Actually, the OP mentioned that the sorc player is a new player so you might want to give him some advice on spell selection and/or be a bit more lenient in letting him switch his spells. A newbie who don't know much about the spell list can make mistakes and pick a bunch of spells that just isn't versatile enough for a a sorc.
First Time DM'ing 3.5 Sorcerer... Should I Be Worried?
- Thread starter Ogrork the Mighty
- Start date
Holy Bovine
First Post
This would be about the only thing I would be concerned about. Also I would (and do) allow Sorcerers to switch out one spell at every experience level (rather than RAW). I also considered boosting them to d6 HP but felt it made them a little too good vs the wizard. Spell selection is king with the Sorcerer however so even a tiny boost there helps the class compete with everyone else. IMO the Sorcerer is the weakest class second only to the Monk, ymmv.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I've played 3 sorcerers.
Sorcerers have the worst 2nd level ever (1d4 hp and an extra cantrip? Wow!)
They start to get interesting at 6th level.
They come into their stride from about 8th level onwards (mostly because of the range of useful 1st and 2nd level spells they can produce).
The two biggest bits of advice I'd give for the sorcerer player are
1) as many metamagic feats as you can, because they give you lots of variety. Empower is very useful for combat. Silent is very useful for tactical players.
2) the 2nd level spell False Life is an excellent sorcerer spell, especially once you've reached 8th level+. Think of it as your 'pre-healing'
As a DM, I'd encourage you to help out the poor sorcerer by allowing the PHB2 variant where they don't get a familiar but instead have no time penalty for adding metamagic to spells (thus opening up quicken to them, plus still spells for when grappled and so forth). This will help them to keep up with wizards a bit better at high levels.
Cheers
Sorcerers have the worst 2nd level ever (1d4 hp and an extra cantrip? Wow!)
They start to get interesting at 6th level.
They come into their stride from about 8th level onwards (mostly because of the range of useful 1st and 2nd level spells they can produce).
The two biggest bits of advice I'd give for the sorcerer player are
1) as many metamagic feats as you can, because they give you lots of variety. Empower is very useful for combat. Silent is very useful for tactical players.
2) the 2nd level spell False Life is an excellent sorcerer spell, especially once you've reached 8th level+. Think of it as your 'pre-healing'
As a DM, I'd encourage you to help out the poor sorcerer by allowing the PHB2 variant where they don't get a familiar but instead have no time penalty for adding metamagic to spells (thus opening up quicken to them, plus still spells for when grappled and so forth). This will help them to keep up with wizards a bit better at high levels.
Cheers
Vael
Legend
I still wish the campaign hadn't ended so soon, but I loved my Changeling Sorcerer from Eberron. He loved using his grease spell, between him and a dwarven whip-wielding trip fighter, enemies spent a lot of time on the ground. We often thought we should be playing Benny Hill during combat encounters.
I definitely recommend flexible spells like Grease. Sleep is good if you're in a defensible position.
I echo the metamagic recommendations. Add "Heighten Spell" at around mid-levels, it extends the life of your lower level saving throw spells.
I definitely recommend flexible spells like Grease. Sleep is good if you're in a defensible position.
I echo the metamagic recommendations. Add "Heighten Spell" at around mid-levels, it extends the life of your lower level saving throw spells.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
The change from 3.0 to 3.5e badly nerfed many Sorcerer stand-by spells (e.g. emotion, eyebite, symbol - single spells with multiple uses).
One that escaped the purge was Pyrotechnics, and for my favourite sorcerer was her main spell at low level. The ability to choose to target Fort or Will was excellent, and the blinding effect of the fireworks (vs will) was over a HUGE area. Took out an entire mounted barbarian charge with that one spell once!
happy times!
One that escaped the purge was Pyrotechnics, and for my favourite sorcerer was her main spell at low level. The ability to choose to target Fort or Will was excellent, and the blinding effect of the fireworks (vs will) was over a HUGE area. Took out an entire mounted barbarian charge with that one spell once!
happy times!
Huh?
It's still a ful 9-level spellcasting class. While it is low man on the totem pole of the other full level spellcasters, it STILL is better than the vast majority of 20th level classes.
Certainly more powerful than even the spontaneous themed casters and only exceeded by the archivist and the artificer IMO.
