D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5e] Fixing the Sorcerer

[Nifft]

Fixing Sorcerers:

1) Free Eschew Materials at 1st level.

2) A bonus Item Creation or Metamagic Feat at 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th levels.

3) Every odd level except 1st, Sorcerers get a "0" in their next "Spells Per Day" column. This means that they gain spell-slots for higher level spells if they have a high enough Charisma to get bonus spells of that level.

Here's a table, ignoring 0-level spells:

[color=lightblue]
Caster  /--Spell Level--\
Level   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-------------------------
1       3 - - - - - - - -
2       4 - - - - - - - -
3       5 0 - - - - - - -
4       6 3 - - - - - - -
5       6 4 0 - - - - - -
6       6 5 3 - - - - - -
7       6 6 4 0 - - - - -
8       6 6 5 3 - - - - -
9       6 6 6 4 0 - - - -
... etc.
[/color]

So, at 3rd level, if you had a 14 Charisma, you could cast per day:
Level 1: 6 (5+1 bonus)
Level 2: 1 (0+1 bonus)


Since you won't know any level 2 spells at the time, this means that you can only use your 2nd level spell-slot in a few ways:

1) Cast a level 1 spell with it -- you can always use a higher-level slot to cast a lower-level spell.

2) Cast a meta-magic'd level 1 spell with it.

3) If you have Improved Counterspell, you can Counterspell a 2nd level spell.


However, since you can technically use 2nd level spells, you gain some
benefits:

1) You can use 2nd level Arcane scrolls without needing to roll a Spellcraft check.

2) You qualify for Prestige Classes that require the ability to cast 2nd level Arcane spells (like the Mystic Theurge).

--------

My hope: that this will keep the INTENDED weakness of the Sorcerer class -- his low number of Spells Known and delayed higher spell access -- while removing some UNINTENDED consequences, such as delayed PrC qualification, metamagic and magic item use.

-- Nifft

 

[der_kluge]

Dude, that is awesome! I'm totally in love with that.

I had already given them free "Eschew Materials" and I had already given them bonus metamagic feats every 5th level like wizards, but I do really like the 0 bonus spell as per the Wizard progression.

Rock on!

 

[Spatzimaus]

Having played one off and on since 3E started, I'm one of the "it ain't broke" people. Sorcerers are just fine, powerwise, the way they are IMO. They don't need the huge power boost you're giving them (and yes, 5 free Feats is a huge boost). What they need, though, are some flavor abilities to separate them from the Wizards.

The Eschew Materials at 1 is fine. It fits the flavor, and it's a relatively minor bonus.

The "0 per day" thing is fine, too. It links them more to the Bard class, and it's different than anything a Wizard gets.

Toss the metamagic/item Feats, though. The Wizard's advantage is his bonus Feats, don't give it to the Sorcerers too.

Give them Spell Thematics at level 3. It's a really minor Feat, but it fits them better than anyone.

Remove the Familiar from the class. It's more of a Wizard thing anyway, and it'll balance out the two free Feats you're giving.

 

[LGodamus]

what do you do for wizards??..if you power up sorcs that much you pretty much dissuade anyone from playing a wizard.

 

[haiiro]

I've loved Monte's alt.sorcerer from the BoEMII ever since I first saw it. For those who don't have this excellent book, he gives the sorc more skills, more skill points, a better hit die and eschew materials (with some changes). The spell lists are also new, and the class can cast more spells/day. The only thing he powers down are the staple spells -- things like shield and invisibility are bumped up in level.

At the moment, I'm planning on reworking the 3.5e sorcerer a bit -- although not as much as Monte. I think Eschew Materials is an easy one (1st level), and Spell Thematics fits perfectly -- and for ST, I really like Spatzimaus's idea of getting it at 3rd level (to avoid front-loading). I think I will probably also go with more skills, more skill points and a better hit die -- but not fiddle with spell levels, spells known, etc.

The thing of it is, I think that powerwise the sorcerer is more or less OK -- perhaps a bit weak in terms of peripheral elements (like skills and skill points). What I really dislike is that there isn't much to keep the class spiced up through 20th level...just more spells. As with the half-orc, however, flavor changes that don't also involve power changes are hard to do well. In the end, I may wind up only changing a few things.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

I love the idea of Eschew Materials, and the addition of the zeros.

Other things you could do for flavor without adding too much power:
1) light armor proficiency. (If they want to suffer the spell failure possibility, why not?)
2) weapon proficiencies. They're going to be fairly weak fighters anyway, so what difference does it make if they can swing a mace or something like that?
3) Add class skills but not skill points. This would create some flexibility without adding much power.

By the way, what is Spell Thematics?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I love the idea of Eschew Materials, and the addition of the zeros.

Other things you could do for flavor without adding too much power:
1) light armor proficiency. (If they want to suffer the spell failure possibility, why not?)
2) weapon proficiencies. They're going to be fairly weak fighters anyway, so what difference does it make if they can swing a mace or something like that?
3) Add class skills but not skill points. This would create some flexibility without adding much power.

By the way, what is Spell Thematics?

They already get Simple Weapon Proficiency, unlike Wizards.

Spell Thematics is a feat that gives your spells an appearance specific to you, and makes them harder to identify/counter because they're unique. It applies to 1 spell per spell level per feat slot used, if I remember right.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

At the moment, I'm planning on reworking the 3.5e sorcerer a bit -- although not as much as Monte. I think Eschew Materials is an easy one (1st level), and Spell Thematics fits perfectly -- and for ST, I really like Spatzimaus's idea of getting it at 3rd level (to avoid front-loading). I think I will probably also go with more skills, more skill points and a better hit die -- but not fiddle with spell levels, spells known, etc.

They really don't need that much more power. Skill points are a big, important thing-- and if you gave them more skill points, you'd pretty much destroy any reason to play a Bard.

I'd also avoid giving them improved HD, as well. Really, they don't need it.

 

[Spatzimaus]

By the way, what is Spell Thematics?

I wrote the post-errata version in this thread:
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57506

All of your spells change their appearance to fit a "theme", although their actual effects don't change. So, if you really like fire, you could have all of your spells look like different shapes of fire, but they wouldn't do fire damage.
Then, pick one spell at each spell level (0-9) that you know. Those ten spells are much harder to identify (Spellcraft DC +5), and they also act as if your caster level were 1 higher.

(The pre-errata version didn't increase caster level, so it was WAY too weak. Post-errata, it's still a bit weak.)

There really isn't much reason to take this until you've got a few levels of spells, so it's the perfect choice for something to give Sorcerers at class level 3 or so.

 

[haiiro]

This just came to mind: what about a version of the errata'd Spell Thematics as a class ability, given out at 3rd and (let's say) 10th level. It would function in the same manner as the feat, but the second time you got it you'd be able to choose a second spell per level to receive the power boost. Your theme wouldn't change.

As a friend of mine brought up, there's no compelling reason to stay a sorcerer past the levels you need to enter a prestige class with full spellcasting (+1 per level at every level). With the worst in every category and no special abilities to look forward to at later levels, the only thing keeping you a sorcerer would be the option to swap out spells every few levels.

This is the main reason that I think 4 skill points/level, more class skills and possibly a d6 HD are such good changes for the sorcerer. With those in place, switching to a PrC as soon as possible is somewhat less attractive, and more diplomatic-type skills gives you other options in terms of what type of sorcerer you want to create.