D&D (2024) Sorcerer brainstorm

[mellored]

Overburn: if you are out of sorcerer points, you can take 5 damage to gain a point. You then gain exhaustion after you cast the spell.

Now your a con based casters-ish.

 

[Vael]

Rebalance and offer more metamagic options. Go deep here, make this the Sorcerer's shtick.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

I'd like sorcerers to have some of the most unique subclasses, which take up a lot more of its power budget.

Bloodlines should have next to nothing in common. There is no reason a person with the blood of a dragon, a person descended from celestials, and a person infected with the far realm should end up playing nearly identical.

Also unpopular opinion: I hate metamagic being the sorcerer thing. It's bland and uninspired.

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

The addition of a generic Arcane list helps at lot. But I want either origin spells, your origin to determine which spell list you draw from, or both. And I do NOT want sorcerers to be limited at all on spell school selection like bards are likely to be.

Aside from stuff based on the playtest rules? I want sorcerers to have an extra metamagic or two (I give them one at 7th level and another higher up) and sorcery points to be on short rest. This last part is VERY important if they are still expecting subclass features to use sorcery points to activate them.

When it comes time for subclasses I wouldn't mind a martial caster option akin to bladesinger or pact of the blade warlock, but that's a lesser priority.

 

[MoonSong]

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?

I don't get this logic. You don't want them to know "more spells" because that somehow makes the feel like wizards, but then you go on and propose a feature that makes them have any spell they want and that is somehow not wizard-like? What is in having more spells known wizard-like to you?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I wouldn't mind having them be pure sorcerer points, no slots.

I’d dig that, but not how D&D does spell points. If it costs 1 point to cast a level 1 spell, great.

I’d love to see Sorcerers get monster abilities, related to their origin, including spell attacks that are used with the attack action, and gain extra attack (spell attack only).

Also a huge expansion of what metamagic can do, and a mechanic to regain some points a couple times a day.

 

[MoonSong]

All I want is refinement into something that works. More spells known -enough to start with 4 and have two per spell level afterwards- a bit more utility in the spell list, some rebalancing on metamagic cost ,maybe have "you are your own focus". What I don't want is having yet another untested and poolry balanced mechanic come and steal all of the fun again. (And hell, I'll be gone so fast if they dare to make sorcerers prepare spells)

 

[Stalker0]

To me this is the bare minimum:

• Make sorc subclasses provide more spells known
• A sorc innately counts as a spellcasting focus for their own spells. A creature of innate magic should not need bat guano to cast fireball!

There's a lot I would consider changing with the sorc, but to me if you did the top 2 we are least making it not crappy...it wouldn't be great, but it wouldn't be bad like it can be now.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I don't get this logic. You don't want them to know "more spells" because that somehow makes the feel like wizards, but then you go on and propose a feature that makes them have any spell they want and that is somehow not wizard-like? What is in having more spells known wizard-like to you?

I suppose it’s a matter of execution, wizards have lots of spells known from a generously sized spell list and that gives them versatility, and proposing the sorcerer can cast any spell at the cost of hit die is also versatility but it’s manifesting in a very different fashion, it’s a wider reach of versatility but one that also comes with a cost-benefit analysis that the wizard doesn’t have, they still have their shorter spell list in the end.

Wizard with high and consistent but ultimately capped versatility VS Sorcerer with mostly low-mid versatility but limited amounts of extreme versatility

 

[tetrasodium]

I suppose it’s a matter of execution, wizards have lots of spells known from a generously sized spell list and that gives them versatility, and proposing the sorcerer can cast any spell at the cost of hit die is also versatility but it’s manifesting in a very different fashion, it’s a wider reach of versatility but one that also comes with a cost-benefit analysis that the wizard doesn’t have, they still have their shorter spell list in the end.

Wizard with high and consistent but ultimately capped versatility VS Sorcerer with mostly low-mid versatility but limited amounts of extreme versatility

I'm a couple of states away from my books for a couple more days of holiday. Both sorcerer and wizard have soells on their list not present on the other's but almost none of those are top shelf bread & butter ones. Sorcerer has access to all the top shelf ones making the size of a spell list of questionable value when comparing a spells known class to a class that prepares spells from a limited subset of its spell list consisting only of the spells in their spellbook.

Yes the wizard has more spells scribed than sorcerer spells known, but once again 5e favors sorcerer's limits with overused one at a time concentration & "deliberately overturned" spells deemed "iconic". You can go right down the list of top shelf spells (ie: fireball lightning bolt web slow eyebite & so on) & each time you see that the theoretical limitation carries little actual loss given that the known/prepared lists of each class tends to be largely static at the table where things differ greatly from the ehiteroom quantum spellbook vrs a 1e/2e style "gm chose my spells for me & they all suck" sorcerer scenario. If sorcerer was meaningfully hindered by the loss then the two would look very different at the table based on spell selection, that's not the case though.