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Good Sorceror Spell lists?


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can't point to any threads but I can list some

Good: Magic Missile, Shield, Ghostform (Tome and Blood), Dimension Door, Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt, Gedlee's Electric Loop (Magic of Faerun), Summon Monster IV - IX, Improved Invisibility, Glitterdust, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Mirror Image, Major Image, Haste (3.0)

Bad: Sleep, Summon Monster I-III, Rope Trick, Levitate, Sepia Snake Sigil, Stone Skin (unless you are very very wealthy), Identify, any spell with a Hit Die limit, Haste (3.5)

Just my opinion though...
 


I can't think of any threads on this topic, but the alt.sorcerer in Monte Cook's Book of Eldritch Might II comes with a revised spell list. It's pretty blast-oriented, but other than that I think it incorporates all of the right changes (lots of utility spells, few "cast occasionally, if ever" spells, things like shield and invisibility bumped up in level, etc.).

(Edit: clarification.)
 
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I'm currently playing a sorcerer which is themed along a "fire and charm" sort of platform, and I'm taking pains to try and avoid most of the "must have, no brainer" spells... just to prove it can be done! Thus I've not got mage armour, shield, magic missile, invisibility, alter self, fly or haste.

What I've got so far (at 6th level) is:

Burning Hands
Endure Elements
Charm Person
Protection from Evil

Pyrotechnics (highly underrated spell IMO)
Combustion (Forgotten Realms)

Fireball (only just got this, not used it yet)

Feats include still spell, silent spell and enlarge spell. I'm looking forward to being able to cast the occasional still, silent charm person when in town :)

So far it is proving great fun. There has been one situation where I would have been more effective if I'd got magic missile - the lack of that spell is hurting a bit - but generally you DON'T have to have a fully-optimised, same-as-all-the-other-sorcerer spell lists in order to have fun and be an effective member of the party.

Cheers
 

FluidDragon said:
Could anyone point me to some good threads on sorceror spill lists. What spells suck for them and what ones are golden?

Thanks

I'm currently playing a 10th level Sorcerer/10th level Alienist(T&B) Here are my spells:

1st
Magic Missile
* Essential, even at high levels.
Shield
* Will soon be errated in 3.5, but +7 cover bonus that stacks with everything is awesome. At higher levels will last through multiple combats.
Identify
* I was the only arcane spellcaster in my group, someone had to take it.
Charm Person
* At low levels, I thought I would do an Enchanter schtick. Hardly ever use it.
Sleep
* Low level use only, haven't used it past 6th level or so.

2nd
See Invisibility
* Superior to Glitterdust, IMO. Range is better and you don't have to guess where your invisible foes are.
Endurance
* When empowered, gives you great hp bonuses.
Cat's Grace
* I took this buff spell b/c it wasn't on the Cleric list.
Rope Trick
* Absolutely essential IMC. Allows the party to rest with impunity even in an area swarming with enemies.
Invisibility
* Great till about 12-13th level, then Improved Invis has a long enough duration to make Invisibility useless.

3rd
Fireball
* With Sculpt, Empower, and Energy Substitution metamagic feats, this little diddy becomes very versatile.
Haste
* Duh!
Fly
* The ability to fly makes your life sooo much easier. Great to cast on the front-line tanks as well.
Protection from Elements
* The hp cap is so high and scales well so it is almost as good as Energy Immunity in most cases.
Non-Detection
* The DC for this baby is 15+caster level if cast upon yourself. When coupled with Invisibility, it makes you nearly undetectable by magical means.

4th
Enervation
* Looks good on paper but works better for NPCs than PCs. Great for clearing out high-level spells memorized by Clerics and Wizards.
Improved Invisibility
* A life-saver. Guarantees that rogues can sneak attack at will and if your opponents don't have magic or blindsight they are screwed.
Dimension Door
* Good for getting out of tight spots. I never picked up Teleport or Teleport w/o Error because I could always emulate these with Monster Summoning.

