D&D 5E What are your thoughts on the DnD Next playtest sorcerer compared to the final 5e sorcerer?

[Shiroiken]

The playtest fiddled around with a lot of ideas, some were good and others not. The Sorcerer lacked a solid identity, so they were looking to see what other ideas might work. I thought I was really interesting, and far better than the version we got, but I also liked wizards having vancian casting and clerics having the current neo-vancian. YMMV.

 

[Guest 7034872]

It's the reason we don't have an arcane gish class. In older editions the 'sorcerer thing' was spontaneous casting, while everyone else used vancian casting. When 5e came along all casters got spontaneous casting and so the sorcerer suddenly had no unique thing (metamagic being a feat for all caster back then).

So the playtest sorcerer was a half casting will point powered arcane gish, which gradually transformed into their bloodline as their will was exhausted. Giving it a completely unique set of themes and mechanics.

At the last minute it got switched to the sorcerer we have now (discount wizard with the metamagic feat duct taped to the side), and the arcane gish role got left empty.

I seriously never knew this was how it came about. The things you can learn on EN World...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The playtest Sorcerer was absolutely AWESOME, like totally cool. It is a crime that it got reverted to the bland subwizard of 3E for 5E.

 

[Guest 7034872]

The playtest Sorcerer was absolutely AWESOME, like totally cool. It is a crime that it got reverted to the bland subwizard of 3E for 5E.

It sounds fascinating. Are there versions of it available for perusal online anywhere?

 

[Li Shenron]

The idea was neat, I haven't playetested it back then but I remember thinking it was perhaps a bit too dramatic and difficult to balance. What if a player figured out that it was convenient to just blow all your spells at the wall when you wake up in the morning and stay permanently transformed? Still, with careful design they could have made it work.

About the will points, there was an early phase during Next where every available spellcaster class (probably not many yet) had a different casting rules system, even if slightly so. I really liked the idea because it differentiated the experience of playing each class more, and it emphasized that Wizardry, Sorcery, Clerical magic and Druidic magic were different (probably the Druid class wasn't public yet at that time but still). As a small bonus, it would have helped with the occasional "why do we have nature Clerics AND Druids?" complaint. But then they decided it was more important to have easy multiclassing rules.

 

[Ath-kethin]

There was a lot of stuff from the NEXT playtest that was dropped for the final publications, and some of it was a damn shame.

The Sorcerer concept was one of those, as was having the Magic Initiate feat as part of a chain that would eventually net you 6th level spells.

These were ideas that fundamentally changed the nature of D&D, and they were awesome. They also pointed at the much touted "modularity" of 5e that ended up a little too half-baked for many of us.

But changing the fundamentals of D&D wasn't the design goal, so the interesting stuff got dropped. I've been hoping to see it in a book of rule and play options, but that book seems less and less likely as time goes on.

 

[Weiley31]

I am saddened every time I think of the Next Sorcerer as the idea was just so great. Heck at this rate, I'd take a revival of the idea as its own separate class instead of it being the Sorcerer. That's how bad I wish it would comeback.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

I am saddened every time I think of the Next Sorcerer as the idea was just so great. Heck at this rate, I'd take a revival of the idea as its own separate class instead of it being the Sorcerer. That's how bad I wish it would comeback.

Yep same. I'd love to see it as its own unique class as it's different enough in mechanics and theme compared to anything else available.

 

[LizardWizard00]

It sounds fascinating. Are there versions of it available for perusal online anywhere?

I don't think so, but some people on these boards still have it. If you DM them they may send it to you. I think @dave2008 previously mentioned they had a copy.

 

[LizardWizard00]

The Sorcerer concept was one of those, as was having the Magic Initiate feat as part of a chain that would eventually net you 6th level spells.

That does sound cool. I personally would have loved if MC was handled through feat chains like this