D&D 5E Potential House Rule for More Wild Magic

[el-remmen]

I like the idea of wild magic and there is a sorcerer player in one of my current groups who has that as the source of her magic. However, not once since we've been playing has there been a wild magic surge and we are both disappointed!

I am looking for a way to up the chance of a wild surge without making it too onerous.

I am considering changing the roll to having to roll a natural '1' to a range equal to half the spell's level rounded down. Thus, once you start casting 4th level spells those have a surge on a 1 or 2, 6th level spells on a 1, 2 or 3, all the way up to a 4 in 20 chance for 8th and 9th level spells (not that we'd ever get there - my games usually end around 10th).

Some part of me still feels like that is not a big enough chance, but at least it is an increasing chance and ties it to the power level of the spell being cast.

Whaddya think? Problems? Pitfalls? Other suggestions?

 

[DND_Reborn]

I did this quickly, but I don' think anything is wrong. Someone else can check it LOL.

Below is the overall probability of a surge during the casting of every spell slot available. It does not take into account gaining slots from sorcery points or vice versa.

As you can see, you are increasing the chance of a surge for higher level spells, and since you gain more spells as you level, you are at about a 50/50 chance of surging once per long rest if you routinely cast all your spells.

So, if that's what you want... there you go.

 

[el-remmen]

Yes. That is exactly what I want!

 

[DND_Reborn]

Yes. That is exactly what I want!

Cool. Glad it helps. I should note that is really the probability of at least 1 surge, you could get more.

 

[ninjayeti]

I like the idea of wild magic and there is a sorcerer player in one of my current groups who has that as the source of her magic. However, not once since we've been playing has there been a wild magic surge and we are both disappointed!

I am looking for a way to up the chance of a wild surge without making it too onerous.

Is the sorcerer using their Tides of Chaos feature? Because once they use that the DM can decide that any spell triggers a wild magic surge, which recharges the ability. Seems like you may be overlooking this if you are complaining about the lack of surges.

 

[el-remmen]

Is the sorcerer using their Tides of Chaos feature? Because once they use that the DM can decide that any spell triggers a wild magic surge, which recharges the ability. Seems like you may be overlooking this if you are complaining about the lack of surges.

Is it possible that I have misread this rule? I just thought it meant you roll for it, which come to think of it, doesn't make sense because I can make her roll for it when she casts any spell of 1st level or higher.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Is it possible that I have misread this rule? I just thought it meant you roll for it, which come to think of it, doesn't make sense because I can make her roll for it when she casts any spell of 1st level or higher.

If you want to regain Tides of Chaos before finishing a long rest, you automatically surge on the spell cast to regain the feature, and thus just automatically roll on the table.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Is it possible that I have misread this rule? I just thought it meant you roll for it, which come to think of it, doesn't make sense because I can make her roll for it when she casts any spell of 1st level or higher.

Yeah, I think you interpolated the normal "DM can have you roll a d20 to determine if you get a surge rule" into the Tides of Chaos rule, where the DM directs the player straight to rolling on the Wild Magic table whenever the DM decides.

But any rule for a less "DM decides when it happens" approach is much appreciatied.

 

[pukunui]

This is my house rule for wild magic sorcerers: "When you cast a sorcerer spell, you trigger a surge if the result of your d20 roll is equal to or less than the spell slot level you used to cast the spell."

So, in other words, if you cast a spell using a 9th level spell slot, you'll trigger a surge on a roll of 1-9 on the d20.

The idea being that the more powerful the magic, the harder it is to control.


Sadly, I haven't had anyone play a wild magic sorcerer in a very long time.

 

[toucanbuzz]

I am looking for a way to up the chance of a wild surge without making it too onerous.

We house-rule the chance goes up by 1 every time a spell is cast, reset on a long rest or a surge. Thus, after 1 spell, the next chance of a surge is 1-2 on d20, then 1-3 on d20, and so on. The power of the spell is irrelevant (consistent with prior editions), but enough casting and a surge will happen. This is less likely for 1st level characters who have few spells per day, but more likely for higher level characters.