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Praise for Solo’s Stupendously Superior Sorcerer Stratagems (aka "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair"):
"Epic win, lolpwnt, etc etc solo. Beautiful piece you have there. Absolutely top notch."
-Shadow Archmagi
"Welcome to Winville! Population: 1 (Solo)
Excellent stuff!
Vanished "Illusions and Invisibility" thesis...will I ever recover?"
- Sir Giacomo
"Solo, it's awesome-sauce."
-Talic
"I laughed! I cried! I lost 15 pounds!
I cannot recommend this guide highly enough!"
- Colin152
"Brilliant, will be linked to relentlessly."
-Azukius
"So this is what pure, unadulterated win looks like. Very nice."
-Woot Spitum
"Failed Will Save... Must Bow At Awesomeness of Guide... NOOOOOOOOOOO"
-AKA_Bait
"THANK YOU for making the guide to sorcery. I cannot describe the immensity of the sheer epic levels of help contained within your guide."
-Deth Muncher
"Doing more than just following in the footsteps of The Logic Ninja, this guide delves into a relatively unexplored set of advice. With his recent piece on sorcerers, Solo leaves his personal touch on the field of optimization. At last, a guide to sorcerers worth reading!
The folks at the Wizards forums need their own copy of this for their optimization library. Last I checked, there was almost nothing in the way of sorcerer optimization to be found there, and most inquiries were directed to Logic Ninja's guide. Which, while helpful, was not as appropriate as this guide is."
-Chronicled
"To James Solomon Ozymandias, Archmage:
We at Heffelman's Department of Arcane Studies Review would like to offer you our heartfelt congratulations. Among many other points in its favor, we found we did not have an appropriate rating to give your recent sorceror's guide, a clear flaw in our critiques system! In an effort to rectify this problem, the majority of our faculty has taken levels of alienist, and even as we write this, we are currently engaged in an expedition to the furthest realms of insanity in an attempt to find a number that might express its value. And indeed we have succeeded; but alas, upon return to the Material Plane, the number imploded and vanished, taking our gateway with it.
We are currently enGagED in aTTEMptIng to REturn, and iN the MEaNTIme, would offER this as a SUBstiTute for a prOper REvieW. wE would be HONOred if yOU would cONsenT to sUPPly us with FUrther copIEs of your WORKS via PlAne Shift unTIl suCh time as WE ARE ABLE tO RETURn.
YoUrs in Healghrth,
GlOORudel BRightweeke, critic and loREmaster at HeffeLMAN's, ArcD., Foc. Conj, I.A.
“Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves
Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But caster, you’re in luck 'cause up your sleeves
You got a brand of magic never fails
You got some power in your corner now
Some heavy ammunition in your camp
You got some punch, pizzazz, yahoo and how
All you gotta do is wave your hand!”
- Anonymous Genie
Introduction:
I, James Solomon Ozymandias, Archmage and Sorcerer, have just returned from an immensely perilous undertaking, during which I was abruptly brought to face my own mortality. Thus, I have decided to pass on the summation of my experiences as a sorcerer on to the next generation of magic users so that you may profit by my wisdom.
Now, I am here to advise, not dictate, the general course of action for sorcerers, such as myself, who wish to attain ultimate arcane power. After all, while it is easier to teach a man what to think than to teach him how to think, the man who knows how to think will eventually triumph over the man who knows what to think.
I shall lay before you the general philosophies I have pursued and found true during my time on the Mortal Coil, and let you judge their worth.
Who we are:
We sorcerers are a different breed from other magic users; our powers come neither from pacts made with divine beings, nor from hours of rigorous study in musty libraries, but from within ourselves. It is ours, utterly and completely, from birth till death. It is one of the few things in this world that we can truly call our own.
When developing such powers, I have seen many young sorcerers make the choice of choosing flash over substance, such as the late Dalron Brogue, Evoker – a powerful man, but his magic had several crippling weaknesses, for he focused too much on one school of magic and consequently was without the flexibility and adaptability necessary to survive in this dangerous world.
When we sorcerers learn our spells, it is a process of self discovery: we become so familiar with the powers we develop that we can call upon them many more times a day than wizards, but at a price, for we cannot change ourselves (and thus, our known spells) as readily as they can open their tomes. Therefore, a successful sorcerer, in my opinion, should seek to learn for himself spells that will be of use in many different situations.
This way, we need not spend time lamenting over the fact that we did not prepare the correct spells for the day, but instead are assured that there will always be something for us to do. Whereas a wizard must carefully prepare his spells, guessing as to what new challenges await him every day, and at the mercy of the smallest error in judgment, a properly versatile sorcerer will be able to go into any situation presented to him with serene confidence, for he will always know a useful spell.
More than just spells:
Obviously, spells do not make the man – nor, as my wife will no doubt remind me, the woman. There is a whole world of training outside of the mere spellcasting that will be critical to a sorcerer’s success.
For example, it is imperative that a sorcerer learn how to utilize metamagic in order to improve the potency of his spells; my personal preferences led me to choose Heighten, Empower, Extend, and Silent spell, as they allowed me to make it more difficult for an enemy to resist my spells, cause more damage, have my wardings endure for longer than normal, and cast spells unobtrusively.
Of course, I made sure to learn the art of casting spells without simple material components for the sake of self sufficiency, and studied Spellcraft extensively, as well as gaining degrees in Spell Focus for the schools of Illusion and Transmutation from the Institute of Arcane Studies – mainly so I could full the pre-requisites for graduating as an Archmage and learning even more arcane secrets.
Notable among them are the abilities to cast spells as a caster of a higher level, being able to turn a touch spell into a ranged touch spell, sculpting area of effect spells to exclude your allies, spontaneously altering the energy type of a spell you are going to cast, and increased potency in the ability to counterspell.
Good times.
