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

[Helldritch]

We were completely surprised not to see the Next playtest sorcerer in 5ed. We were all so excited with the concept of back and forth in our little corner that we never thought it would not pass into 5ed.

The 5ed sorcerer is simply a wizard with less spell knowledge but a few meta magic to compensate...

 

[Lycurgon]

I hadn't seen the material, but the concept sounds awesome. Martial/Magic Hybrids are my favourite type of class/character.

But I don't think it fits the concept of what the Sorcerer previously was, so I can see why it may have been unpopular with the Sorcerer name. Call it something else and the feedback might have been different. But I can't think of any of the previous popular hybrid/gish class names that would fit either and they were looking back at what had come before to create 5e. Swordmage, Duskblade, Eldritch Knights don't really fit. Maybe Hexblade could have worked, but it is not quite right either.

I would love to the concept revived as a new class, but I don't think WotC would do that. Maybe a 3rd party publisher could do something similar.

 

[Minigiant]

I loved it.

So me, it wasn't the gish elements. I loved the possibility of each origin having a different secondary archetype that grows as your exhaust your sorcery.

Draconic was be part Warrior with claws and scales.
Wild Magic could have remained Magey but with more chaotic cantrips.
Divine Soul would be part Healer
Shadow would be part Warrior with deathless might and toughness
Clockwork Soul would be part Roguish as they disabled traps and locks
Aberrant Mind would be part Psionic
Storm would be would remain Magey but with at will lightning and thunder

 

[Charlaquin]

I didn't play the Next version, but the idea is cool as heck.

I'm not sure how well it works as a "sorcerer," per se, but frankly replacing the sorcerer class with whatever you'd call that concept and moving wild magic (and maybe a couple other subclasses) to another class could work.

Wild magic would work with the playtest sorcerer. Just have the chance of a wild magic surge increase as your willpower pool depletes.

 

[Charlaquin]

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

It’s easy to find if you Google “5e playtest sorcerer”

 

[Charlaquin]

I hadn't seen the material, but the concept sounds awesome. Martial/Magic Hybrids are my favourite type of class/character.

But I don't think it fits the concept of what the Sorcerer previously was, so I can see why it may have been unpopular with the Sorcerer name. Call it something else and the feedback might have been different. But I can't think of any of the previous popular hybrid/gish class names that would fit either and they were looking back at what had come before to create 5e. Swordmage, Duskblade, Eldritch Knights don't really fit. Maybe Hexblade could have worked, but it is not quite right either.

I would love to the concept revived as a new class, but I don't think WotC would do that. Maybe a 3rd party publisher could do something similar.

Yeah, the consensus was “this is a really cool class, but I would rather it be its own thing than a sorcerer.” We were all drinking the “modular design” kool-aid and figured everything would remain on the table as an option somewhere down the line. Little did we realize the core classes would be the only classes.

 

[Aldarc]

Yeah, the consensus was “this is a really cool class, but I would rather it be its own thing than a sorcerer.” We were all drinking the “modular design” kool-aid and figured everything would remain on the table as an option somewhere down the line. Little did we realize the core classes would be the only classes.

During the D&D Next playtest, it sometimes felt like the way that WotC maintained the illusion of the Big Tent was to gradually shrink the tent in size while also throwing things out of the tent when people weren't looking.

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah, the consensus was “this is a really cool class, but I would rather it be its own thing than a sorcerer.” We were all drinking the “modular design” kool-aid and figured everything would remain on the table as an option somewhere down the line. Little did we realize the core classes would be the only classes.

Yup.

A lot of ideas died and debate with ultratraditionalists didn't happen because many expected to see the ideas in modules and variants in the DMG. And this didn't happen.

Had we known the only new class would be the artificer and only feats and multiclassing would be major variants, people wouls have really fought for the playtest sorcerer.

 

[Helldritch]

So much of what would have been really cool was dropped at the playtests...

Still, 5ed is at least better and easier to retrofit than what was possible in the previous two editions.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yup.

A lot of ideas died and debate with ultratraditionalists didn't happen because many expected to see the ideas in modules and variants in the DMG. And this didn't happen.

Had we known the only new class would be the artificer and only feats and multiclassing would be major variants, people wouls have really fought for the playtest sorcerer.

Yeah, I think a lot of us bowed to the whims of the traditionalists because we were under the assumption that we’d get the more ambitious stuff in later supplements. And keeping the core very traditional would have made sense, if such ambitious supplements had actually been forthcoming.