D&D 5E Why do Sorcerers have so few spells compared to other full Casters

So here are a few house rules I have to help balance the sorcerer compared to the wizard:

1) They can create spell slots up to 6th level using sorcery points. The cost is 9 sorcery points.

2) Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers get the following spells as bonus known spells at the appropriate level. These spells cannot be swapped out:

1st Level: Burning Hands*, Detect Magic
3rd Level: Agnazaar’s Scorcher*, Enthrall
5th Level: Fear, Fireball*
7th Level: Elemental Bane**, Wall of Fire*
9th Level: Cone of cold*
* Damage type changes to type associated with your dragon heritage
** Damage type affected by spell is always the type associated with your dragon heritage

3) Wild Magic Sorcerers get the following spells as bonus known spells at the appropriate level. These spells cannot be swapped out:

1st Level: Chromatic Orb*, Hex
3rd Level: Crown of Madness, Mirror Image
5th Level: Counterspell, Hypnotic Pattern
7th Level: Confusion, Freedom of Movement
9th Level: Animate Objects
*Does not require Material Component, but must roll a d6 to randomly determine energy type of the spell damage.

4) Storm Sorcerers get the additional spells as presented in their original format in UA.

5) Shadow Sorcerers get the following spells as bonus known spells at the appropriate level. These spells cannot be swapped out:

1st Level: Silent Image, Sleep
3rd Level: Invisibility, Misty Step
5th Level: Major Image, Nondetection
7th Level: Dimension Door, Greater Invisibility
9th Level: Mislead

6) Font of Magic is given at first level. Sorcerers start with 2 points, but don't gain any more sorcery points until 3rd level.

7A) Metamagic is given at 2nd level rather than 3rd. Subsequent metamagic is gained as normal.

7B) I've changed Careful Spell to include the following: If you choose to spend 3 sorcery points, your chosen creatures are completely unaffected by the spell.

8) I've replaced the capstone ability of Sorcererous Restoration with Vicious Spellcasting.

Vicious Spellcasting
At 20th level, whenever you cast a spell that causes damage, you can add your charisma modifier to the damage dealt.

I've also made changes to each bloodline's abilities to tweak them, but I feel these are the biggest changes I made to the sorcerer.
 

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This is a huge lie.
Not entirely accurate, I'll give you, but calling it a lie is too far.

...and if you don't think more of whichever spell I know of 1st through 5th level that I happen to actually need for this situation doesn't even hold a candle to these specific two spells of specific levels as many times per day as I can find a use for them, plus a normal allotment of the rest - then we should skip to the part where we accept our disagreement and move on.
 

Yeah, I'm calling bull on Sorcs being under powered because a lack of spells known.

1. Dragon Sorcs get significantly higher (relative to Wizards) HP and Con saves. That alone is worth its weight in gold. They also effectively get +1 spells known because they don't need to prepare Mage Armor (everyone seems to forget that).

2. People apparently have zero idea how to use Metamagic. Everyone loves Quickened and Twinned. Screw that, Quickened + Heightened. Do you have any idea how many BBEG fights I've ended on my wild magic sorc because of Bend Luck + Heightened Banishment/Hold Person/etc.? A Divination Wizard can *maybe* do that once or twice a long rest because of their Portent rolls, but that's far from the nigh guarantee of the Wild Magic Sorc.

Even Draconic Sorcs get their +cha damage boost at level 6, well before Evocation Wizards pick it up at level 10 (rarely seen in most campaigns). That means significantly higher damage on their Fireballs/etc, especially if you disregard the idiotic Sage Advice about it only applying to 1 ray of a Scorching Ray.

3. For Draconic Sorcs, show me any level 14 Wizard ability that even comes close to matching zero concentration at-will perma flying?

Also, the Wild Magic table speaks for itself. By level 14 you should be encouraging your DM to let you roll after every spell and using Tides of Chaos every chance you get.

4. Sorcs have TREMENDOUSLY better multiclass options. Should this be a consideration? Probably not, but it's still true. Because they pick up con save proficiency already, they don't need to burn a feat on Res (con) or take their first level in a non-caster class. The synchronicity between Sorc x/Warlock 3 is ridiculously overpowered for a Sorc. Short rest rechargable Heightened Suggestion Spells is completely broken and requires the DM to break the rules around your character.

Are Wizards powerful? Absolutely. Terrifyingly so at higher levels. But the VAST majority of games that take place at lower levels where a Wizard is instagibbed by an enemy even looking sideways at them and fail their concentration saves all the time? Sorcs are significantly better.
 

Not entirely accurate, I'll give you, but calling it a lie is too far.

...and if you don't think more of whichever spell I know of 1st through 5th level that I happen to actually need for this situation doesn't even hold a candle to these specific two spells of specific levels as many times per day as I can find a use for them, plus a normal allotment of the rest - then we should skip to the part where we accept our disagreement and move on.

Ok, maybe then a Myth? And how do you think an extra slot will help if you don't know enough spells to contribute right now?

Yeah, I'm calling bull on Sorcs being under powered because a lack of spells known.