Interacting with the world:
Speaking of “good times”, it seems a given that we sorcerers always seem to – by the fault of our own or others – attract attention, sometimes unpleasant, often unwanted, you will likely want to invest heavily in the skill of lying. I cannot tell you how many orcs, ogre chieftains, or mercenaries I have had to face in my life, and bluffing my way out of the sticky situations I have found has proved an excellent alternative to spells, for they leave fewer enemies, dead bodies, and trail for later trackers.
Knowledge of the arcane and spellcraft are, of course, nearly mandatory subjects to master, as sorcerers, by definition, will dabble extensively in mysteries of the arcane, both to develop their own powers and to understand the secrets of others. As the old saying goes, if you know your enemy and yourself, you will be assured victory in even a hundred battles.
Even though most of us have neither the time nor strength to devote to melee combat, I would advise any sorcerer to lean, at the least, how to cast a spell while defending himself against an attacker, for you cannot always expect to have a ally guarding you while you rain magical death down upon your foes. It sucks to be attacked by something, and you should make every preparation against it, but the real world is not fair, and you will find yourself alone and under attack by some hostile force despite your best intentions.
Prepare for it well.
Managing by yourself:
While on the topic of being alone, it would be wise of you to consider how to balance self sufficiency with interdependence. It has been my principal to make sure that, without any magical gear of any sort, I would, with my bare hands and the arcane powers within me, be able to perform my magics without hindrance, as I fully anticipate not being with, or running out of, material components and focuses for spells, or having my items stolen, dispelled, or disjunctioned. It is, after all, absurd to expect that a worthy opponent will not try to separate you from your spell components, focuses, items, and, for wizards, spell books.
Thus, I would advise you to use magic items to compliment your spells known, but never to have a magic item compensate for a hole in your magic. The outsourcing of a critical component has caused more than one company and nation woe, and it would behoove you not to repeat the mistake.
(An aside: one of the most hilarious moments in my entire career was when I bluffed one of my first adventuring parties and our antagonist into thinking that I was a wizard, lugging around a huge spellbook and all, filled with runes. When he separated me from the spellbook after a long fight during which all my spells had been exhausted, he made the mistake of allowing me to rest for a night before coming in to wave the captured spellbook in my face and taunt me about it. Needless to say, the Empowered Magic Missile I delivered to his face came as a complete surprise.)
Of course, there are other schools of thought, such as the item dependence school, created by, led, and composed of, Sire Guacamole; however, you should probably review his theories independently and come to your own conclusions.
It doesn't have to be lonely at the top:
I have now written at length of the necessity of being self sufficient; but I must tell you of the need for co-operation and collaboration with your peers, for truly, no man is an island.
To compensate for our weaknesses and shortcomings, such as the inability to “mix it up with the best of them”, kick down doors, heal the wounded, and turn the undead, it would be a prudent decision to associate with those who can, thereby forming a team, whose intraparty synergy will hopefully create a force that is more than the sum of its parts.
In my most recent misadventure, I was accompanied by two great warriors and a powerful cleric, all of whom helped me accomplish tasks and overcome difficulties that I would never have been able to pass by myself. I am deeply indebted to all of them.
That being said, the ideal associates you will be working with should include:
• At least one healer who will also be able to hold his own in combat. I favor clerics
• A scout or “sneaky” type of character for scouting and reconnaissance. As they will often get into danger above their heads, I favor interns.
• A dedicated combat type - perhaps a druid or another cleric, though my cousin Saal the Barbarian, knows no magic yet breaks skulls well enough.
• Perhaps another sorcerer, or wizard, to compensate for your lack of spells known and additional ways to rain magical death down upon your enemies.
Oddly enough, the entire party of diverse individuals will often be recruited from a drinking establishment. Why this is so, I have no idea.
But I digress.
What you do:
As you can see, everyone has a role.
But what of your role? What do you contribute to the party?
As a sorcerer, your job is to “cast the spells that makes the peoples fall down!”
With your ability to cast many spells, you can afford to hex, curse, or blast at the enemy over and over until he is incapacitated, crippled, or dead. This is what you bring to the party; the ability to control and dominate the enemy with magic, making it easier for your allies to win the day.
Of course, this is all theory; what works best for you should be decided by yourself.
And wouldn’t you know it, I’ve come back to the issue of your known spells again.
As I do not think this repertoire of wisdom would be complete without at least a brief rundown of the best spells available to you as a sorcerer, I shall give you my personal list of spells known and other candidates that you may want to consider depending on your personal style.
First off, you must decide which schools to select spells from. The general answer is “All of them!”, but you will want to focus more heavily on some schools than others.
Conjuration is a great general purpose school, with a bit of everything, so it is always useful to select spells from.
Enchantment is a great school for crippling your opponent with hexes and curses, while bending them to your will… pity it is stopped stone cold by Mind Blank and the humble Protection from X spells. Don’t get me started on how useless an Enchanter is against undead. It is, however, a great school for buffing – if that’s your thing, best left to bards or clerics if you ask me - and does have some good spells such as Feeblemind, Sleep, and Dominate Monster. Enchantment is tempting to some mages due to the fact that it makes having your way with others easier – in many senses of the word. These people were what Evan’s Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion was meant for.
Evocation is the “hammer” of magic schools. While flashy and impressive, all it takes is one anti-energy warding spell to render you useless. There are some good spells in it, such as Contingency, but those you can get from another school.
Illusion allows you to make up for the lack of choosing Evocation spells, though they are only quasi-real. You can still use it to create Contingency effects and the like, however. In addition, it offers such gems as Invisibility, Persistent Image, and others. Great school to have in your pocket. If you plan on becoming an Archmage with a school focus on Illusion, prepare to write a doctorial thesis on the subject. Mine was on “Illusions and Invisibility”. For some reason, however, they never found the manuscript, but I passed anyways.
Divination is one of the better schools, for the preparation is half the battle. However, some of its best spells are expensive to cast, so keep that in mind. I usually leave heavy divination to wizards.
