D&D 5E Sorcerer Wild Magic Surge

[JohnnyNitro]

My group was doing a 2-3 week fill-in adventure which ended spectacularly with our Wild Mage casting Fireball in the hull of a ship at sea. As we slowly sank to the ocean floor, "faint, ethereal music played" (97-98). We all heard "Taps", crunched up our Character Sheets, and started rolling new PC's for CoS...Top 5 All-Time Favorite D&D story...


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[Saeviomagy]

I think wild mages have 2 problems

1. The fact that the class suggests that their wild surges should only happen when the DM chooses, which effectively denies them their main subclass benefit.

2. The fireball entry on the surge table, which can potentially TPK a low level party.

Both have obvious fixes. A wild surge should happen whenever possible (any time that tides of chaos is unavailable, 1/20th of the time otherwise). Fireball should probably be removed from the table, at least until 5th level.

 

[JohnnyNitro]

I'll agree that the Fireball could be a bit unfair, and as a DM I'd prob nerf it (a bit), but you play with Fire, yadda yadda yadda

 

[Stuntman]

The possible fireball effect is what turns me off the most. I don't find it fun to TPK a low level party. So far, I haven't seen one played in Adventurers League.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm playing one. It's fun. Even without constant Advantage (though I think it's more frequent than the 1/20 chance it would be by RAW).

For added fun, I'm playing it alongside a Dragon Sorcerer, so we're able to directly compare notes.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I'll agree that the Fireball could be a bit unfair, and as a DM I'd prob nerf it (a bit), but you play with Fire, yadda yadda yadda

It's only a 20' radius anyway. You should be in dispersed formation anyway just in case an enemy (e.g. Flameskull) hits you with a Fireball or a breath weapon (e.g. Magma Mephits).

I don't buy the idea that a Fireball = unavoidable TPK below level 5.

 

[Ancalagon]

I'm *baffled* as to why the surge roll is left to the GM's discretion instead of happening every time. I don't understand the logic behind that choice *at all*.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I'm *baffled* as to why the surge roll is left to the GM's discretion instead of happening every time. I don't understand the logic behind that choice *at all*.

I'm glad it doesn't happen every time. It would be a huge hassle for very little payoff, 5% of the time. In 2nd edition the wild surge was only an incidental feature of the wild magic roll, which 95% of the time was about adjusting your effective casting level--it was still a hassle but at least the roll wasn't useless 95% of the time.

My rule in 5E: wild surges happen every time after you use Tides of Chaos, and otherwise never. If a player wanted to roll the d20 every time I'd let them do that too, but I can't imagine why they would want to because again, if you want a wild surge you can just use Tides of Chaos beforehand.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm *baffled* as to why the surge roll is left to the GM's discretion instead of happening every time. I don't understand the logic behind that choice *at all*.

It's probably because they wanted to give the DM leeway to avoid having to roll if they didn't want to - the option to opt out of this "disruption." It also lets the DM choose dramatic moments for a surge - like, if you cast mage armor after resting, or comprehend languages when you're about to chat with the elf king, you won't risk accidentally blowing up the party. But maybe if you cast shield in a fight, you will.

The down side is that it's not clear how often a DM should call for a wild surge, so over-cautious DMs are just going to end up effectively banning the subclass by severely nerfing its signature ability.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The down side is that it's not clear how often a DM should call for a wild surge, so over-cautious DMs are just going to end up effectively banning the subclass by severely nerfing its signature ability.

IMO the most valuable ability of the wild mage is actually Bend Luck, not wild surges. It's like +4 to everyone's casting stat and +4 to most people's most critical saving throws and ability checks, as long as you use it only on the margins. I'd probably still take Wild Mage (+Warlock 2) over Dragon Mage (+Warlock 2) in most situations even if the DM never, ever called for wild surges (so that Tides of Chaos only worked once per long rest).