Do you Houserule Sorcerers?

[Kai Lord]

It seems a lot of people give Sorcerers the following:

1. Eschew Materials feat for free
2. Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive as Class skills
3. 4 skill points per level

I'm not too sure about #3, but the first two definitely make sense, IMO. I'm just curious as to how people play them. Do you modify them or play them as is? Are unmodded Sorcerers mechanically balanced?

 

[Crothian]

The first game I DMed the Sorcerer was just fine. At about 12th level I gave him ma few bonus spells (all 1st and 0th) but that was because Relics and Rituals had come out and many of those spells fit his character.

 

[Caliber]

I haven't house ruled anything, but I have considered making one change at least.

In my next campaign, I am considering having Sorcerors gain the Eschew Materials feat for free. In addition, they don't even have to use components for spells with expensive components. Instead they pay XP for the component, as if it was a magical item.

The idea originally came from Monte's Alt. Ranger in the BoEMII.

 

[The Souljourner]

I don't know what "a lot of people" do, Kai. My group certainly doesn't think Sorcerers need any help in the balance department. I guess we use a couple house rules - one, that sorcerers can use quicken spell effectively, and second, all spellcasters don't need to keep track of minor spell components. If it doesn't state a cost in the PHB, and it's not something truly unusual (like the eyelash of an ogre mage) then we just assume the caster has whatever he needs. Of course things that cost money have to be kept track of. Thus, for convenience's sake, we kind of give them eschew materials, but if they ever have their equipment taken away, they aren't going to be able to cast spells with material components.

-The Souljourner

 

[mikebr99]

In my next campaign, I am considering having Sorcerors gain the Eschew Materials feat for free. In addition, they don't even have to use components for spells with expensive components. Instead they pay XP for the component, as if it was a magical item.

The idea originally came from Monte's Alt. Ranger in the BoEMII.

I think you meant Monte's Alt. Sorcerer in BoEMII Caliber.

 

[mkletch]

One thing we are going to play around with in an upcoming campaign is to limit Sorcerers to a single school fo magic (of their choice) plus Divination. They then get Spell Foc in that school at 2nd, Arcane Defense at 4th, Heighten Spell at 7th and Greater Spell Foc at 11th. Lastly, to make up for the reduced spell list, we gave them 'normal' metamagic use (that's why Heighten is not a lame 'bonus' feat).

Think of them as a super specialist.

Edit: Oh, and becasue we want a low-magic campaign, all spellcasters will be forced to multiclass with a non-spellcasting class. A custom feat that can be taken at or after 9th level eliminates that requirement. But that has little to do with the actual Sorc mod.

-Fletch!

 

[Oni]

One thing we are going to play around with in an upcoming campaign is to limit Sorcerers to a single school fo magic (of their choice) plus Divination. They then get Spell Foc in that school at 2nd, Arcane Defense at 4th, Heighten Spell at 7th and Greater Spell Foc at 11th. Lastly, to make up for the reduced spell list, we gave them 'normal' metamagic use (that's why Heighten is not a lame 'bonus' feat).

Think of them as a super specialist.

Edit: Oh, and becasue we want a low-magic campaign, all spellcasters will be forced to multiclass with a non-spellcasting class. A custom feat that can be taken at or after 9th level eliminates that requirement. But that has little to do with the actual Sorc mod.

-Fletch!

Assuming you are going to continue to have clerics, and wizards and whatnot relatively unchanged except for the multiclassing requirement, something you might consider with how focused you are making the sorcerer, is rearranging their spells known and spells per day chart so that they get higher level spell slightly faster than other casters, rather than slightly slower. (As I don't know the details of what your doing this may be totally off base, but it was the first thing I thought when I saw the changes you were making and thought I would throw it out there. )

 

[Redevil621]

The alternate Sorc that Montecook did was a much better and more interesting character to play than the original, he has his very own spell list and has been barred from almost all forms of spells that do not deal damage or help in a physical way.

My players and i have grown to like this varient so much, we have basically barred the sorc, who in our oppinion is just a cheasy rip off of the wizard. We were having trouble with players who just wanted the easy 1 level in sorc for identify, mage armor, shield, and/or magic missle... this new class takes good care of it!

 

[Deadguy]

Monte Cook recognised in his Alt.Sorcerer that giving identical spell lists to Sorcerers and Wizards can cause problems. A spell can be more valuable to a spontaneous caster, and thus more useful, than to a caster who must prepare spells in advance.

Take, for example, the infamous shield spell. It's a mainstay of young spellcasters, and it remains useful throughout their lives. However, as a spell it is more valuable to the Sorcerer than to the Wizard. The Wizard has only so many spells available to him that he can prepare daily, and he must decide in advance how many slots it is worth devoting to shield spells, how many to other defensive, offensive and utility magics. The likelihood is that the Wizard may prepare shield once, maybe twice. It's easy to use them up, and be bereft of that protection when you need it. On the other hand, the Sorcerer who knows shield can decide at any time that the spell is the best use for a given spell slot and cast it. He can obtain a powerful defensive spell at will, potentially as many times each day as he has spell slots available. So shield is more valuable to the Sorcerer - he can get more mileage out of this spell than can the Wizard. Monte recognised this by making shield a second level spell for his Sorcerers. He did similar things with the polymorph and haste spells, and with the same reasoning.

The other big flavour change for Monte's Sorcerer is the variant Eschew Material Components feat. They don't use material components, and if they would be expensive components they pay Experience Points instead. This does a good job of modelling someone who is an innate wielder of magic, and not simply a variant form of the Wizard.

Other changes seem to reflect Monte's design philosophy: more skill points, more hitpoints, a wider skill list, and better armour/weapon choices. Some of these arise from the reasoning behind the character (he doesn't study so he has more time to spnd being physical and studying the outside world). The changes to which spell are on the Sorcerer spell list is also a reflection of an idea of a Sorcerer - someone who is physical and immediate, not studious and meticulous.

All told, I far prefer the Monte Cook Sorcerer. It has the advantage of a real coherent design strategy making it easier to model a character on the framework. I have adopted it for my Shattered World campaign, and it's working out just fine.

I'll leave to others whether it disadvantages Wizards.

 

[hammymchamham]

Do you Houserule Sorcerers?

No.