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View Full Version : Rebuilt Sorcerer (max 7th spells, [descriptor] focus) PEACH



Bakkan
2014-01-03, 11:44 PM
Greetings, Playground!

I would like to show you a sorcerer adjustment that I have been working on for my (planned to be) extensive houserule collection. This class only gets 7th level spells by the end of its career and has a slower progression (though the Wizard is going to receive a similar treatment). I like the idea of sorcerers as thematic, elemental sorceres, but feel the limited options in, e.g., the Wu Jen elements or the "classic" four lements quite limiting. This sorcerer gets to choose from a large list of options. Clearly, some are going to be much better than others. The sorcerer gets multiple chances to pick his specialities, so a sorcerer who wants to start out focused on [Mind-Affecting] spells won't be hosed by late levels.

Some other changes I made were splitting the casting stat, giving him a boatload of bonus feats from a decent list, giving him more class skills and skill points, and trying to make a suitably epic capstone. All constructive comments are welcome!

Some notes: I have yet to introduce official ACF's, but among the options will be:

Immediate Metamagic a la PHBII
Giving up the bonus feats for greater bonuses on spells with the chosen descriptors
An actually good "battle sorcerer" option (advice on this is greatly welcomed)


Enjoy!


The Sorcerer

Hit Die d4.

Base Attack Bonus Poor (+½ per level).

Base Save Bonuses Good will (+½ per level, +2 at 1st level), poor fortitude and reflex (+⅓ per level).

Class Skills The sorcerer’s class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Knoweldge (arcana), Knowledge (planes), Knowledge (religion), Profession,Spellcraft, Use Magic Device.

Skill Points per Level 4 + Int modifier.

Proficiencies Simple weapons.

Class Features

Spells
A sorcerer casts arcane spells drawn from the sorcerer spell list. To learn or cast a spell, a sorcerer must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a sorcerer’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the sorcerer’s Charisma modifier. Like other spellcasters, a sorcerer can cast only a certain number of spells of each level per day. His base daily spell slot allotment is given on Table: The Sorcerer. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score.

A sorcerer’s selection of spells is limited. A sorcerer begins play knowing four 0th-level spells and three 1st-level spells of your choice. At each new sorcerer level, he gains additional spells, as indicated on Table: Sorcerer Spells Known. You may choose these spells from the list of sorcerer spells.

At each level, the sorcerer can choose to learn one new spell in place of one he already knows. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level sorcerer spell the sorcerer can cast.

A sorcerer can cast any sorcerer spell he knows at any time by expending a spell slot of the spell’s level or higher. If the sorcerer has not spell slots of the spell’s level or higher remaining, he cannot cast that spell.

In order the cast a metamagic version of a sorcerer spell the sorcerer knows, the casting time of that spell is increased. If the casting time is normally less than a full-round action, its casting time increases to a full-round action. If the casting time is normally a full- round action, the casting time increases to 1 round. If the casting time is normally more than one round, the casting time doubles.

A sorcerer requires precise gesturing to cast his spells, so he suffers an arcane spell failure chance when wearing most kinds of armor and shields.

Bonus Feats
At 1st level, 5th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, the sorcerer gains a bonus feat that he qualifies for. This feat may be a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, a reserve feat, a heritage feat, a draconic feat, spell focus, or spell penetration.

At 1st level a sorcerer gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat.

At 2nd level a sorcerer gains Versatile Spellcaster as a bonus feat.

Elemental Magic
When taking his first sorcerer class level, the sorcerer develops an affinity for certain kinds of magic. Choose a descriptor, such as [fire] or [good]. When casting sorcerer spells with that descriptor, the spell gains a bonus to caster level, save DC, and any attack rolls made as part of casting the spell equal to 1 plus 1 per 3 sorcerer levels the caster has.