Necromancy is considered the “dark” school, but I prefer to think of it as being “effective”. Now, I’m not saying you should burn the cities of your enemies, loot their towns, hear the lamentation of their women, pillage, rape, and rampage across the countryside while salting their fields and smashing their temples, but you don’t have to be Mr. Nice Guy either.
A note: while it’s entirely possible and even commendable to have your undead hoards rescue orphans from a burning orphanage, there really are better ways of doing it.
Transmutation is in my opinion, tied with Conjuration for most the versatile school of magic. There is always something worthwhile to transmute, such as your enemies. For a more detailed argument as to why Transmutation is superior to most other schools, feel free to consult my doctorial thesis on the matter.
Generally, I focused on a small amount of damage dealing spells, coupled with many defensive wards and offensive “buffs”. A key component of my style is the use of spells that require the target to either resist their effects (whether they be physical or mental) or be rendered useless for the rest of the situation. I believe it to be a more efficient way of dealing with problems than by simply blasting my way through, though I will concede that if you force the square peg hard enough, it will fit through the round hole.
Now I hope you can ruminate while I loquaciously illuminate the possibilities.
The spells:
Spoiler
As I am lazy, and since TLN did spell analysis much better than I did, I direct you to his guide for in depth discussion. This spell list has been compiled at the last minute in a hackneyed fashion to fill space.
Enjoy.
9
Dominate Monster—While some may have an issue mind controlling other sentient beings, I submit that if they are doing some thing truly wicked, a brief spell as my personal servant followed by a Helm of Opposed Alignments should solve the problem. A redeemed person is, after all, more useful to society than a dead one. That being said, this does not work on many creatures (read: undead), nor ones with the proper warding (Protection from X, Mind Blank), so perhaps it is not the best choice for this category.
Prismatic Sphere—This spell is simply fabulous.
Shades—These sort of illusion spells effectively allow you to know several lower level spells for the price of one, as well as offering you endless amounts of fun with such great spells as Leomund’s Luxurious Love Shack.
Time Stop—With a bit of a mind flip, you're there in the time slip, and nothing can ever be the same, for you're spaced out on sensation, like you're under sedation. But listen closely (not for very much longer), I've got to keep control.
Somatic components: It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right. With your hands on your hips you bring your knees in tight. But it's the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane; let's do the Time Warp again!
Astral Projection—Send in the clones! Pricy, but it lets you duplicate of yourself, gear included, and then travel back to the Material Plane (or Plane Shifting back). Caution: Never leave your comatose body in the possession of a Succubus, even if you did use a Helm of Opposed Alignments on her.
Meteor Swarm—Finish him!
Wail of the Banshee—Dalron singing in the shower will suffice nicely.
Weird—Mind Crush! (Not really... giving your opponent two chances to save is bad.)
Wish—Say what you wish, whatever it be, it's yours true dish, just pay up some XP.
Gate—Great spell for interplanar travel. Superb spell for running away from your mother in law.
Shapechange—You are everything, ever. Warning: Not for the lactose intolerant.
Imprisonment—You are the weakest link, goodbye!
Foresight—A powerful Spidey-sense that is guaranteed to foil any surprise attack and every surprise birthday party.
Disjunction—A magical EMP (Exterminatus Magic Pulse) that fries everything, including your potential loot. Only use if you don't plan on salvaging from the broken bodies of your enemies. Perhaps as a scroll...
8
Greater Prying Eyes—Scouts with True Seeing are always useful.
Greater Shadow Evocation—Like Shades, it allows you to make up for your limited spells known. Try using it to mimic Leomund’s Tiny Hut while traveling or Contingency if you’re paranoid.
Prismatic Wall—The great headmaster of the Arcane Institute said it best: “this wall does BAD things to people. BAD things.”
Sunburst—Well, it is one way for the sorcerer to take out undead, and then some. It does lend a certain flair to a sorcerer’s repertoire. Great for making a flashy entrance at a social gathering.
Bigby’s Clenched Fist—Smack that bitch up.
Mind Blank—It saves you from the humiliation of failing to resist a Dominate Person and becoming the personal slave to some Drow matron. Some people had to learn this lesson the hard way.
Horrid Wilting—Dalron's favorite mass removal/gardening spell.
Otto’s Irresistible Dance—Stop! Its hammer time! No save, just suck.
Polymorph Any Object—You can now polymorph things into cheese.
7
Spell Turning—It helps you avoid getting killed by a Finger of Death to the face, if your friendly neighborhood cleric has neglected to cast Death Ward on you. A common sport my freshman year in the Arcane Institute was for two aspiring Archmages to turn up their Spell Turnings, cast Magic Missile at each other, and create a resonance effect. First to get back from the Astral Plane received beer and women. Loser had to foot the bill.
Arcane Sight, Greater—It is generally regarded as a good thing to know if the person you will be casting spells on today has Spell Turning on or not. Also, useful for qualification for Archmage, as those old geezers on the Archmage’s Council will want to see ‘diversity’ amongst the schools of magic in your spell list.
Ethereal Jaunt—In another dimension, with voyeuristic intention, well secluded, I see all!
Limited Wish—For a small price, you can make up for one important spell you do not know. Priceless.
Mass Hold Person—Stop in the name of love, baby!
Insanity—This is MADNESS!!!
Bigby’s Grasping Hand—provides cover, rushes, and gropes.
Forcecage—One of the greatest joys in life is to cast Forcecage on a dual lance wielding mounted charger, rendering his entire training up to this point moot. Expensive to cast, though. You’d probably be better off casting Fly on yourself and taunting him from above.
Prismatic Spray—Taste the rainbow, bitch.
Delayed Blast Fireball—Burn everything. Burn it to the ground. There is nothing quite like seeing five of these go off at one time.
Simulacrum—Materials for cloning: 2000 gp
XP cost for cloning: 2000 XP
Having a threesome consisting of only you and your wife?
