bit of a stretch, but you get what I mean.
I think a better solution isn't to limit a Sorcerer's choices- or even influence them at all. I think if you choose a theme (such as Shadowy, Elemental, Animals, whatever), then go ahead and choose whatever spells you want, but have the visible effects (that is, the flavor text) reflect your focus. In fact, in all of my campaigns, we give Sorcerers the Spell Thematics feat (from the Player's Guide to Faerun) for free around 3rd level, since we feel that since all Sorcerers get their power from themselves, every Sorcerer's magic should have a distinct, unique look to it. (And we give it to them at a later level rather than first because often, in my experience, most players don't know exactly what kind of a theme they want until they've played the character for a while.)
Although it seems crappy, sometimes, in order to play an effective (or even fun) character, you simply have to pick whatever spells are "cool". In my opinion, it's much cooler to have seven effective spells of completely different types than to have seven similar spells that have mostly the same effect. This case is especially prevalent when you're only ever going to have seven spells- you've gotta choose those seven spells pretty darn carefully.
Just my two electrum.
