D&D (2024) Are You Happy with the Selection of Subclasses?

[Moorcrys]

Not to pile on the poor sorcerer. While I can find a varied thematic “package” for most of the classes (evoker, abjurer, diviner, illusionist is a good example to me), I don’t know how clockwork is iconic or fits any kind of broad trope. Shadow, divine, even mental/psionic I would understand. But clockwork?

Dragon, Wild, Aberrant all make more sense to me. I assume they want to contrast chaos (wild) with law (clockwork) - but it’s just not a resonant trope to me.

And I play a clockwork sorcerer in my current game…

 

[Parmandur]

Not to pile on the poor sorcerer. While I can find a varied thematic “package” for most of the classes (evoker, abjurer, diviner, illusionist is a good example to me), I don’t know how clockwork is iconic or fits any kind of broad trope. Shadow, divine, even mental/psionic I would understand. But clockwork?

Dragon, Wild, Aberrant all make more sense to me. I assume they want to contrast chaos (wild) with law (clockwork) - but it’s just not a resonant trope to me.

And I play a clockwork sorcerer in my current game…

One guess, it might be extremely populat after Tasha's.

 

[Kobold Stew]

One guess, it might be extremely populat after Tasha's.

It wasn't popular before Tasha's, that's for sure. Yuk yuk yuk.

 

[Parmandur]

It wasn't popular before Tasha's, that's for sure. Yuk yuk yuk.

I mean, one thing we can say about anything published in Tasha's is that theybhave at least a 70% satisfaction rate. Possibly higher, and WotC has Beyond usage data. It does give the Sorcerer an absolutely unique subclass.

 

[Remathilis]

One guess, it might be extremely populat after Tasha's.

Well of COURSE it was popular; it fixed two of the biggest problems with sorcerers in giving them 10 bonus spells AND allowing them to swap those spells for spells of your choice (within two schools). Clockwork in particular gave abjuration and transmutation, which opened up a lot of good spell choices for control and defense. It was straight gas compared to divine (which grants a single 1st level cleric spell and then allows you to use your 15 slots to pick between cleric and sorc) or shadow (which grants darkness only) or any others (storm, draconic, and wild grant none).

In a world where all sorcerer subclasses granted bonus spells and spell swapping, I question if clorckwork and aberrant would have been as popular.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Well of COURSE it was popular; it fixed two of the biggest problems with sorcerers in giving them 10 bonus spells AND allowing them to swap those spells for spells of your choice (within two schools). Clockwork in particular gave abjuration and transmutation, which opened up a lot of good spell choices for control and defense. It was straight gas compared to divine (which grants a single 1st level cleric spell and then allows you to use your 15 slots to pick between cleric and sorc) or shadow (which grants darkness only) or any others (storm, draconic, and wild grant none).

In a world where all sorcerer subclasses granted bonus spells and spell swapping, I question if clorckwork and aberrant would have been as popular.

Given that the Aberrant Mind is the best implementation of the Psion in any version of D&D, both simple and interesting with a twist while keeping the spell points of the psion but not needing 70 pages of custom designed spells in order to make it workable (and thus regularly banned by DMs either directly or as part of a blanket ban), yes it would have been pretty popular.

I don't think anyone thinks the Clockwork Soul would have been more than an oddity without the extra spells the sorcerer so desperately needed.

 

[Remathilis]

Given that the Aberrant Mind is the best implementation of the Psion in any version of D&D, both simple and interesting with a twist while keeping the spell points of the psion but not needing 70 pages of custom designed spells in order to make it workable (and thus regularly banned by DMs either directly or as part of a blanket ban), yes it would have been pretty popular.

I don't think anyone thinks the Clockwork Soul would have been more than an oddity without the extra spells the sorcerer so desperately needed.

I don't think either would have been UNpopular, just most of their popularity is bound up in being a fix to the 2014 sorcerer's weaknesses. Lunar sorcerer likewise.

 

[Moorcrys]

One guess, it might be extremely populat after Tasha's.

Maybe yeah, just like the twilight cleric. I think it has less to do with theme and more to do with class candy.

Aberrant sorcerer does both, I think. Fills a thematic niche and bolsters the weaknesses of the sorcerer with extra spells and abilities.

 

[WanderingMystic]

With clockwork sorcerers it's that they feel almost setting specific like the lunar sorcery, expecialy when you look at a core book offering. I can think of times in literature where I would say oh that's a storm, shadow, dragon, wild magic, or aberrant, ( or ice, fire) but never have I been oh yeah a clockwork sorcerer.

 

[mellored]

Not a surprise, but they did just explicitly mentioned that the subclasses where chosen to be opposite of eachother.

I.e. clockwork (order) and wild (chaos).
Abjuration (defensive) and evoker (offense).