D&D 5E Mike Mearls Dungeons & Dragons 5e interview, 6/26/14

[variant]

This makes me very sad, so the only choices for a sorcerer are going to be overpowering monstrous flavour (with hopefully non intrusive mechanics) or negligible flavour with highly intrusive mechanics. What happened to simple flavour with simple mechanics? Why do I have to be forced to play an extra minigame just because I don't like wizards?

I watched the interview, I didn't hear where it was said that Draconic and Wild Magic were the only sorcerer subclasses.

 

[Nikosandros]

I half expect that WOTC might hand the magazines over to a 3rd party since they are limited in staff. And I would expect it to be Paizo again! WOTC is showing a willingness to work with outside professionals. This would be great if it happens. Print mags again and by Paizo... A guy can dream.

I doubt that Paizo would be interested in doing this. Every moth they race against the deadlines to deliver their monthly AP (and recently they have lagged behind, they should 'recover' next month). Given that PF is going very well and basically ties their resources, I'm not so sure that it would be a good idea for them..

 

[Kobold Stew]

I watched the interview, I didn't hear where it was said that Draconic and Wild Magic were the only sorcerer subclasses.

Check 16:00 -- that's what I gather he means, at least.

 

[Nikosandros]

I watched the interview, I didn't hear where it was said that Draconic and Wild Magic were the only sorcerer subclasses.

I got the impression that Mike said that those two were the two subclasses and not two of the subclasses.

 

[Kobold Stew]

I'm pretty sure that Mike corrected himself and stated that in the final version of the rules the Wild Mage has to roll a d20 each time he casts a spell and gets a surge with one chance in twenty.

Good catch -- I've edited the summary post to reflect this. Thanks.

 

[tuxgeo]

Key Points:

* multiple pantheons in the PHB
. . .
* (16:00) sorcery subclasses are Wild Magic and Draconic magic.
. . .

That's nearly the same way it happened in 4E, except the Sorcerer showed up in PHB2: Wild Magic and Dragon Magic were the two options provided.

Those of us who appreciated Cosmic Magic and Storm Magic largely had to wait until the publication of Arcane Power to get those -- though elemental-themed powers were available from the start.

 

[Echohawk]

I hope that ogre mage nursery rhyme does end up in the Monster Manual!

 

[MoonSong]

I'd hold your horses before you make any assumptions about how Sorcerer subclasses play out.

It is pretty clear that the wild surges will have to be checked each time you do something sorcery, that much I can assume, and from the table in the phb preview I get some effects can be dangerous or silly, a very specific kind of character. And of course it will be opt-in, but that doesn't mean much without options to fill the void. And yes, I don't know how the draconic sorcerer will be, but going for the track record of 4e and the playtest, the draconic bloodline is anything but subtle.

Didn't draconic Sorcerers were the baseline in 3.X, though? In flavor, if not in mechanics, at least. I remember the fluff citing many times how sorcerer's had draconic heritage.

Yes and no, It was spelled out at the beginning that some sorcerers claimed draconic heritage, and that it could be true but largely it wasn't possible to confirm and it was equally possible it was an empty boast to get prestige or a wicked rumour to malign sorcerers. Largely it was a matter of whether you wanted it to be true for your sorcerer or not, or you could just leave it unexplained and unexplored if it wasn't relevant to your character. The good thing it was largely a matter of how relevant you wanted it to be for your character, you weren't spontaneusly growing claws and scales every time you casted a spell, and if you wanted it to happen you could take feats to make it happen.

I imagine the days of the sorcerer and the wizard being almost the same except for spell casting mechanics is long gone.

I for one am really freaking excited about the prospect of playing a wild Mage.

Good for you, glad you can play your wild WIZARD homage, but it is bad for me it was at the cost of a versatile SORCERER.

 

[MoonSong]

That's nearly the same way it happened in 4E, except the Sorcerer showed up in PHB2: Wild Magic and Dragon Magic were the two options provided.

Those of us who appreciated Cosmic Magic and Storm Magic largely had to wait until the publication of Arcane Power to get those -- though elemental-themed powers were available from the start.

I tended to default to storm magic most of the time, as it was the subtlest one, and it was very easy to ignore and refluff. Not to mention straightforward and simple. But the best option was hybriding, you lost a lot with it, but that allowed you to have a blank slate and emulate all of the other sorcerers that were subtler.

 

[Mistwell]

Yay. I got into a thread b4 it spirals off into an argument b/w two posters regarding 1 tiny part of the video. I am sure there is something there

This makes me very sad, so the only choices for a sorcerer are going to be overpowering monstrous flavour (with hopefully non intrusive mechanics) or negligible flavour with highly intrusive mechanics. What happened to simple flavour with simple mechanics? Why do I have to be forced to play an extra minigame just because I don't like wizards?

Bam, and there you have it.

Someone should write a script that automatically includes the phrase "To properly appreciate the following post in the full panoply of tones and meaning, one should imagine this post spoken in the voice of Craig from Parks and Recreation" any time a post includes the phrase "forced to play".

For a sample of what I mean, see:

[video=youtube_share;KVW1Y5wk8tw]http://youtu.be/KVW1Y5wk8tw[/video]