D&D 5E Subclasses impact on class value

[MechaTarrasque]

No. I'm not joking. I really want to like the sub-class, but the specifics drive me nuts. Charm person -> fly 10 feet. Why? Charm has nothing to do with win or storms. If was it fly 30 feet after casting a spell that deal lightning or thunder damage, that would be cool. But casting detect magic and flying 10 feet does make sense to me. I simply cannot see the connection.

Casting a spell and gaining advantage on all saves makes a little more sense to me. Maybe it is some sort of shielding effect Your magic deflects all other forms of magic. I could get behind that.

A man walks into a doctor's office and says "my head hurts when I hit it with a hammer." It isn't like this is either central to the subclass (it is a borderline ribbon) or mandatory (cast a spell and automatically fly 10 feet), only use the ability when it feels "appropriate."

Honestly, back in 3e, someone told me that people like complaining about sorcerers a lot more than playing them. That seemed true then, and it seems true now.

 

[Alexemplar]

It should be noted that without it, you just gimped yourself of one of the main strengths of the (sub)class.

Getting a 5% chance to roll a random effect on a table that is just as likely to hurt you as help you whenever you cast a spell is not really a strength in this case. Many people hate the randomness of the mechanic and dislike the potentially silly effects it can generate.

Dropping it is not missing out on a strength for them. The effects are so unpredictable that it's not like the rest of the sub class abilities are balanced around it.

And it leaves you with a pretty flavor neutral generic Sorcerer: a person randomly assigned magical powers through the fickle hand of fate.

Why would anyone trade away the extra hit point per level and free mage armor of draconic if they didn't get advantage on anything and everything?

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

Some people don't want scales and wings and such.

The basis of discussion is finding subclasses that appeal for thematic/narrative appropriateness and not just the mechanical effeciency.

 

[Ninja-radish]

It should be noted that without it, you just gimped yourself of one of the main strengths of the (sub)class.

Why would anyone trade away the extra hit point per level and free mage armor of draconic if they didn't get advantage on anything and everything?

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

I dunno, you could make just as strong a case for Stone Sorcerer: Mage Armor that's tied to Con instead of Dex, and shield and martial weapon proficiency, as well as +1 HP per level. Not a bad package really.