Priceless
Finger of Death—Avada Kerdava! Bonus points if you guess which finger it is.
Maze—Best way to amaze a Feebleminded enemy.
Reverse Gravity—My hair gives me the power to defy gravity.
6
Disintegrate—as often said amongst the students of the Arcane Institute, “handy for getting obstacles, objects, and people out of the way.”
Flesh to Stone—Medusafying.
Dispel Magic, Greater—useful for getting nasty effects out of the way, like when you fail to resist a Dominate Person with your name on it and are forced to wait several months for your friends to rescue you from a Drow stronghold and return you to your right mind.
Shadow Walk—The perfect way to send people to the Shadow Realm. Great way to transverse across time and space for cheap. Best used if you travel extensively and regularly, otherwise Limited Wish may be better.
Bigby’s Forceful Hand—Talk to the hand!
True Seeing—You see all. Caution: expensive material component. Best left to wizards who can prepare it on a situational basis. Greater Prying Eyes wins out over this for me.
Eyebite—Behold the Evil Eye, of Poogly Pie.
Greater Heroism—Are you a bad enough dude to be the hero?
5
Feeblemind—cast it on other magic users to humiliate them, or cast on your friendly meat shield to make him smarter. (I kid, Gragthor, I kid.)
Wall of Force—absolutely fantastic spell. I have used it to trap monsters (with the powers of geometry), protect myself inside an Antimagic Field, and more. It may very well save your life, and help you end someone else’s. Remember, when casting a Wall of Force NONE SHALL PASS!
Telekinesis—can be used to manipulate things from far away, trip, disarm, pin down, or bull rush opponents (preferably into a Prismatic Sphere), and scratch those hard to reach places on your back.
Persistent Image—Illusions are good and useful. Ever wanted to get out of dinner with your mother in law? Here you go!
Overland Flight—What’s that in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a skyship? No, it’s a flying mage raining magical death down on you from above!
Dominate Person—Best used on enemies to make them fight each other, or on your girlfriend. And then, only if she’s into that kind of thing.
Hold Monster—Stupefy!
Cloudkill—If you ever face off against hoards of minions, by all means invite them to pull your finger.
Baleful Polymorph—turn your enemies into pets and make them perform tricks for your amusement.
Contact Other Plane: Great spell… but are you going to use it every day? Nerd Wizard work.
4
Enervation—yes, it’s channeling the blackest of energies to cripple an opponent, making it an evil act. That being said, it is also a very effective spell. Learn it and let the Student Honor Council debate the ethics of using it. Empower for greater effect only if you can suppress the urge to spout out villainous laughter as you do so.
Greater Invisibility—Being unseen in the presence of a great and powerful monster is good. Nowadays, however, most of the opponents I face have ways to see through or negate Invisibility, so I usually spend it in attempts to avoid unwelcome relatives.
Resilient Sphere—It protects and traps pretty much any one creature, even incorporeal or ethereal ones. No need to call ghost busters to handle your focused, non-terminal repeating phantasms anymore.
Black Tentacles—In my younger days, I once managed to restrain a succubus with this spell. It proved effective, though not in the manner I was expecting.
Dimension Door—To quote the headmaster, “Great for getting you out of trouble—or into it.”
Solid Fog—To quote the headmaster again, “No save, just suck.”
Scrying—A great information gathering spell, but no something you will use all the time. Wizard work. That being said, it is a very way of viewing the inner workings of the women’s shower.
Phantasmal Killer—Super special awesome attack! (Or at least it would be if your opponent didn't get two chances to save for it. marginal at worst, Rogue killer at best.)
Charm Monster—Great for gathered information, incapacitating the enemy, making friends, and bending people to your will, though a bottle of dwarven fire whisky and a few glasses has about the same effect.
Confusion—Torment!
Polymorph—Please don't.
3
Fly—Up, up, up and away!
Phantom Steed—Hail Shadowfax, king of horses, now with wings.
Major Image—One student at the Arcane Institute had a tenancy to surprise intruders to his dorm by summoning an illusory barbed wire cage around them. Since no one would actually dare to interact with the illusion to determine if it was real or not, it left them in a rather prickly predicament.
Deeper Slumber—Arcane focus: your professor’s lecture.
Heroism—My voice knows kung fu.
Hold Person—When one of the nobles at my local bar started giving gave me a hard time for getting all the ladies, I proceeded to stunned him, lift his robes over his head, and then walked away. No more was necessary.
Shrink Item—Shrinking large things and carrying them in your pocket does have uses. I remember that I was once fighting this witch whom I killed her by flying up in the air, invisible, and then dropping a shrunken house onto her, dismissing the spell while the house was en route to the ground.
Slow—Stopping things from reaching your is always a plus. It also works on undead, as it is not a mind- affecting spell. Best use, though, is at sporting competitions.
Haste—Best used on your own team at sporting competitions.
Stinking Cloud—Not only does this cripple wizards and prevent them from casting spells, but has many applications in the realm of practical jokes. As a freshman at the Institute of Arcane Studies, there was a brief period where you could not trust the food at the dining hall because some anonymous student would find a way of slipping Beans of Stinking Cloud into the day’s meals.
Explosive Runes—they make a great impromptu booby trap, way of paying a check with an unpleasant restaurant or shopkeeper, and ensuring that your letter self destructs after it is read.
Note: make sure that the recipient can survive before mailing the letter.
Dispel Magic—A lifesaver if you need to clear hallways of Stinking Clouds.
Protection from Energy—Alas, poor Dalron’s greatest foe.
Fireball—Another of Dalron’s mainstays, this is a respectable spell for troubleshooting at long distances. Solving problems from far away is generally regarded as a good thing.
Ray of Exhaustion—Jock-b-gone
Vampiric Touch—All your health is belong to me.
