Sorcerer's got the Shaft! (reprise)

[Crothian]

As a house rule when a new book come out with spells for a sorcerer, I'd allow the sorcerer to look through them and if one fit his character better, I'd let him trade it out. I should point out that it never happened. He was always happiest with his selection for m the PHB.

 

[apsuman]

I like the suggestion of getting a choice of those four selections, but why Arcane Preperation?

The ability to metamagic a spell without the full round casting time. Most useful for quicken, but sometimes you want that 30' of movement still. A silent Summon Monster III, for example

As for character background think of it as the guy that really really tried to "LEARN" magic the old fashioned way, but just couldn't do it -- however he still remembers how to prepare the spells.


Ideally I would like to see a sorcerer get to know a one more spell of levels 1, 2, 3, and 4.

 

[Darkness]

I would probably have rather put it in general but it seemed very D&D specific, but it is entirely possible (even probable that I erred) if a moderator sees fit to move it I would have no problem with that.

Being D&D-specific doesn't mean that a topic shouldn't be in GD, actually. Still, you are debating whether or not the sorcerer, rules-wise, is strong enough. So this thread is fine where it is AFAIC.

 

[Starfox]

the ability to cast level x spells one character level lower than they know level x spells. I.e., they can cast 2 third level spells at character level 5 but they don't know any until character level 6.

I don't see how that's useful; if they don't know the spells, how can they cast them?

It also lets you create magic items with a lower caster level.

 

[milo]

My DM changed some rules on the sorcerer to balance them out. He has me roll randomly for my spells. I have a level 8 sorcerer. The spells that I use are magic missile, identify, change self, mage armor, bull's strength, cat's grace, endurance, haste, flame arrow, hold person, and polymorph other. I don't have a problem with sorcerers I think they are fine as is and don't need to be balanced. I pump the entire party with ability increasing spells. If we go against a fighter I use hold person and against a mage I use polymorph other (a mage can't cast spells if he is a squirrel). If the first doesn't succeed it doesn't matter because I have another 3 or 4 of them to cast.

 

[EOL]

It also lets you create magic items with a lower caster level.

Yeah, but the sorcerer who's spending feats on item creation should kill off his character in some suitably heroic fashion and restart as a wizard.

 

[Comert]

Wizards are definitely stronger. They get extra feats, extra class skills, better spells at lower levels and scribe scroll feat for free. They can carry around tons of scrolls. If a wizard creates a wand of lightning bolt, he does need to memorize lightning bolt for a long time. However our little sorcerer is stuck with his lightning bolt. The class definitely needs some adjusting. As for battles with sorc. vs wizard, the wizard is almost always the guaranteed winner with his versatality, especially if he has time to prepare.

 

[Malin Genie]

There are a *lot* of house rules (on the House Rules forum here, for example) for giving sorcerors more flavour (and/or colour..)

IMHO the 'problem' with sorcerors isn't that they're not powerful enough, it's that they're not interesting enough.

 

[Doc_Subtlety]

The trouble is:

At low level, sorcerers rule. If I'm only ever taking one level of an arcane class, it *will* be the Sorcerer. (Been contemplating that, lately.)

At mid levels, they're pretty balanced. Doesn't cost the Sorcerer much to keep up, buying items to cover their weak spots.

At high levels, Sorcerers are Genuinely Screwed. They get 3 9th level spells. Ever. It costs a mint for them to keep up with the Wizard, in terms of flexibility.

IMC, we're just cooking up interesting prestige classes, and making the assumption that no pure Sorcerers exist, after a certain point...

 

[Caliban]

There are a *lot* of house rules (on the House Rules forum here, for example) for giving sorcerors more flavour (and/or colour..)

IMHO the 'problem' with sorcerors isn't that they're not powerful enough, it's that they're not interesting enough.

I agree with this.

In my home campaign I have added two house rules specifically for the sorcerer:

1) At first level they gain the Eschew Materials feat, and they gain a bonus Metamagic feat at every 5th level.

2) A sorcerer can take spell with a Metamagic feat as a "Known" spell. This spell can only be cast in Metamagic form, but has a normal casting time. You must have the Metamagic feat already. (Example: If you have the Quicken feat, you could take Quickened Magic Missile as one of your 5th level "Known" spells.)