D&D (2024) Sorcerer brainstorm
CreamCloud0
One day, I hope to actually play DnD.
-Metamagic is free on cantrips.
-Each sorcerous bloodline has its own unique wildshape-esc transformation.
-something akin to bard’s magical secrets to add a limited amount of wide versatility to their lists, considering sorcerers are meant to be fundamentally magical it’s ridiculous their spell list is so narrow.
-Each sorcerous bloodline has its own unique wildshape-esc transformation.
-something akin to bard’s magical secrets to add a limited amount of wide versatility to their lists, considering sorcerers are meant to be fundamentally magical it’s ridiculous their spell list is so narrow.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
What I want to see for the sorcerer?
Lots of small thematic spell lists that cover all levels. So there's an "Ice" one that has a bunch of ice-themed spells, and so on. Each of them also comes with a special ability (or maybe more as you level up).
Likely also need to have lots of variations on existing spells, such as you can learn Fireball, Thunderball, etc.
You don't have spells known, they have spell lists known. So you might pick three spell lists like Water, Blood and Storm, or Wind, Cloth, and Portals. You have all the spells on those lists. If there's a spell overlapping on multiple lists (perhaps even Fireball and Iceball from above) there is some bonus to make up for the reduction in choice.
Metamagic start at 0 SP to use, only the best of the costs more.
So you have a thematically limited list of spells, which will restrict you from picking "the best" spells always. It ends up being more separate effects around the same few themes. Within these themes you are the master in a way that wizards can't replicate because not only do you have a wide variety of spells but also you are adding metamagic to every single one of them because you have free options so why not.
Subclasses both come with additional spells specific to the subclass, and with some real features that change playstyles. Not like Wizards where it's a small adjustment to their spells, but something that makes a dragon sorcerer feel like a dragon, and play differently than a wild mage who plays differently than another. Connect these all strongly to bloodlines, so you don't get Storm sorcerers - that's based on spell list choices (which do give some special abilities so could be somewhat duplicated picking the right spell lists known).
Lots of small thematic spell lists that cover all levels. So there's an "Ice" one that has a bunch of ice-themed spells, and so on. Each of them also comes with a special ability (or maybe more as you level up).
Likely also need to have lots of variations on existing spells, such as you can learn Fireball, Thunderball, etc.
You don't have spells known, they have spell lists known. So you might pick three spell lists like Water, Blood and Storm, or Wind, Cloth, and Portals. You have all the spells on those lists. If there's a spell overlapping on multiple lists (perhaps even Fireball and Iceball from above) there is some bonus to make up for the reduction in choice.
Metamagic start at 0 SP to use, only the best of the costs more.
So you have a thematically limited list of spells, which will restrict you from picking "the best" spells always. It ends up being more separate effects around the same few themes. Within these themes you are the master in a way that wizards can't replicate because not only do you have a wide variety of spells but also you are adding metamagic to every single one of them because you have free options so why not.
Subclasses both come with additional spells specific to the subclass, and with some real features that change playstyles. Not like Wizards where it's a small adjustment to their spells, but something that makes a dragon sorcerer feel like a dragon, and play differently than a wild mage who plays differently than another. Connect these all strongly to bloodlines, so you don't get Storm sorcerers - that's based on spell list choices (which do give some special abilities so could be somewhat duplicated picking the right spell lists known).
Benjamin Olson
Hero
Unless the lore of being the "innate magical power" class is going to change I think they should know more spells, in order to support not changing those spells. Not only do I not want to see them become a prepared spell caster (as it seems all casters are at risk of these days), but I was always bothered by the 5e implementation basically requiring Sorcerers to switch out spells at level up. It's one thing to allow the "can change one spell at level up" to let people repair a poor character building choice, it's quite another to make it an integral part of how one is expected to play the character if they want to know more than a single spell of any level above 5th. It always undermined the theme of the class for me that inherited abilities could be swapped.
As a general matter of 5e design I also think it was just a bizarre choice to make memorized casters not only have less flexibility, but then also have less total spells prepared at any given time, and Sorcerers got the worst of this line of design. I think they should get the most spells, and be balanced by their lack of flexibility with them.
In 5e they are also the victim of one of the single worst design choices: a 1 point per level resource. It's a bad design for the Monk and a worse one for the Sorcerer, who became the most quadratic of all 5e classes. But I don't worry too much about this because I assume both will be switched for something somehow based on the proficiency bonus, since the current design team is madly, head-over-heels in love with the proficiency bonus (I'm pretty sure they spend their spare time writing sonnets about it).
As a general matter of 5e design I also think it was just a bizarre choice to make memorized casters not only have less flexibility, but then also have less total spells prepared at any given time, and Sorcerers got the worst of this line of design. I think they should get the most spells, and be balanced by their lack of flexibility with them.
In 5e they are also the victim of one of the single worst design choices: a 1 point per level resource. It's a bad design for the Monk and a worse one for the Sorcerer, who became the most quadratic of all 5e classes. But I don't worry too much about this because I assume both will be switched for something somehow based on the proficiency bonus, since the current design team is madly, head-over-heels in love with the proficiency bonus (I'm pretty sure they spend their spare time writing sonnets about it).
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Make them con based to represent the power coming from within their body rather than learning & lean towards (possibly fractional casters) gishy since most of the creatures they are supposed to be linked to are pretty beefy. Edit I wouldn't mind seeing them go back to 3.x style slot numbers either
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CreamCloud0
One day, I hope to actually play DnD.
Divine soul gets to pick spells from the cleric list right? That should be a core part of the sorcerer build, you have a limited spell selection but you get to select any second class’s spell list to pick extra spells from
Clint_L
Hero
The class that would just work better as a sub-class.
But that isn't going to happen. OneD&D is keeping the 5e chassis. So what to do with Sorcerers? Right now, they have to balance several limited resources: spell slots, known spells, and sorcery points. Current consensus is the (relatively few) cool extras that you get from sorcery points don't make up for the inherent limitations to spell choice. The obvious answer is to increase spell choice a bit more, but then they just feel more and more like wizards.
Maybe add a feature that lets them temporarily add an unknown spell from their spell list at the cost of health? To represent that, in desperation, they can push harder into their innate magical resources, draining themselves in the process, to pull out a clutch spell for a desperate situation?
But that isn't going to happen. OneD&D is keeping the 5e chassis. So what to do with Sorcerers? Right now, they have to balance several limited resources: spell slots, known spells, and sorcery points. Current consensus is the (relatively few) cool extras that you get from sorcery points don't make up for the inherent limitations to spell choice. The obvious answer is to increase spell choice a bit more, but then they just feel more and more like wizards.
Maybe add a feature that lets them temporarily add an unknown spell from their spell list at the cost of health? To represent that, in desperation, they can push harder into their innate magical resources, draining themselves in the process, to pull out a clutch spell for a desperate situation?
Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
Make them more unique:
1) Use only spells points
2) Add metamagic fueled by said spell points
3) Take the 100+ spells you (WotC) already designed for the dumped Mystic and change them to the spell format. DO NOT make those spells available to wizards!
profit.
1) Use only spells points
2) Add metamagic fueled by said spell points
3) Take the 100+ spells you (WotC) already designed for the dumped Mystic and change them to the spell format. DO NOT make those spells available to wizards!
profit.