At 4th level, the sorcerer gains a resistance bonus to saving throws and an insight bonus to AC against spells and effects that have one of his chosen descriptors. The amount of this bonus is equal to the bonus he receives to his caster level from this class feature when casting spells of that descriptor. In addition, if the sorcerer successfully saves against a spell with one of his chosen descriptors that would normally have a lesser effect on a successful save, he instead completely negates the effect.

At 7th level, and at every 6 levels thereafter, the sorcerer may select another descriptor and develop an affinity for it. A sorcerer spell the sorcerer casts that has any of the chosen descriptors gains the bonus to caster level and save DC. If a spell has more than one of the chosen descriptors, it gains the bonus only once.

At 10th level, the sorcerer can apply metamagic feats that he knows to spells with his chosen descriptor much more easily than normal a few times per day. A number of times per day equal to the sorcerer’s Intelligence modifier, the sorcerer may apply any single metamagic feat he knows to a spell as part of the casting without increasing its casting cost or adjusted spell level. The spell level modifier of the metamagic feat must be less than or equal to the bonus the sorcerer receives to his caster level from this class feature when casting spells of that descriptor. The sorcerer can apply other metamagic feats to this spell at the same time, but they will adjust the casting time and spell slot requirements as normal.

At 16th level, the sorcerer gains near immunity to spells with his chosen descriptors. He is unaffected by any spell or effect that allows spell resistance with one of his chosen descriptors. The sorcerer can raise or lower this immunity as a free action that can be taken even when it is not the sorcerer’s turn.

Familiar
A sorcerer can obtain a familiar. Doing so takes 24 hours and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp. A familiar is a magical beast that resembles a small animal and is unusually tough and intelligent. The creature serves as a companion and servant.

The sorcerer chooses the kind of familiar he gets. As the sorcerer advances in level, his familiar also increases in power.

If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the sorcerer, the sorcerer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per sorcerer level; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount. However, a sorcerer’s experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar’s demise or dismissal. A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day. A slain familiar can be raised from the dead just as a character can be, and it does not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs.

A character with more than one class that grants a familiar may have only one familiar at a time.

Elemental Mastery
At 20th level, you are so imbued with the power of your chosen elements that you can manipulate that energy almost any way you can imagine. Choose one of the descriptors that you have chosen for the elemental magic class feature. You can cast any spell with that descriptor by expending the appropriate spell slot, even if you do not know it. If the spell you are casting is not on the sorcerer spell list, it it treated as having a spell level one higher for the purposes of spending spell slots to cast it (but not for other effects, such as save DCs or bypassing a lesser globe of invulnerability).

You do not know these spells, and so cannot use Versatile Spellcaster to cast them or create magic items that require those spells as components. You must pay all XP and expensive materials costs as normal, and must provide any expensive foci. However, you do not need to have the divine focus components of cast spells in this way.

If the spell could have one or more of multiple descriptors when cast (such as a summon monster spell), you may cast the spell so long as you cast it in such a way that it has those descriptors. For instance, if your elemental mastery is with the [good] descriptor, you may cast summon monster I to summon a celestial monkey, but not to summon a fiendish octopus.

Only spells that could have your chosen descriptor under normal circumstances (i.e., without the application of metamagic feats, class features, etc.) are allowed to be cast using this feature. For instance, if you have chosen to master [fire] spells, you cannot use this ability to cast an energy substituted (fire) lightning bolt, even if you possess the Energy Substitution (Fire) feat.


