good sorcerer PrC's

[superkurt13]

Besides the Incantatrix can anyone recommend a few good PrC's for a sorcerer.

 

[szilard]

Besides the Incantatrix can anyone recommend a few good PrC's for a sorcerer.

Pretty much anything with full caster progression is going to be better than the base class...

-Stuart

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, there are dozens of good PrC for sorcerers out there.

Incantatrix is, of course, very good, because it plays right into the sorcerer's advantages (metamagic), another extremely good (as in powerful, which I suppose you are asking for) one is the Mage of the Arcane Order.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Jack Simth]

Second the Mage of the Arcane Order.

It costs you (compared to normal Sorcerer):
8 skill ranks (Knoweledge(Arcana); hardly useless - most my Sorcerers take that anyway)
Three feats, one of which is whatever Metamagic feat you like, one of which is useful in it's own right (Arcane Preparation - lets you take advantage of Quicken Spell with your greater number of spell slots), one of which is almost useless (Co-Operative Metamagic; without Leadership, chances are you'll never actually use the silly thing).
Familiar Progression
Initiation fee (750 gp)
Monthly dues (30 gp/month)
Appearence on campus at least every 6 months (which gives the DM an opportunity to give you a new quest, as that's on the list of guild requirements...)

Over the course of it's 10 levels, It gives you:
The Wizard's Skill list (or very nearly so - really useful if you plan on going the Planar Binding route)
Two Bonus feats ( at 2nd and 9th; pays back the entry requirements)
The ability to call up any PHB Sor/Wiz spell on one rounds notice (although limited to 1/2 your caster level in spell levels - still, it gives you the ability to call up "the perfect spell" about once a day on one round's notice - Priceless).
Other trifling nifties.

(I'm not listing full spellcaster progression, as a partial spellcasting progression would be listed under "costs" - I'm comparing to the base Sorcerer, remember).

If you can arrange for the three feats by 5th level, you can take the first level of the PrC for 6th. Whether that's through being a human or through taking a flaw, it's one of the few PrC's that a Sorcerer can take as early as a Wizard can.

Edit: Oh, and I'm using the 3.0 Tome and Blood to get the above information - may be different in 3.5).

Edit 2: Further, as the spellpool explicitly permits you to cast any PHB spell, any PrC that requires you to be able to cast particular spells, or certain schools of spells, or have "knoweledge of" some listing of spells, is suddenly much less costly for you to enter. Archmage comes to mind.....

 

[Thanee]

The MotAO doesn't help qualify for Archmage... you need to *know* the spells.

I think it's pretty much the same class compared to the T&B version. Spellpool has been clarified some, but I don't think much else has changed.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Jack Simth]

The MotAO doesn't help qualify for Archmage... you need to *know* the spells.

Well, here's the thing, with the exact wording:
"Spells: Ability to cast 7th-level arcane spells, knowledge of 5th-level or higher spells from at least five schools."
You don't have to "know" them, you have to have "knowledge of" them. If you keep your spellcraft up, you can (in character) recite what they do, what their limits are, and recognize them as a non-action while blindfolded (if you can hear the verbal components) or deafened (if you can see the Somatic components), asleep (if you pass the save), or just by encountering it's effects. And you can cast them. While you do not strictly "know" them, in what sense do you not have "knoweledge of" them?

But if you don't like Archmage, there's the Loremaster's "Spells: Able to cast seven different divination spells, one of which must be 3rd level or higher."

There's the Arcane Trickster's "Spells: Ability to cast mage hand and at least one arcane spell of 3rd level or higher."

Contrawise, does a Wizard really "know" the spells in his spellbook? Sure, if he's got his notes, he can prepare them (and thereafter, cast them), but if he doesn't have his near-phylactory with him, he can't prep them again (barring such things as Spell Mastry, of course). So, he can't cast the spell without first reading up and getting good and ready. How can you really say he knows those spells?

 

[TheEvil]

Adding a vote to Mage of the Arcane Order, though you don't seem to get any familiar advancement in the 3.5 version.

Second the Mage of the Arcane Order.

It costs you (compared to normal Sorcerer):
8 skill ranks (Knoweledge(Arcana); hardly useless - most my Sorcerers take that anyway)
Three feats, one of which is whatever Metamagic feat you like, one of which is useful in it's own right (Arcane Preparation - lets you take advantage of Quicken Spell with your greater number of spell slots), one of which is almost useless (Co-Operative Metamagic; without Leadership, chances are you'll never actually use the silly thing).
Familiar Progression
Initiation fee (750 gp)
Monthly dues (30 gp/month)
Appearence on campus at least every 6 months (which gives the DM an opportunity to give you a new quest, as that's on the list of guild requirements...)

Over the course of it's 10 levels, It gives you:
The Wizard's Skill list (or very nearly so - really useful if you plan on going the Planar Binding route)
Two Bonus feats ( at 2nd and 9th; pays back the entry requirements)
The ability to call up any PHB Sor/Wiz spell on one rounds notice (although limited to 1/2 your caster level in spell levels - still, it gives you the ability to call up "the perfect spell" about once a day on one round's notice - Priceless).
Other trifling nifties.

(I'm not listing full spellcaster progression, as a partial spellcasting progression would be listed under "costs" - I'm comparing to the base Sorcerer, remember).

If you can arrange for the three feats by 5th level, you can take the first level of the PrC for 6th. Whether that's through being a human or through taking a flaw, it's one of the few PrC's that a Sorcerer can take as early as a Wizard can.

Edit: Oh, and I'm using the 3.0 Tome and Blood to get the above information - may be different in 3.5).

Edit 2: Further, as the spellpool explicitly permits you to cast any PHB spell, any PrC that requires you to be able to cast particular spells, or certain schools of spells, or have "knoweledge of" some listing of spells, is suddenly much less costly for you to enter. Archmage comes to mind.....

 

[Jack Simth]

Adding a vote to Mage of the Arcane Order, though you don't seem to get any familiar advancement in the 3.5 version.

Doesn't in 3.0, either (other than the aspects independant of level - half master's HP, masters base saves, et cetera, regardless of what class they're from). Hence listing familiar advancement under costs.

Tangent: Ah, a fellow Sluggy fan.

 

[Hammerhead]

Fatespinner.

 

[Pinotage]

It's not a full caster progression, but the Dragonheart Mage from Races of the Dragon is good, even if it's only because you get Draconic Breath and similar feats.

Pinotage