starting sorceror

[Elder-Basilisk]

I'd take Shield and True Strike, Expeditious Retreat, or Charm Person.

I'd save magic missile until third level although it wouldn't be a bad choice as your second spell.

With Shield, you can be almost as good a fighter as the fighter. Take a crossbow or shortspear and you're ready to go--your hit points are lower but your AC is probably significantly higher--especially if you're willing to wear leather armor and suck up the spell failure.

True Strike will let you hit when it's absolutely necessary (And True Strike +Light Crossbow deals almost as much damage per round as magic missiles--particularly if you have point blank shot--at half the cost is spell slots).

Expeditious Retreat would let you move around the battlefield to chase down stragglers and get (and provide) flanking bonusses.

Charm Person would be good if the campaign isn't a "kill them all and use speak with dead" style game.

 

[phillipjp]

Color Spray is still useful at high levels. Yes, it only stuns high HD creatures for one round, but remember that stunning also causes them to drop what's in their hands. It becomes an area effect Daze and disarm. Plus, you can always Heighten it to make sure it hits.

The Mage Armor vs. Shield argument is eternal, but remember the +3 reflex save from shield has been eratta'd out. For each spell you get either +4 AC that lasts all day or +7 AC that you have to cast at the beginning of each combat. If you don't mind spending the first round casting Shield, then that's the spell for you. If you want to use the first round to blast something, go with Mage Armor.

 

[Darklone]

Hey, forget minimaxing and go with style.

Friend of mine built a fullscore fire sorcerer (partially inspired by OA) and took some houseruled (yeah I know) feats later that allowed him to pierce elemental resistances(fire).

Had lots more style than those Energy substituting "I can cast everything" sorcerers.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Hey, forget minimaxing and go with style.

It's pretty clear that the poster was asking for strategic advice. So, feel free to forget about minimaxing if you don't care how powerful you end up, but you won't be addressing the question at hand.

 

[Rel]

You might want to consider just how you will fit in with the rest of the characters in the party when picking your spells. Consider the following:

If there is a monk in the party, Mage Armor will make you his best friend. If there is also another Arcane caster (like a Wizard) you can cast Mage Armor on him in advance, saving him a spell slot to use for something else. I'll bet if you consistently do that, he'll be more than happy to scribe a few extra scrolls of Sleep or Color Spray to let you have.

If there are one or more rogues in the group, consider making a "super defense" character. Take Mage Armor AND Shield. At low levels, you'll be virtually invulnerable. Then team up with the Rogue and help him get Sneak Attacks by flanking.

If the fighter in the group is a Power Attack/Cleave type, maybe take Magic Missile. If you roll well on the damage, you can take down a Kobold or Goblin with a single shot. Even if you don't, you soften them up so the fighter can take them down and Cleave into the next guy. You can do the same thing with a crossbow, but then you are looking at taking the -4 penalty for firing into melee if not some cover bonuses too.

Also, a readied Magic Missile is perfect for distracting enemy spellcasters and disrupting their spells, which can buy the rest of the party enough time to fight their way through the minions and take him out.

If you add to some of these combinations a flying familiar that can do aerial scouting for the party to allow them a better chance of fighting on their own terms, you will be the ultimate team player.

Just a thought.

 

[bret]

I have to agree with the others on this forum, don't spend a spell known on sleep. The number of spells known per level is too low to 'waste' it on a spell that will so quickly become obsolete.

I would definately take shield for one reason that everyone else seems to be skipping over. Every sorcerer and many wizards will be taking Magic Missile. The shield spell provides protection against this spell. Take shield because it provides protection against a very common offensive spell.

True Strike maintains it's offensive capabilities and at first level is almost as good as a Magic Missile. At higher levels, you tend to use True Strike with your ray and missile spells (Acid Arrow, Disintegrate, etc).

Burning Hands can be nice at higher levels to brush back swarms of creatures. Not super damage, but it gets a fairly good area. The main problem with it is that you have to get too close to the victim, so if used as the main offensive spell it teachs a beginning Sorcerer bad habits.

Grease can be used in some interesting ways, but requires a bit more thought.

Magic Missile is the main first level spell you will be carrying at high levels.