Sorcerer Class Features
{table=head]Level|Special|Spells Per Day
1st|Bonus feat, Eschew Materials, elemental magic +1|5 3 - - - - - -
2nd|Versatile Spellcaster, familiar|6 4 - - - - - -
3rd|Elemental magic +2|6 5 - - - - - -
4th|Elemental magic (resistance)|6 6 3 - - - - -
5th|Bonus feat|6 6 4 - - - - -
6th|Elemental magic +3|6 6 5 - - - - -
7th|Elemental magic (two elements)|6 6 6 3 - - - -
8th|Bonus feat|6 6 6 4 - - - -
9th|Elemental magic +4|6 6 6 5 - - - -
10th|Elemental magic (metamagic)|6 6 6 6 3 - - -
11th|Bonus feat|6 6 6 6 4 - - -
12th|Elemental magic +5|6 6 6 6 5 - - -
13th|Elemental magic (three elements)|6 6 6 6 6 3 - -
14th|Bonus feat|6 6 6 6 6 4 - -
15th|Elemental magic +6|6 6 6 6 6 5 - -
16th|Elemental magic (immunity)|6 6 6 6 6 6 3 -
17th|Bonus feat|6 6 6 6 6 6 4 -
18th|Elemental magic +7|6 6 6 6 6 6 5 -
19th|Elemental magic (four elements)|6 6 6 6 6 6 6 3
20th|Elemental mastery, bonus feat|6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4[/table]

Sorcerer Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th
1st|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|5|4|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|5|4|3|-|-|-|-|-
5th|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-
6th|6|5|4|-|-|-|-|-
7th|6|5|4|3|-|-|-|-
8th|7|6|5|3|-|-|-|-
9th|7|6|5|4|-|-|-|-
10th|7|6|5|4|3|-|-|-
11th|8|6|6|5|3|-|-|-
12th|8|6|6|5|4|-|-|-
13th|8|6|6|5|4|3|-|-
14th|9|6|6|6|5|3|-|-
15th|9|6|6|6|5|4|-|-
16th|9|6|6|6|5|4|3|-
17th|9|6|6|6|6|5|3|-
18th|9|6|6|6|6|5|4|-
19th|9|6|6|6|6|5|4|3
20th|9|6|6|6|6|6|5|3
[/table]

Amechra
2014-01-04, 01:11 AM
Elemental Focus is something I'm wary about. Namely because some descriptors are just plain better than others.

The standout is the [Cold] descriptor. It has massive feat support (thank you Frostburn), as well as a feat that lets you cast all your spells as [Cold] spells.

So, I suggest that you balance it around the idea that people are going to be taking as many spells of their descriptor as possible, and ask yourself: "is a +7 to caster level, save DCs, and checks against dispeling for most if not all their spells a thing I want?"

I'd suggest basing it off something more like domains, where you have greater control over which spells gain the bonus, and can balance the different descriptors against each-other.

I do think this is an interesting way of going about fixing the sorcerer, though.

Seerow
2014-01-04, 01:24 AM
Elemental Focus is something I'm wary about. Namely because some descriptors are just plain better than others.

The standout is the [Cold] descriptor. It has massive feat support (thank you Frostburn), as well as a feat that lets you cast all your spells as [Cold] spells.

So, I suggest that you balance it around the idea that people are going to be taking as many spells of their descriptor as possible, and ask yourself: "is a +7 to caster level, save DCs, and checks against dispeling for most if not all their spells a thing I want?"

I'd suggest basing it off something more like domains, where you have greater control over which spells gain the bonus, and can balance the different descriptors against each-other.

I do think this is an interesting way of going about fixing the sorcerer, though.

Funny, I wasn't thinking about Cold spells while reading this. I was worried about [Good] spells. Particularly keeping in mind the capstone that lets you cast spells from other spell lists.

+7 CL holy word anyone?

Amechra
2014-01-04, 01:41 AM
Heh.

If we're going with Cold descriptor stuff, it is kinda trivial to get a +9 to CL and a +11 to save DC if you're using this Sorcerer. That is kinda obscene, especially since the capstone would let you cast a CL 29 Fimbulwinter...

Zman
2014-01-04, 12:19 PM
Ok, I'm a fan of he base concept, limiting the caster upwards progression and slowing that progression down a tad. In fact, I did much the same thing, see my Overhaul in my Signature for my list of Fixed classes.

