Useless sorcerers no one wants in the party

[Driddle]

The latest class profile article over at WotC raises a few tangent questions for discussion:

Have you ever played (or played in a party with) a sorcerer who picked spells the rest of the group just didn't appreciate? Sorcerers accused of making bad/stupid spell choices at each level?

And how do you handle such unpopular character development decisions when the group perspective is so different from the individual player's desires?

 

[Doomhunter]

We started 8th level characters, and the only Damage Dealing spell he picked for hiw Neutral Good Sorc was Fireball. He had Glitterdust, Displacment, Featherfall, and Ray of Enfeeblement. He wasn't completely useless, but it was damn anoying. About 3 rounds into the fight he kept mumbling things like, "Well I cant do this, and I cant do that..." Acting like it was our fault that he couldn't be usefull. It got bad, a few levels in he picked up Melf's Acid Arrow and things were fine.

He was tring to make a buffer, and chose a Sorc for some reason. He wanted to be different, and all he was was anoying. Who ever casts Gliterdust!

He did have good utility spells, but no meat, a Sorc cant be as loose with his choices as a Wizzy can.

Just my oponion.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

It's a game. Games are supposed to be fun. So long as a player's character choices aren't actively screwing up the game (eg choosing to play an LE assassin in a party of paladins), it's their decision. They are playing the game for enjoyment, not to be some min-maxer's mule.

 

[Crothian]

Nope. I had a sorcerer that picked spells that were not the most popular but it is not like the rest of the party is looking over my shoulder and what sells I have. And it's not like I'd bug the fighter for taking certain feats.

 

[Ferret]

The difference in styles should be played on in Roleplay. If it's part of a cultural difference or just personal. Depending on what type of situation they might be able to be persuaded to change some of there choices. Or not. :\

 

[Doomhunter]

I completely disagree, each caharacter needs to be usefull. Once the battle starts they each need to be able to pull there own weight. If your DM includes them when judging the CR of the encounter, and then they cant do anything usefull once the fighting starts then they need to choose different spells.

Adventuring is dangerous, and if your Sorc cant help you all stay alive then he has done something wrong. I am not saying every Sorc has to choose nothing but combat spells, but he needs to have some basic ideas covered. At least one single target nuke is all it takes to be usefull.

You play for fun, but death is rarely fun.

 

[maddman75]

It depends entirely on your group's goals for the game. If your goal is largely tactical, then you are right. The group is interested in overcoming challenges, and a subpar character hinders that. However, a group with different goals may see overcoming challenges as irrelevent, and consider the most importand part of the game a good narrative. In that case, its the combat monster who is being distruptive. Not only will his character likely lack the depth that make such games really work, but his tendency to deal with problems through combat will hinder the group's ability to deal with those issues in a helpful way.

Granted, most games are a mix between the two, but its foolish to assume they are all the same way.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Adventuring is dangerous, and if your Sorc cant help you all stay alive then he has done something wrong.

And if the Sorc can help you all stay alive through methods other than direct hit point damage to the enemy, more power to him! (Or her. Or it. Whatever. )

Being useful in combat is, well, useful, but it isn't the be all and end all of everything.

 

[Corsair]

Who ever casts Gliterdust!

Glitterdust is your daddy. Can blind someone for a round / level, AND makes it easy to see invisible people. Two in one spells are always winners for sorcerers. Sure it doesn't have the duration of a blindness/deafness, but it still has combat applications, and a secondary benefit.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

We started 8th level characters, and the only Damage Dealing spell he picked for hiw Neutral Good Sorc was Fireball. He had Glitterdust, Displacment, Featherfall, and Ray of Enfeeblement.

That actually sounds like a good spell selectiong. All you really need are a few damage dealing spells to be an effective at dealing damage.