1. Dragon Sorcs get significantly higher (relative to Wizards) HP and Con saves. That alone is worth its weight in gold. They also effectively get +1 spells known because they don't need to prepare Mage Armor (everyone seems to forget that).

2. People apparently have zero idea how to use Metamagic. Everyone loves Quickened and Twinned. Screw that, Quickened + Heightened. Do you have any idea how many BBEG fights I've ended on my wild magic sorc because of Bend Luck + Heightened Banishment/Hold Person/etc.? A Divination Wizard can *maybe* do that once or twice a long rest because of their Portent rolls, but that's far from the nigh guarantee of the Wild Magic Sorc.

Even Draconic Sorcs get their +cha damage boost at level 6, well before Evocation Wizards pick it up at level 10 (rarely seen in most campaigns). That means significantly higher damage on their Fireballs/etc, especially if you disregard the idiotic Sage Advice about it only applying to 1 ray of a Scorching Ray.

3. For Draconic Sorcs, show me any level 14 Wizard ability that even comes close to matching zero concentration at-will perma flying?

Also, the Wild Magic table speaks for itself. By level 14 you should be encouraging your DM to let you roll after every spell and using Tides of Chaos every chance you get.

4. Sorcs have TREMENDOUSLY better multiclass options. Should this be a consideration? Probably not, but it's still true. Because they pick up con save proficiency already, they don't need to burn a feat on Res (con) or take their first level in a non-caster class. The synchronicity between Sorc x/Warlock 3 is ridiculously overpowered for a Sorc. Short rest rechargable Heightened Suggestion Spells is completely broken and requires the DM to break the rules around your character.

Are Wizards powerful? Absolutely. Terrifyingly so at higher levels. But the VAST majority of games that take place at lower levels where a Wizard is instagibbed by an enemy even looking sideways at them and fail their concentration saves all the time? Sorcs are significantly better.

But you are assuming both blasting sorcerer and game mastery from both the player and DM. And if by your own admission nothing over tenth level counts, then nothing a high level sorcerer can do counts either -and ignoring the errata is houserules realm-. Low level wizards are useful to the party, low level sorcerers can only bring [slightly better] firepower and nothing else. at first level a sorcerer can only bring her specialty to the game, and is not even better at it than the wizard that can duplicate that specialty and still do more. Specialized in combat? the wizard has enough room to use those spells and more -because even if eh has to prepare and cast mage armor, he still has three other prepare spaces and can recover the slot, and he has the choice to do something else if he is a dwarf-. Specialized in non-combat? you are irrelevant as the wizard can do exactly the same -actually more as he has spells you never will- and still go for combat.

At second level the wizard gets a fancy school ability and two known spells, a sorcerer only a single spell and a slot -the wizard already has-. At third level sorcerer gets metamagic, just at the cost of those extra slots, while the wizard can regain yet another slot and still use those fancy school abilities.

Metamagic doesn't really help that much outside of blasting or Twin shenanigans. And the "good" metamagics are extremely boring and uninspiring, while the flavorful ones are actually a way to drain your resources quickly, but add little to counter the fact you only know 4 spells.
 

1. Dragon Sorcs get significantly higher (relative to Wizards) HP and Con saves. That alone is worth its weight in gold. They also effectively get +1 spells known because they don't need to prepare Mage Armor (everyone seems to forget that).

This is roughly equivalent to a bard in studded leather. It's not all that game breaking.

2. People apparently have zero idea how to use Metamagic. Everyone loves Quickened and Twinned. Screw that, Quickened + Heightened. Do you have any idea how many BBEG fights I've ended on my wild magic sorc because of Bend Luck + Heightened Banishment/Hold Person/etc.? A Divination Wizard can *maybe* do that once or twice a long rest because of their Portent rolls, but that's far from the nigh guarantee of the Wild Magic Sorc.

Before 10th level, you'll get off a quickened heightened spell maybe once unless you cannibalize your spell slots for more sorcery points, at which point you are really banking on not having to fight again before a long rest. Not to mention, the lack of spells known means that every spell you pick needs to be maximized to be combat effective or of extreme utility. Going for anything other than pure mechanical maximization puts you at disadvantage and punishes the player. There is no room to pick spells because they are cool or fun. And once you have those spells, you can't do anything about them until you gain a new spell known to swap one out.

Even Draconic Sorcs get their +cha damage boost at level 6, well before Evocation Wizards pick it up at level 10 (rarely seen in most campaigns). That means significantly higher damage on their Fireballs/etc, especially if you disregard the idiotic Sage Advice about it only applying to 1 ray of a Scorching Ray.

This is only a +3-5 to damage. Given that it only applies to spells that do damage of the same type as your dragon, it is far less useful than the equivalent wizard ability you mention. What if you don't want to pick those specific spells to maximize your damage? Once again, the sorcerer forces you to choose for maximizing and further limiting your spell choice and if you don't, you risk severely weakening your character. Character abilities should present options, not force a player to pigeon hole their character and punish them when they don't.