Wind Wall—Take pride in rendering Elfy McElf, the Elvish archer utterly obsolete.
2
Hideous Laughter—Hey, you wanna hear a joke?
Resistance to Energy—Alas, poor Dalron’s second greatest foe.
Alter Self—not only does this allow you to disguise yourself, but you can pretend to be of a different species. Gaining the armor of a Troglodyte without its stench is never a bad thing.
Among its other uses is disguising yourself as an old lady and letting your purse be snatched by thieves, while it contains a few notes worth of Explosive Runes.
Bull’s Strength, Bear’s Endurance, Cat’s Grace—My voice gives me super strength!
Blindness/Deafness—Kaiden, surprisingly enough, never took this spell, preferring to walk around showing his enemies 4chan.
Shatter—Have you ever seen a jerk who bullied you as a kid buy an obscenely expensive ring to present to his bride at their wedding, only to have it shatter mysteriously at the altar? Fun times, fun times.
Gust of Wind—It will blow you away.
Magic Mouth—No, not that kind.
Silence -
Invisibility—a great spell until Greater Invisibility is on the table, as it allows you to go to places you normally couldn’t go, such as the women’s shower.
Mirror Image—Greetings, Mr. Anderson. Today, you’ll be fighting me. Me, me, me, me, me.
Hypnotic Pattern—Bards? Who needs bards?
Minor Image—The cake is a lie!
Detect Thougths—Ah, your thoughts betray you.
See Invisibility—It helps detect peeping toms in showers, if nothing else.
Glitterdust—Just because you can see invisible things doesn’t mean others can. Also blinds whatever gets hit by it. As some of us have found out the hard way, invisibly sneaking into a shower containing sorceresses who know both spells is not a good idea.
Web—Spider web, spider web, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies. Here comes the spider web.
Acid Arrow—A long ranged acid spell that deals damage over time and bypasses spell resistance. Handy, but I’ve never found a use for it, except in special circumstances. I will note though that you can use it to hit others from faaaaar, which means you are less likely to be poked with a pointy stick.
Scorching Ray—Dalron’s favorite spell when we were rooming together in the Junior Academy for Arcane Studies, and a powerful damage dealing spell, for the level, anyways. It is a great way to roast troll flesh, which doesn’t actually taste half bad with a little Prestidigitation thrown on for flavor.
1
Animate Rope—Kinky.
Tenser’s Floating Disk—Best used for practical jokes involving staircases. If Tenser was alive today, I’d use it on him for creating this sad excuse of a spell.
Mount—It’s a mount. You ride it to places. You can also sell it and run off with the money before the buyer realizes he’s been had. Unless you want to major in either swindling or liveries, pass.
Identify—You identify magic items for a price. If that’s your thing, go for it. If not, leave it to the nerds.
Sleep—The perfect antidote for when you can’t sleep due to being poked at with pointy sticks.
Color Spray—Blind them with magic!
Silent Image—Gives you more time to run from angry spouses.
Chill Touch—“I get to touch you and weaken you. You get to hit me with a huge hunk of metal.” Pass.
Expeditious Retreat—Run away! Run away!
True Strike—Ah yes. Learn to use the Force.
Magic Missile—I keep it around for those pesky “class five roaming vapors” whom I can never quite Disintegrate properly.
Shocking Grasp—My honorable enemy and worthy opponent, let us shake on it!
Grease—Great for tripping up jocks, or enemies charging up a staircase at you—not that the two are mutually exclusive. Also, useful for lubrication.
Shield, Mage Armor—No one will suspect the man in ordinary clothing to be abnormally hard to hit!
Charm Person—“You don’t need to see our identification.”
Enlarge Person—Oh no! Growth hormones! Best pawned off on the cleric or wizard, as it will not likely need multiple castings of per day.
Ray of Enfeeblement—Jock-b-ware
0
Touch of Fatigue—While in the Junior Academy, Dalron sparred with Saal and cast this on Saal to make him tired. Saal responded by knocking Dalron lights out with an axe. I leave the lesson to be learned to you.
Prestidigitation—It cooks, it cleans, it gets crumbs out of your Cloak of Charisma.
Detect Magic—It detects magic. Yeah.
Read Magic—It allows you to read magic. Yeah.
Detect Poison—You try surviving at the Academy cafeteria without it.
Message—Pretending that you’re someone’s conscience never gets old.
Ghost Sound—Provides a nice, ambient "Bow chicka bow wow" for your Luxurious Love Shack.
Arcane Mark—In essence, magical graffiti. Leave it on the foreheads of your enemies and flings: "A Wizard Did It".
Daze—It is a stunning spell.
Resistance—The only way to survive cafeteria food.
Light—And behold, there was light!
Mending—This spell is all you need to woo the ladies. Keep their clothing trim, yours looking sharp, and your prophylactics re-usable.
There are, of course, other great spells to know, but I think I have given you a fair idea of what to look out for, as well as the proper mindset for a competent sorcerer. Best of luck to you, Sigil Prep freshmen, class of 1337, and I hope you have learned these lessons well, for I tend to guard my secrets with EXPLOSIVE RUNES
Sculpt Spell, which was not covered, allows you shape your spell into several useful shapes, as detailed on a list, for a +1 level adjustment. Totally worth it.
Smiting Spell, another +1 metamagic feat, allows you to store a spell in a weapon, releasing it when it hits an enemy.
What would happen if you gave your entire team arrows of Vampiric Touch? Do you, the caster, get all the temporary HP that results from when they hit? Ask your DM today!
B:
For more in depth spell and metamagic analysis, as well as spells and metamagic I failed to cover, read:
One PrC from Sandstorm merits mention, the Sand Shaper. It's has some interesting and useful abilities, and only costs 2 caster levels in the long run.
Taking a single level in this class gives the Desert Insight class feature, which adds a ton of spells to your spells known, covering a variety of uses, including utility, blasting, summoning, and save-or-die spells.