Any of these spells would make a better choice than Sleep. Save up all that money you aren't using to scribe spells in a spellbook, buy a minimum cost Sleep wand and use that instead.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

Protect your familiar! I have a second level wizard, just summoned my familiar, and I now desperately wish that I had learned Mage Armor. Maybe Shield too, but especially Mage Armor. You don't want your familiar to die, because you can't summon a new one for a long time!

I just wanted to mention that, in addition to all the other good reasons for choosing Mage Armor.

A final note: You probably already know that Mage Armor does not stack with any other armor a character is wearing. Some people don't realize that.

 

[Spatzimaus]

I'm with the "plan for the future" crowd. Only take spells if you know they can be useful to you 10 levels down the road.

At first level, that means Magic Missile, Charm Person, Color Spray, Shield, Mage Armor for combat ability. Pick any two or three.
Then, grab one or two utility spells. I picked Comprehend Languages and True Strike, although Expeditious Retreat is nice too.

Frankly, between a crossbow and Magic Missile, you'll have enough offense to get to level 4. Don't underestimate Magic Missile; at level 1, it's an always-hit long-range spell that takes a large chunk of the target's HP away. And it scales!
Besides, a smart party knows that once you get to where you can cast level 3 spells, you'll be the best force multiplier they could have (Haste for everyone!), so they shouldn't complain too hard if you don't quite pull your weight at low levels.

It also helps if you plan out your spell selection in advance. Grab one more offensive spell at level 4 (I liked Blindness/Deafness, but Melf's is useful too), and then just wait until level 6-7. Cuz as we all know, Fireball/Lightning Bolt are going to be your offensive staple for a long time to come. Once you get to level 8-9 you'll be set.

 

[Jack]

thanks for all the advice, but ..

liked some of the ideas e.g. helping out the rogue in getting sneak attacks. others the cure seemed worse then the disease e.g. being an elf when you've already got a problem with fort saves and hps and then burning a feat on point black shot. or taking spider climb which isn't of great use down the track when you'll have access to flying magic i'd guess

i'm not really convinced that d4+1 magic missile is going to cut it at level 1 or 2. sorry doc rictus and others

and is true strike plus a crossbow - a certain d8 every round - much better than than just firing every round if yiou've got an Ok
dex

i'd suggest if you do have true strike and shield why not get the largest weapon you can carry - two handed sword?. who cares if you've got a non-proficiency penalty if you've got +20TH. even with str8 2d6-1 is going to hurt.

I've started wondering how much of a cost a wasted level 1 known spell really is at higher levels. wands of 1st level spells at caster level 1 are relatively cheap. if I want to be able to cast true strike later on, doesn't a wand of true strike deal with this. similarly with shield 1 minute is going to last most of a combat. similar thoughts about unseen servant, mage armor and tenser's floating disc.

seems the advantage of having first level spells as known spells later on is where the effect scales with caster level in a way that materially effects the game e.g. magic missile, or where there's a saving throw when wands/scrolls will only give you a dc of 11, or feather fall b/c it's quickened - but even then how expensive are rings of feather fall if you are towards the back of the party and still paranoid about pit traps.

on that basis the first spells that are really worth having as known at higher levels are pretty limited: magic missile, grease, color spray. maybe charm person, maybe feather fall. room for sleep I think.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Re: thanks for all the advice, but ..

i'm not really convinced that d4+1 magic missile is going to cut it at level 1 or 2. sorry doc rictus and others

Feel free to not be convinced. It's got average damage per action that's roughly competitive with what you can expect out any 1st-level character (including the same sorcerer using his crossbow), so whether you think that's worthwhile clearly depends on whether its tactical advantages seem compelling.

So, the question is, what do you mean by "cut it?" I don't see anything else on your list of 1st-level spells worth having at higher levels that beats it in terms of directed damage (given that there are no other directed-damage spells on your list), which means your other options for offense are grease, charm person, and color spray. I personally put color spray in the same class as sleep. It may still affect creatures at high hit dice, but not so much that you wouldn't usually have preferred to magic missile them instead. And having your only offensive spell be one that only works on medium-sized or smaller humanoids isn't a compelling sorcerer design to me either. But then, color spray has some of the same problem, not working on vermin, undead, or constructs.