D&D 5E Companion thread to 5E Survivor - Subclasses (Part X: Sorcerers)

[Gradine]

Yeah, I had a Wild Mage in AD&D, and when we first picked 5e at release my partner's first character was a Wild Magic Sorcerer. We were in the car the day before our first session and she randomly blurted out "I can't wait to play an accident wizard!"

My last D&D character was a Shadow Sorcerer and a hell of a lot of fun to play. The game was set at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy (from Dimension 20) and I was playing the weird goth kid. Funnest campaign in my life

 

[Undrave]

For my part it's partially nostalgia. I've loved wild magic since it first came out and I use a different, better wild surge chart for my 5e game.

Then that's just cheating!

 

[Gammadoodler]

Why do people even LIKE the Wild Magic Sorcerer? Itsonly feature is basically controlled by the DM!

It's the closest D&D Magic comes to feeling like an unpredictable product of fantasy rather than a consumer good purchaseable with experience.

 

[Maxperson]

Then that's just cheating!

How so?

 

[RealAlHazred]

Then that's just cheating!

No -- it's homebrew!

 

[EzekielRaiden]

The Sorcerer really should get a melee/martial version. Bards get Valor and Sword, Wizards get Bladesinger, and Warlocks get Hexblade. Meanwhile Sorcerer gets.... *crickets chirping *

It was rejected too thoroughly during the D&D Next play test. We will probably never see a good melee build Sorcerer. This fact makes me very sad.

 

[DND_Reborn]

anyone got an idea why shadow is doing so well?

Speaking for myself, I rank it in my top 3 subclasses for Sorcerer. I like it thematically and mechanically it is a powerful (without being OP) subclass IME. In CoS, I played a changling sorlock Shadow Magic/Hexblade, so with both Eyes of the Dark and Devil's Sight, it was sort of cool.

 

[Undrave]

How so?

Well you're not using the basic class, warts and all. That'S not a real representation.

 

[Maxperson]

Well you're not using the basic class, warts and all. That'S not a real representation.

Yep, but we get to vote based on anything we want. For me it's part nostalgia, which includes the better chart.

 

[Neonchameleon]

anyone got an idea why shadow is doing so well?

Lack of competition. If we look only at the officially published stuff:

• Wild's ... wild. And sucks
• Dragon's very very bland for a dragon. It's just kinda there at best (Draconic Resilience is dull and amounts to Mage Armour plus half a weak feat), a little extra damage at 6th level and fly way after it's truly useful at 14th.
• Storm's outright Berserker level "If you actively use these abilities it will get you killed" - a sorcerer that wants to be near melee with too little defensive tech.
• Aberrant Mind is a psion by another name - but the tentacles annoy a lot of psion fans so there's a core of people hating it
• Clockwork Soul's signature ability is about no-selling and this annoys people.
• The rest are not core and thus have been played by far fewer people. Which means they will get fewer upvotes and fewer people looking to kick them out.

Which means that the two officially published subclasses that are thematic and don't have a base that really dislike them are Divine Soul and Shadow Soul (which are the top two). And maybe Dragon which I can't call remotely good but it's merely irritating.