Which Caster would you suggest

[jarlaxlecq]

My group recently finished a campaign and is getting ready for a new one. I'm starting a new character and can’t make up my mind as to what I want to play. We start at level 6 with standard Gold. Standard rolls for scores. Initially I was thinking of a monk however all the characters I’ve played in this group have been warriors and I'm thinking that this time I want to be a caster. The question is which kind. I was thinking Sorcerer, Wizard or Psion. They all have their pros and cons and I’m not sure which to pick. Any suggestions?

 

[Rel]

I tend to prefer Wizards because I like the large "toolbox" of spells available to them by virtue of being able to scribe new spells into the spellbook. But I'll also say that the cost is rather steep to do this so if you anticipate in any way that there will be less than average monetary treasure in this campaign, you may want to go Sorcerer or Psion.

Consider what other role you wish the character to fill besides spellcaster. Do you want to know everything about everything and be sagelike? Then definately go Wizard. If you want to double as the party mouthpiece then Sorcerer is a good option. Psion can go a lot of different directions depending on which disciplines you want to emphasize.

 

[Stormborn]

Have you played an arcane caster before? If not then I would choose a sorcerer. Spell selection and casting is much easier, IMO, than for a wizard who must learn spells and prepare them each day. Considering the DnD Basic set that just came out WotC seems to feel the same way.

I am not really familiar with the Psion so I can't speak to that, but there are some things you might want to consider over all: the make up of the party, the style of play, the nature of the campaign setting, and the amount of "downtime" in the campaign.

To me the wizard works best in a campaign with lots of downtime and a permenent or semipermanent base of opperations, where item creation feats and the chance to learn more spells are optimized. Personally, I would always choose a sorcerer unless I planned on creating magic items, in which case I might choose an Artificer from Eberron or a Wizard depending on how focused I wanted to be. I just like the sorcerer better, it has a better magical feel to me.

If your DM allows it I would use the Monte Cook sorcerer from The Complete Book of Eldritch Might or the Battle Sorcerer variant from Unearthed Arcana, be a human, and take a bloodline feat from Dragon 311 or 325 (unashamed plug).

 

[diaglo]

i would've said wizard too if you had started at lvl 1 and built him to lvl 6.

but with standard prices and such... building a good spellbook may not be possible.


personally given a choice of the 3 at lvl 6 i'd go none of the above.

druid or cleric is a safer build.

 

[Sejs]

Druid.

 

[shilsen]

Be different and play a druid. You're able to heal, you have a bunch of powerful combat-related spells (both for doing damage and affecting the environment), you can turn into a bear and have fun in claw-to-hand combat, you have an animal companion so you don't need a hot water bottle on those cold nights, you have a nice set of skills and decent skill points, and nobody makes fun of you for playing the overpowered cleric. It's a win-win-win-win situation.

 

[Li Shenron]

I tend to prefer Wizards because I like the large "toolbox" of spells available to them by virtue of being able to scribe new spells into the spellbook. But I'll also say that the cost is rather steep to do this so if you anticipate in any way that there will be less than average monetary treasure in this campaign, you may want to go Sorcerer or Psion.

Consider what other role you wish the character to fill besides spellcaster. Do you want to know everything about everything and be sagelike? Then definately go Wizard. If you want to double as the party mouthpiece then Sorcerer is a good option. Psion can go a lot of different directions depending on which disciplines you want to emphasize.

If you haven't already played arcane spellcasters at about that level, or if you don't have much time to plan the character, you should probably play the Sorcerer, otherwise it may be more complicated to build a Wizard.

Well, 6th level however is not very high yet, so I guess you can manage the load of spells in any case

This level is a good point to start a Sorcerer because you are starting to build a good selection of spells (7 spells + 7 cantrips at this point), otherwise IMXP playing a Sorcerer is fantastic at 1st level but frustrating for the next few levels.

On the other hand, it's also a good point to start a Wizard asw well because you finally have more then 10 spells per day! But if you want to take a good advantage of your spellbook and scribe scroll, it definitely requires more time.

 

[jarlaxlecq]

Ok, i'm leaning towards the Sorcerer. What are some of the good varients of the sorcerer, because while i'm liking him, he doesn't seem different enough from the Wizard.

 

[Particle_Man]

Well if you want different from the wizard, I recommend the Psion. They have more flexibility, given the augmentable powers deal.

Sorcerors excel at blowing stuff up. They are also good at buffing the party up. But the Psion is better at most other stuff. And you can wear leather armor, masterwork studded leather armor or a mithral chain shirt, and use a masterwork buckler, too!

 

[Stormborn]

Ok, i'm leaning towards the Sorcerer. What are some of the good varients of the sorcerer, because while i'm liking him, he doesn't seem different enough from the Wizard.

Well as previously suggested: Monte Cook's Sorcerer from CBoEM, the Battle Sorcerer variante from UA, and the Miniatures Handbook (and I believe the upcoming Complete Arcane) has theWarmage. The last two focus of better attacks, armor, and HD for the sorcerer. The Hex blade is many ways a kind of arcane anti-paladin that casts spells like a sorcerer. There are also numerous sorcerer tweaks on these boards and others.

I recomend, for a simpler method, discussing with your DM a customized spell list to reflect the character concept.