swrushing said:
never one to argue with an opinion but i will make a few comments about your reasons.
having spells and having spells ready to be cast are two different things.
Yes, but as a wizard I virtually never run out of spells. The cleric runs out first, and we rest at that ponit. (Unlike the wizard, the cleric has to cast lots of spells outside of combat.)
IMX, which may vary from yours, the wiz is better served and more often optsto go with with the item feats for his choices and the sor heads for the metamagic.
I haven't foudn item creation to be
that useful. As a wizard, I get Scribe Scroll for free, but I dont' use it. If I already have the spell in my spellbook, then I'll prepare it if I need it (or leave a slot open). I use scrolls to add spells to my spellbook, not the other way around. The only useful one I've found is Craft Wondrous Item. While I hardly use it, it's neat for when you can't find an item you want.
As for your example? IIRC my sorcerer did opt for gaseous form and the gnomish guy had it in a wand, so I don't see that the sor would have not opted for the gaseous form as a likely case, and gaseous form and dimension door serve very different purposes so i don't see this as a likely "either/or."
They're both very good for escaping grapples. As a wizard, I could have both more easily than a sorcerer - just in case Dimension Door won't work for some reason. It never hurts to be prepared.
one of the better examples of one of the things the wiz has going for him. he gets more skills. But both sides have things going for them and against them. I know in my sorcerer play i got a lot of hay out opf his good social abilities and ranks cross-class into perform helped a lot too.
My experience says otherwise. here is the key... social skills are often OPPOSED ROLLS and for most people those opposition skills are not in-class, which tends to mean a few ranks cross-class plus a high attribute is enough to let you win those checks.
Let's look at the Charisma-based socail skills.
Bluff: opposed by Sense Motive. I've already conceded the sorcerer wins this one, hands down.
Diplomacy: broken skill, not opposed by anything. The sorcerer gets a very small advantage over the wizard here.
Gather Information: not opposed by anything. Again, the sorcerer gets a very small advantage here.
Disguise: solved by spells. Most of the time. Otherwise, the sorcerer gets a very small advantage here.
Intimidate: Here the sorcerer gets a real advantage as it's an opposed roll. I don't recall how Intimidate worked in 3.0 but in 3.5 it's actually pretty useful. The wizard can get nearly as good as the sorcerer in this skill, however.
and i remain amazed that after all this time the misconception still remains even tho you seem very knowledgable.
I'm amazed WotC doesn't use clearer language after an edition change
Although I think I see what you mean - you're not really in greater danger of having your Concentration disrupted if you're a sorcerer using metamagic rather than a wizard.
sorcerer metamagic is a full round action, which means its just as "cannot sit there" risky under hardball Gms as drawing a scroll and reading it... ie in both cases thats all you do, you get a 5' move max, and it goes off right now, not like "1 round casting time spells" which cast on and dont go off until your next turn comes 'round.
IMO that's not what I would call "non-risky". As a wizard I don't use scrolls, so I never bother spending the move action to draw it. Besides, that kind of takes away the benefit of using Still Spell
And I find being able to move 20 or 30 feet every round to be a
huge advantage.
My current Eberron DM is rather new to the game. He knows how to make a good character, and his NPCs are dangerous, but he's still learning tactics. As a result, he soft-balls, though not deliberately. For instance, I've (probably unfairly) mocked him because my wizard has only really been threatened once (when we fought a nasty ghost mage). All the DM needs to do to wipe that overconfident smug expression off my face is to attack from two directions. That means there's either nothing preventing the enemy from getting to me, or maybe the cleric is standing nearby and that's all. In such a circumstance, the ability to move (and Tumble) is critical. And unlike a sorcerer, I could do all that and still cast metamagic spells.
