What flavor are sorcerers in your campaign?

[Li Shenron]

Seriously though, I've always felt that sorcerers weren't different enough flavor-wise or mechanically from wizards. They use a different mechanic for casting spells, and there's some vague fluff about the "blood of dragons", but that's about it.

How do you treat sorcerers in your campaigns? Same as in the PH, or have you added different fluff, or tweaked the mechanics of the class to give it its own feel?

Besides the fact that all sorcerers are strong personalities (due to the high Cha), the rest of the flavor is up to the player. I have absolutely no problems in a player wanting a Sorcerer with draconic blood, or outsider blood, or any other heritage, but also without any heritage/bloodline at all is perfectly fine for me. Actually, it could even have just the same self-made scholar background of a Wizard, and I see nothing wrong with it. As long as the mechanic of the class is still the same, that is.

 

[Haltherrion]

Besides the fact that all sorcerers are strong personalities (due to the high Cha), the rest of the flavor is up to the player. I have absolutely no problems in a player wanting a Sorcerer with draconic blood, or outsider blood, or any other heritage, but also without any heritage/bloodline at all is perfectly fine for me. Actually, it could even have just the same self-made scholar background of a Wizard, and I see nothing wrong with it. As long as the mechanic of the class is still the same, that is.

That's pretty much how I see it. I don't see what the fuss is with them as a class or a difference in flavor.

Sure on paper the differences seem slight: same spell list, different casting mechanic, apparently minor differences in amount of spells castable.

But if you have people actually roleplaying their stats, a high charisma PC is already quite different from a high intelligence one. Throw in the not so subtle difference of being able to change out your spell list (wizard) versus carefully choosing a small, permanent set (sorcerer), the ramifications of this and the bonus feats on item creation and in practice, the two types are quite different.

It's not so different than the difference between a scientist and an engineer. To the casual observer, they may be the same thing but they behave and do very different things in most cases. Or cops and fireman. Or navy and army. Pick your similar yet different professions.

I think they are fine as is. As a player and as a ref, I've been happy with them in the abstract and as they've played out in our campaigns.

 

[Ciaran]

Last time I seriously worked on a D&D campaign, I scrapped Clerics and Druids, and used the Sorcerer as the basis for divine casters. Priests had d4 hit points and a Sorcerer's BAB, saves, spells known and spells per day, but with a Cleric's skill list, domains and undead turning ability.

(Unfortunately, the game never materialized. Oh well. Right now we're trying out Burning Wheel.)

 

[frankthedm]

Sorcerers in my game

The walls of reality are breaking down. Magical energies are flooding into locations, objects and creatures. The creatures are called soul casters, warlocks, fiends, and other names. Sorcerer is the most common, though most rulers, both magical and mundane call them, “trouble”. They often discover their magical powers in their youth, the luckiest have parents who recognize the strange happening around the home might not be a troublesome fey and are taught the words, gestures and components of power that make magic safe to use. Far more wind up orphaning themselves during their first temper tantrum as uncontrolled magical energies sunder their loved ones apart. The least lucky are driven mad by the energies welling up inside them and become the monstrous ”Storm Children”, whose still innocent faces belie the magical death they rain down upon all those they come across.