Downside? 8 ranks in Knowledge nature, a cross class skill for you, you lose a caster level upon taking your first step in the class, and it requires a dead feat.
The most effective way is to use Limited Wish to duplicate Psychic Reformation, as described in the thread.
*Other people helped, but will not be credited at all.
Thanks to everyone else who posted on the thread, including, but by no means limited to, Talic, Collin152, Frosty, Jack Smith, Kurald Galain, Shneeky the Lost, Sweetrein, and all the people who praised me.
is a sorcerer better than a wizard? i know they have a bigger amount of spells per day, but how does the limit on the spells they know play in to how strong they are?
what schools of magic are the best, what schools should most of your spells be coming from?
Best suggestion for a familiar is an animal companion. There's a class variant that gets it.
2nd. Sorcerors are different. Not better, not worse. You have to plan them well, and must be content with having 10 solutions for 100 problems. Since your spells aren't flexible, you must be.
Number one thing to look for:
1 good save or lose fort save
1 good save or lose will save
1 good save or lose ref save
1 good spell that does not allow SR
1 good spell that does not allow a save
Battlefield control is good, still, with wall of force topping that list. True seeing or something similar is a MUST.
what schools of magic are the best, what schools should most of your spells be coming from?
Irrelevant. As a sorcerer you pick the best individual spells without regard for school.
That said, Conjuration and Transmutation are the largest and, correspondingly, have more useful spells.
At each new sorcerer level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Sorcerer Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a sorcerer knows is not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on Table: Sorcerer Spells Known are fixed.) These new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of by study. The sorcerer can’t use this method of spell acquisition to learn spells at a faster rate, however.
This is an important bit to remember, I'm not sure if you mentioned it. It means your sorcerer can effectively pick from all spell lists of everyone, giving vastly more power during character generation. In game of course, you'll have to give a reason, and probably have your character start becoming fascinated by the properties of X spell a few sessions before levelup, and possibly include a trip to the library to find out about it.
EDIT: I forgot to say: Epic win, lolpwnt, etc etc solo. Beautiful piece you have there. Absolutely top notch.
This is an important bit to remember, I'm not sure if you mentioned it. It means your sorcerer can effectively pick from all spell lists of everyone, giving vastly more power during character generation. In game of course, you'll have to give a reason, and probably have your character start becoming fascinated by the properties of X spell a few sessions before levelup, and possibly include a trip to the library to find out about it.
EDIT: I forgot to say: Epic win, lolpwnt, etc etc solo. Beautiful piece you have there. Absolutely top notch.
To be perfectly honest, as a DM, I take this as, if a character playing a sorceror is focused on a particular concept or area (not just a couple trips to the library, but the character theme shows study enough to qualify him as highly knowledgable in the area), I'll grant him some leeway with spells of that type.
For example, a dedicated boost sorceror learns mostly defensive and buff spells, I'm not opposed to letting him borrow a couple from the cleric list. A healthy amount of elemental? Let him look at the druid list. Character obsessed with death? Perhaps a couple spells from the death domain would help. Does he fancy himself a trickster? Go ahead, pull a few from bard.
This is an important bit to remember, I'm not sure if you mentioned it. It means your sorcerer can effectively pick from all spell lists of everyone, giving vastly more power during character generation. In game of course, you'll have to give a reason, and probably have your character start becoming fascinated by the properties of X spell a few sessions before levelup, and possibly include a trip to the library to find out about it.
.
Unfortunately, Wizards Can Do It Too, by researching 'custom spells' through the same mechanics. So it is a useful thing to have, but doesn't really give the sorcerer any leg up over the wizard.
Sorcerers just say "Instead of magic missile, I'd rather have some of those bardic music spells."
Wizards have to spend money on experimental components and and spend vast amounts of time on research through a forumula there are rules for, as far as I know. Sorcerers just have to ask the DM nicely and see what he says.
Although yes, this is the singular greatest aspect of sorcerers is that they can do all sorts of themes by borrowing from all kinds of lists.
and be able to cast certain spells without somatic components, like Dimension Door, no matter what – even while being grappled and pinned.
This doesn't work in a 3.5 Core campaign, for a couple of reasons:
1) Metamagic takes extra time (1 full round for a standard action spell) and in a grapple, spells you cast are limited to one standard action (Link).
2) Dimension Door doesn't have any somatic components anyway.
3) If you're Pinned, your opponent has the option of rendering you unable to speak - you need to worry about Verbal components, too.
What, no mention of the Planar Binding Line? It's a fun way for a Sorcerer to Prepare in advance for a new opponent....
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Of course, by the time I finish this post, it will already be obsolete. C'est la vie.
Last edited by Jack_Simth : 03-12-2008 at 06:35 AM.
This doesn't work in a 3.5 Core campaign, for a couple of reasons:
1) Metamagic takes extra time (1 full round for a standard action spell) and in a grapple, spells you cast are limited to one standard action (Link).
2) Dimension Door doesn't have any somatic components anyway.
3) If you're Pinned, your opponent has the option of rendering you unable to speak - you need to worry about Verbal components, too.
What, no mention of the Planar Binding Line? It's a fun way for a Sorcerer to Prepare in advance for a new opponent....
This violates the "3.5 Core" bit, but the PHB II variant in which you exchange your familiar for the ability to apply metamagic with no change in casting time is a personal favorite. Familiars always just get themselves killed, anyways...
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a sorcerer cannot per RAW get spells from the cleric, druid or bard list.
just to clear that up.
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a sorcerer cannot per RAW get spells from the cleric, druid or bard list.
just to clear that up.
A sorceror by RAW can get spells from any list. Any at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RAW
At each new sorcerer level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Sorcerer Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a sorcerer knows is not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on Table: Sorcerer Spells Known are fixed.) These new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of by study. The sorcerer can’t use this method of spell acquisition to learn spells at a faster rate, however.