3. For Draconic Sorcs, show me any level 14 Wizard ability that even comes close to matching zero concentration at-will perma flying?

Abjurers at 14th level get resistance to all spells. Evokers get to straight up maximize a spell up to 5th level. Necromancers can see an undead enemy and say "Your mine now" and have a free slave until it dies or you want a new one. Transmuters get a free Raise Dead spell once per day, in addition to many other options. I'd say these are at least equivalent to the increased maneuverability of flight. Also, once again, you have to make sure you maximized your spell options to be long range or spam distant spell (using more sorcery points) to really see benefit

Also, the Wild Magic table speaks for itself. By level 14 you should be encouraging your DM to let you roll after every spell and using Tides of Chaos every chance you get.

Yes, but the DM always determines when you can use it, so it's utility is completely at the mercy of the DM.

4. Sorcs have TREMENDOUSLY better multiclass options. Should this be a consideration? Probably not, but it's still true. Because they pick up con save proficiency already, they don't need to burn a feat on Res (con) or take their first level in a non-caster class. The synchronicity between Sorc x/Warlock 3 is ridiculously overpowered for a Sorc. Short rest rechargable Heightened Suggestion Spells is completely broken and requires the DM to break the rules around your character.

I'm not gonna get into multiclassing. I prefer to consider classes as they stand on their own.

Are Wizards powerful? Absolutely. Terrifyingly so at higher levels. But the VAST majority of games that take place at lower levels where a Wizard is instagibbed by an enemy even looking sideways at them and fail their concentration saves all the time? Sorcs are significantly better.

The con save to maintain concentration is most often going to be 10 at those lower levels because the wizard is unlikely going to be taking more than 20 damage at a time (if they are taking that much damage, a concentration check to maintain a spell is the least of their worries). That means even with only a +1 modifier, they are gonna make that save more than 50% of the time, assuming they haven't invested a feat into warcaster.
 
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Spells known are the primary control valve on Sorcerer power. More Known, more powerful and flexible the class becomes. They either went too conservative on it, or they gave the wizard far too many spells to cast per day in comparison. Or both!

There's already some bonus spells for sorcerer subclasses as a suggested solution to this, but personally I'm in favor of nerfing wizards.

And clerics.

And druids! THE FOREST WILL FEEL MAH WRATH!

And maybe bards. MUSIC WILL FEEL MAH WRATH!
 

Spells known are the primary control valve on Sorcerer power. More Known, more powerful and flexible the class becomes. They either went too conservative on it, or they gave the wizard far too many spells to cast per day in comparison. Or both!

There's already some bonus spells for sorcerer subclasses as a suggested solution to this, but personally I'm in favor of nerfing wizards.

And clerics.

And druids! THE FOREST WILL FEEL MAH WRATH!

And maybe bards. MUSIC WILL FEEL MAH WRATH!

Eh, I always think it's more fun for players to raise up a class than to nerf others, especially if it means nerfing several other classes. It might make it a bit more challenging for DMs, but the game is about being epic heroes, so they should be able to accomplish epic things. But that's my play style as a DM.
 

The Sorc's spell list includes most of the best damage dealing and defensive spells in the game, which are made all the more potent with sorc points. They're great, but you will find yourself pining for a select few spells like Forcecage and Maze that you won't have access to..well until 9th level when you could wish for something like Maze...and then maybe twin it. :)

If you want greater versatility or your DM puts you up against a great many battles before allowing a long rest then the Sorc is probably the wrong choice. Otherwise, I couldn't recommend it enough.
 

Eh, I always think it's more fun for players to raise up a class than to nerf others, especially if it means nerfing several other classes. It might make it a bit more challenging for DMs, but the game is about being epic heroes, so they should be able to accomplish epic things. But that's my play style as a DM.

People have been saying that on the internet for a very long time now.

To hell with that. 5th cut a lot of stuff to be this good. Clearly, cutting more is the solution.
 

The Sorc's spell list includes most of the best damage dealing and defensive spells in the game, which are made all the more potent with sorc points. They're great, but you will find yourself pining for a select few spells like Forcecage and Maze that you won't have access to..well until 9th level when you could wish for something like Maze...and then maybe twin it. :)

If you want greater versatility or your DM puts you up against a great many battles before allowing a long rest then the Sorc is probably the wrong choice. Otherwise, I couldn't recommend it enough.

You are still thinking inside a little box, damage and defense aren't everything. How about talking ravens? shadow ponies? invisible butlers? flying disks? other dimensions? playing with memories? cursing people to eternal slumber? something as small as making people laugh? Sorcerer is the archetype that lends itself to be irresponsible and thoughtless with magic, the class that can allow itself to have fun with magic, you are not a brainy stick in the mud, you are magic incarnate! Yet 5e doesn't let you have that kind of fun, you are expected to blast by the designers -and sometimes your party too- and you don't have many ways to break out of that mold, instead you gotta scratch whatever source of utility you can have. And no, wizards don't suffer this, because they don't need to specialize at all, a first level wizard has enough attack, defense and utility, and when they not, they can just use gold for even more of whatever they need.
 

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