D&D (2024) I'm getting increasingly worried about the fate of sorcerer

[MoonSong]

On the bright side, the only 5e shortcoming of being a Sorcerer used to be having the smallest number of known spells of every full caster, and now they will know A LOT. Except that, if they go with the currently rumored "four schools of magic only", the Wizard will of course know twice as many.

That's not a bright side. That is a cop out. Part of the essence, the feel of the sorcerer is the stability of character identity given by a fixed set of spells known. Sorcerer magic is not an active choice, and overall not an ongoing choice. Having to prepare spells is an active ongoing choice, and opting out of it is a betrayal of the party because then you are not contributing fully to the party and the party suffers because of it. The possibility of full access to wizard spells is tempting, but I also expect them to suddenly curtail it for no reason. Like dragon sorcerers only get evocation, divine souls only get abjuration and so on. The more mechanics sorcerers and wizards have in common, the more the sorcerer will suffer.

 

[Li Shenron]

That's not a bright side. That is a cop out. Part of the essence, the feel of the sorcerer is the stability of character identity given by a fixed set of spells known.

Yes I was being ironic. As I just wrote elsewhere, I actually always wished that even Clerics and Druid had a limited/chosen known spell list. In addition to strengthening character identity, it also makes strategic thinking more important when levelling up.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Known Spells are merely Prepared Spells that you just never change.

So if by some chance they decide to try out Sorcerers as Prepared casters in the Mage packet... just make your initial spell choices as your new slots arrive and never swap them out in the morning. Your results become the same as Known Spells except you end up with more of them over your career.

 

[Maxperson]

The newest UA doesn't feature sorcerers, however, it is full of content that makes me worried about the sorcerer. I started more confident, after all the arcane class spell list had all of these spells that used to be missing, so progress, right? Going from Bard, it seems that sorcerers will have to care about schools instead of a theme, more like one step forward, two steps backward.

I don't think this is as big of an issue as you think. Yes the 2014 bard class doesn't say it is limited to 4 schools, but the bard list of spells you pick from consists primarily of those 4 schools. There some exceptions, but the vast majority are enchantment, divination, transmutation and illusion. And healing spells are giving to you via Songs of Restoration.

I really doubt sorcerers will see the same school limitation.

And the most worrying, from reading the spellcasting description, it seems that all classes will prepare spells?

This is a power increase for sorcerers if they get the same ability as bards to just prepare any spell of any level that they can cast each day. They will no longer be limited to just a few spells to pick from.

Personally I hate that change to the bards and will never allow it to be used in my game, but there it is.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I don´t see any scenario where they scrap a class. Full stop.

 

[Mephista]

They'll likely print the sorcerer, but I am honestly afraid that they'll still end up as the "wizards stole my metamagic, Venn Diagram of Patrons and Origins is a circle" class.

If that does happen, I'm just dropping Sorcerer and making Artificer into the third Mage class for my game. Metamagics can be Mage feats, and druid can steal dragon soul, bards wild magic and warlocks already have abomination magic.

 

[Yaarel]

Regarding a non-Wizard identity of the Sorcerer.

What if the Sorcerer serves as the missing Swordmage: a fullcaster with melee-range combat spells, who focuses on melee combat and is a Warrior?

 

[Gorck]

Regarding a non-Wizard identity of the Sorcerer.

What if the Sorcerer serves as the missing Swordmage: a fullcaster with melee-range combat spells, who focuses on melee combat and is a Warrior?

That would certainly line up well with my desire to have Sorcerers be CON-based instead of CHA-based. After all, their magic comes innately from within, and being CON-based would improve their HP to survive in melee combat (especially if they only get Light Armor in this fictional redesign)

 

[MoonSong]

Regarding a non-Wizard identity of the Sorcerer.

What if the Sorcerer serves as the missing Swordmage: a fullcaster with melee-range combat spells, who focuses on melee combat and is a Warrior?

If that happened, how would we get the concepts that only sorcerer currently can?

 

[DEFCON 1]

At that point, re-fluffing... the same way other folks currently have to do to get those class concepts the 5E game doesn't support, like the Psion, Warlord, Swordmage, Shaman, Oracle, Warden, and so forth.

Not the answer anyone really wants... but quite possibly could end up being the only answer that possibly works if things don't go as planned and changes happen.