Doesn't this make the sorceror more powerful than the wizard? Especially if he can take lower level versions of sorc spells.
It would certainly seem to. How is it that I have never seen this clause referenced before? Doesn't this make sorceror virtually a spontaneous arcane archivist?`
edit: Of course there are obvious practical limitations on this, just as there are on an archivist's ability to find scrolls of whatever spell he might want, and the obvious first restriction for a DM to impose would be divine spells, as why should a sorcerer be able to cast magic derived from deities by dint of his quirky personality? Still, it's hugely strong in theoretical optimization if treated as is being suggested, and there's plenty of discussion of that sort which seems to have ignored it.
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Last edited by kamikasei : 03-12-2008 at 09:51 AM.
Wait. This means that, theoretically, a sorcerer could get anyspell and surge of fortune, for example.
Well, see, the qualification on the sorcerer learning spells outside their official spell list is they have to gain some understanding of it by study. Which would need to be coordinated with the DM.
If a sorcerer tried to learn "Anyspell" this way, the proper DM response is to hit them over the head with a large brick.
this discussion is not a new one and was first discussed some time ago when i first joined these forum boards.
the response from wotc was that this meant sorcerers could choose spells from other sources than the phb, including homebrewed etc or even spells invented by another wizard who has never shared it with anyone.
they specifically stated that it did not include spells off other classes lists.
certainly the idea that a class that does not gain any direct benefit to their class features from a high intelligence should be able to STUDY to gain advantages to their class features makes little sense.
studying is for wizards, certainly by RAI.
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of course they named it sorcerer and wizard list because it was really only a wizard list...?
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Very interesting and useful treatsie, I must say. However, if I may make some... shall we say 'counterpoints'?
I think you are vastly underestimating the value of certain metamagic majors. You see, The strength of the Sorcerer, to use a witty phrase a good Fighter friend of mine used, is Tactical rather than Strategic. When asked to expound upon this, he explained that Strategy is planning ahead, wheras Tactics is dealing with the imediate situation with what you have. I found it a remarkable counterpoint of Sorcerers and Wizards for a person who has absolutely no knowledge of magical prowess. And so, my humble opinion on the various options for metamagic majors:
Empower Spell: I find this to be a false economy the majority of the time. Two spell levels later, you can generally find something far more damaging. There are certain exceptions, such as when the damage is of a particularly rare type, or the damage affects the person's well-being in ways more than mere physical damage. Examples of this would be Magic Missile, which deals Force damage, and never miss, so the guarenteed damage may be worth the 3rd level spell normally reserved for something like a Fireball; and Enervation, which does negative levels, making it an exceptionally nasty spell indeed. Other than these rare exceptions, however, I find it not nearly as valuable as some of the others.
Enlarge Spell: While keeping foes with sharp pointy things well away from you is always a good thing, this isn't as effective at doing it as one might think. Consider a moment that it does not work on spells you have to touch to cast, and that even the newest Sorcerer on the block can cast Close range spells up to thirty feet away.
Extend Spell: I find this to be sub-par in my experience. You see, once you gain a moderate amount of magical prowess, your spells with a duration of hours/level will practically last all adventuring day, using either the humble Rope Trick or the upgraded Mordikain's Magnificent Love Shack to keep yourself safe once the spells have expired. During combat, the duration is almost pointless, as combat will almost certainly be over before you spell is. In your younger days, when you need it the most, you are least able to afford the price tag associated with it.
Heighten Spell: A deceptively useful one, and often overlooked. Why, then, would I wish to cast a low level spell in a higher level spell slot? Why, because you are no wizard who has to guess in advance which spells he needs to memorise for the day and what metamagic to apply at that time, your tactical versitility is such that even your humble low level spells can affect a surprisingly potent foe when dropped into a higher level spell slot. And remember, you are a Sorcerer, you have few high level spells known, but many times a day to cast it. This means that you will often have high-end spell slots available. So when your opponent thinks he can easily overcome the Stinking Cloud, only to be overcome by the fumes when cast as a 9th level spell. In this case, it increases the DC of the spell by 6, which is the equivelant of a +12 to Charisma (impossible through pre-epic means), or an Archmage devoted exclusively to increasing his spell power AND has an Ioun Stone which increases it still further. This makes your low-end spells still viable and useful even very late in your career.
Maximize Spell: A false economy, I fear. While many 'blasters' drool over this one, it's actually not as useful as it may appear to be. It is cast as a spell three levels higher. So let us once again use that staple, the Fireball. A Maximized Fireball deals a guarenteed 60 damage (10d6) as a 6th level spell. Let us browse the list of 6th level spells, shall we? We have Disintegrate, but that's not really a fair comparison, now is it? Ahh, here we go, Evocation has two different 'blasters' at 6th: Chain Lightning and Freezing Sphere. Now then, of the two, Freezing Sphere is the most similar, so let us use it by way of comparison. This particularly little nuke deals 15d6 (15d8 vs water elementals and the like, but those are so rare, let's just ignore that, shall we). Now then, the law of averages and bell curves indicates that this spell will average out to somewhere between 45 and 60 damage. So, not a whole lot of difference in damage output, but Freezing Sphere also lets you freeze water, making it possible to create walkways across otherwise impassible water sources, trap monsters who are currently in the water, and in general has a lot more utility use than Fireball does.
Right, let's look at Chain Lightning briefly, shall we? First off, it's damage is capped at 20d6, which means it will, on average, actually do MORE damage than the Maximised Fireball toward the end of your career, PLUS it arcs to a number of secondary targets equal to your caster level, each one doing half damage. That's a lot better than the Maximized Fireball to me.
Quicken Spell: Core, unable to be used by us. Pity, and the nerds wizards never let us forget it, either. If you allow PhB II rules, possibilities open up, and it becomes an extremely valuable tool.