5th
Wall of Force
* Incredibly versatile spell. At high levels I use it to protect myself or my comrades while powering up. Very few foes will have a Disintegrate spell handy to bring it down.
Dominate Person
* Looked good on paper, but so-so in practice. Good for role-playing.
Hold Monster
* Haven't used this baby in a while because high-level opponents can still use SLAs.

6th
Summon Monster VI
* Dire Bears are melee beasts and Eryines are superb for teleporting the party around once they get into a Bag of Holding.
Project Image
* Let's you get up close to melee beasts to deliver touch attacks and cast spells with impunity. Also, it will fool dumb opponents.
Anti-Magic Field
* If you have good Fighter support, this spell is the coup-de-grace for enemy spellcasters.

7th
Limited Wish
* I usually blow 600-900 XP per day with this spell. Sooo versatile and infinitely cheaper than wish.
Reality Maelstrom (from MotP)
* Sends foes to random planes and has a massive area to boot. If you Sculpt it, it becomes even more useful.
Reverse Gravity
* Looked good when I read it, but most opponents at high levels can fly or levitate.

8th
Otto's Irresistable Dance
* Against living opponents, it is a death sentence. I have taken down CR 20+ foes with the help of this enchantment.
Bigby's Clenched Fist
* I concentrate on evocation so the Fort DC on this is 30. Guarateed to hit and takes a lot of damage to destroy.
Summon Monster VIII
* Can you say pseduonatural greater Ooze elemental?
Maze
* Can take out all opponents, regardless of SR or magic immunity. Useless against single opponents but great for divide and conquer tactics.

9th
Shapechange
* Incredibly versatile. Want to be immune to spells? Iron golem. Can't see in the dark? Shadow Dragon. Need to beat down melee opponents? Storm Giant. Need a super high AC? Solar. The possibilities are endless.
Gate
* Supremely versatile. Can transport between planes with pinpoint accuracy and can summon virtually anything.
Mordenkainen's Disjunction
* The mage killer. All spells go down, no save, no SR, merry christmas!

Feats:
1. Spell Focus (Enchantment)
* I thought I would specialize here, but I changed my mind later.
2. Spell Focus (Evocation)
3. Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
* This school turned out to be far more useful.
4. Empower Spell
* Used for both buff and damage spells -- invaluable.
5. Sculpt Spell
* Area too big? Make it into 4 10 ft cubes, or a cylinder, or a cone . . .
6. Energy Substitution (Sonic)
* Virtually nothing has sonic resistance, 'nuff zed.
7. Extra Spell (Maze)
* I think this was well worth it.
8. Leadership
* For role-playing reasons, YMMV
9. Alertness
* For PrC requirements
 

gfunk makes an important point about flexibility. For my sorceror I chose to forgo fly and get ghostform (T&B) later since it allows flight.

Monster summoning can be very useful but remember that you need to be able to speak with the creature summoned. If you go this route, have a smart sorceror so they can speak a lot of languages or take tounges as one of your spells.

Limited wish is so very useful for sorcerors since it allows you to duplicate any lower level spell of 5th level of lower - 6th level or lower if we're talking wiz/sor spells. This means you can cast raise dead (with an xp cost), healing circle, and cure critical wounds if the party cleric is out of comission of otherwise occupied. You can emulate StoneSkin without using the expensive material componet cost. You can puruse T&B, MoF and other supplements that your DM allows for unusual spells that the bad guys might not see coming.

I browsed through the PHB quickly and here's a list of spells that might be cool to emulate but not cool to take as sorceror spells or from a different class:

Holy Sword (Pal4)
Control Weather (Wiz/Sor 6)
Mislead (Wiz/Sor 6)
Modify Memory (Bard 4)
Break Enchantment (Cleric 5)
Quench (Druid 4)
Commune with nature (Druid 5)
Tree Stride (Druid 5)
 

I'm surprised noone has listed shadow evocation, for a sorcerers spell list, having all 4th level evocation spells is quite nice.
Limited wish is also a must have, though it is xp expensive, your sorcerers will be much more versatile.
 

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