I do not like Elemental Magic. Talk about breaking the Save Mechanic over your knee. There is much potential for abuse, and it'll even break low op games in half.

Bakkan
2014-01-04, 01:46 PM
Thanks for the responses so far!


Elemental Focus is something I'm wary about. Namely because some descriptors are just plain better than others.

The standout is the [Cold] descriptor. It has massive feat support (thank you Frostburn), as well as a feat that lets you cast all your spells as [Cold] spells.

So, I suggest that you balance it around the idea that people are going to be taking as many spells of their descriptor as possible, and ask yourself: "is a +7 to caster level, save DCs, and checks against dispeling for most if not all their spells a thing I want?"

I'd suggest basing it off something more like domains, where you have greater control over which spells gain the bonus, and can balance the different descriptors against each-other.

I do think this is an interesting way of going about fixing the sorcerer, though.

As you say, clearly some elements are superior to others, either in terms of how many spells there are or how easy it would be to start adding that descriptor to spells that didn't have it to begin with.

One reason I didn't design this around a domain/mantle idea is because it reduces the options available to the player when creating the sorcerer, which is something I want to avoid. Also, I like the idea of the sorcerer being able to apply his elemental magic more broadly if he invests resources into it.

I am not familiar with this feat from Frostburn. Could you give me the name and/or a page reference? Are there any other ways are there to apply a single descriptor to all or nearly all the spells you cast?

How would it be if you could only apply the bonus to spells that natively have the descriptor (like the elemental mastery feature)?


Funny, I wasn't thinking about Cold spells while reading this. I was worried about [Good] spells. Particularly keeping in mind the capstone that lets you cast spells from other spell lists.

+7 CL holy word anyone?

Notice that holy word is a level 7 spell that is not on the sorcerer list, and so the sorcerer would need to expend a level 8 slot to do that, which he does not have (Versatile Spellcaster can't be used thanks to the Sorcerer not knowing the spells he casts with elemental mastery)


Heh.

If we're going with Cold descriptor stuff, it is kinda trivial to get a +9 to CL and a +11 to save DC if you're using this Sorcerer. That is kinda obscene, especially since the capstone would let you cast a CL 29 Fimbulwinter...

Fimbulwinter is level 8 and therefore inaccessible. What other particularly abusable stuff can everyone think of?


Ok, I'm a fan of he base concept, limiting the caster upwards progression and slowing that progression down a tad. In fact, I did much the same thing, see my Overhaul in my Signature for my list of Fixed classes.

I do not like Elemental Magic. Talk about breaking the Save Mechanic over your knee. There is much potential for abuse, and it'll even break low op games in half.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this. Is your concern about the increase to the save DCs of the spells? What if the base elemental magic only gave the bonus to caster level, and there was a second progression for save DCs and attack rolls, starting somewhere around level 5 with a +1 and capping out at +4 or so?

EDIT:
So far it seems like people are mostly concerned with the elemental magic class feature. Which aspect(s) of it are the most questionable? The base caster level/save DC bonus is clearly one, but what about the resistance/immunity, multiple descriptors, and metamagic?

Amechra
2014-01-04, 01:55 PM
The feat is named Snowcasting; can't recall the page off the top of my head. Other than that, if you dip Tainted Scholar all your spells gain the [Evil] descriptor, and there are a few +1 Metamagic that let you apply the [Good] or [Evil] descriptors to spells.

Also, Fimbulwinter is on the Sorcerer spell list, so you can use Versatile Spellcaster to cast it.

Bakkan
2014-01-04, 02:10 PM
But he won't know it, since he doesn't know 8th level spells, so he can't use Versatile Spellcaster to cast it.

Ziegander
2014-01-04, 02:43 PM
See, I thought that elemental magic would be a way of limiting the Sorcerer to only learning spells with a certain descriptor, but instead it just gives massive bonuses when casting spells with that descriptor. Being the latter opens it up to all sorts of abuse and is just too powerful even without abuse.