Silent Spell: Always handy to have, since we don't have to guess which spells we'll need to cast silently, unlike some people. Very useful for when captured and gagged, or when in a Zone of Silence, or similar effect. Everyone knows that silencing is the best method of shutting down a caster. Learn this and prove them wrong.
Still Spell: Also an extremly useful metamagic, and one I'm surprised wasn't mentioned earlier. This spell lets you cast spells without somatic components. This means, among other things, that Arcane Spell Failure does not apply to that particular spell, meaning you can be disguised as a 'tank' in full plate with a tower shield, and can still flawlessly perform arcane feats of prowess. It also means you can cast while grappled, making it invaluable in those sticky situatoins. It also means you can be clapped in irons in a dungeon and can still cast.
In fact, I'm reminded of one time when we were ambushed at night and taken captive. I was thrown in prison, chained to the wall, and gagged. My tormentor came to my prison and began taunting me about how useless I was now that I couldn't cast, waving the dummy spellbook I always keep on my person, which is always a worthwhile deception in such situations. My response of a Stilled and Silent Shatter on my bonds, followed up by a Phantasmal Killer on my strong but dumb tormentor. By the time the guards arrived after hearing his screams, I was already ready with a Prismatic Wall across the enterance.
Widen Spell: Deceptively Dangerous. As my smart Fighter friend used to say: Friendly Fire Isn't. Being hung my my toes from a rather large tree, I had ample time to consider the profound statement, and came to realize that he was a bit miffed about being caught in the effect of the Stinking Cloud I had cast at the opponent casters to keep them from casting. You see, a lot of the things you're casting works do not come equipped with a method of identifying friend from foe. Expanding the radius of the effect only compounds the problem further. And before one points out the example of the Archmage's Mastery of Shaping to negate this problem, may I point out that your associates would likely want to move around, rather than be stuck in the same small area that was exempted for their benefit? Also, depending on the duration of the spell, they may be stuck there for some time unless you are willing to spend another spell to dispel your effect. Undamaged, to be sure, but also rather upset with you for keeping them stuck in place.
About the Sorcerer and spell selection from other lists:
While it does not specifically state what
Quote:
These new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of by study
is supposed to mean, it is open to DM interpretation. In a RAW debate, anything that is possible must be considered. So your DM won't let a Sorcerer pick up Divine Favor from the divine list. So what. It doesn't say per RAW that you specifically can't. That makes it a houserule.
I don't think most spells are really going to unbalance the game if given to the Sorcerer. He already has NO CLASS FEATURES, let's give him a break man . Let's also consider Divine Favor as the example for my argument. So in the hands of the Cleric it channels divine power from his deity and turns it into an attack and damage bonus of up to +5 for a short time. Who cares where the power comes from. CHange the name of the spell to something non-divine like a cliched "Combat Favor" or whatever. Now make it an arcane spell that grants the same mechanical bonus sans deity. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Look at spells like Bull's Strength and Dispel Magic that are on multiple spell lists. The only spells I would see being a problem would be Miracle, True Resurrection, and Resurrection. Yah, so the Sorcerer could try to avoid the XP loss from Wish by going for Miracle, but I'd veto that particular one. The Resurrections are problematic enough for Clerics as it is. I would say being brought back to life without penalty would also qualify as needing divine backing. Other than those, magic is magic, regardless of power source.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McMindflayer
Of course, this still doesn't answer the question... "How does it POOP?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turcano
I don't know why 3rd Edition thought elves should have Down's Syndrome as a defining feature.
<-- The print on his shirt is too small to read... It says "I killed a PC today and all I got was this crappy shirt"... too cliche?
Empower Spell: I find this to be a false economy the majority of the time. Two spell levels later, you can generally find something far more damaging. There are certain exceptions, such as when the damage is of a particularly rare type, or the damage affects the person's well-being in ways more than mere physical damage. Examples of this would be Magic Missile, which deals Force damage, and never miss, so the guarenteed damage may be worth the 3rd level spell normally reserved for something like a Fireball; and Enervation, which does negative levels, making it an exceptionally nasty spell indeed. Other than these rare exceptions, however, I find it not nearly as valuable as some of the others.
Disagreed! At least, with regard to sorcerers. Spell slots are extremely valuable. A sorcerer who learns fireball and delayed blast fireball is, in my opinion, worse off than a sorcerer with empower who learns fireball something entirely different, like, say, forcecage.
The way I'm playing my current sorcerer is to use lowish slots for elemental damage - scorching ray, lightning bolt, orb of acid, cold, or force. Metamagic them up to higher damage. High slots get reserved for utility or save or die effects like dim door, baleful polymorph, forcecage. With enough metamagic (thank you, incantatrix) you should be able to get by with a single spell from each element, saving your precious slots for other effects. If you go the energy admixture route you might even be able to get away with one or two elemental damage spells and mix/sculpt accordingly.
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is a sorcerer better than a wizard? i know they have a bigger amount of spells per day, but how does the limit on the spells they know play in to how strong they are?
what schools of magic are the best, what schools should most of your spells be coming from?
any suggestions for a familiar?
Yes and No sorcerers are better than wizards depends on several factors:
Sorcerers are generally easier to play than a wizard with a limited known spell list and can be made even easier to play by playing a Variant Battle Sorcerer.
There are many threads with suggested spells to take at the various levels for various types of sorcerers (some scored numerically by players which helps avoiding poor spell selection). Actually even easier to play a Beguiler now IMO for what the class gets in comparison to a base class sorcerer.
Sorcerers are nice in low magic campaign settings.
They involve a lot less book and recordkeeping for a Player and a DM which can really be a pain in high level games since the player only needs to spend an hour or two making the PC not an hour or so each game tweaking the wizard spell list for the adventure (For some players this can be a enjoyable experience while other find it tedious and tiring).
IMO the limited known spells hurts a sorcerer most at the lower levels of play but also makes them one of the easiest spellcasting classes to play.
I favor the generalist sorcerer which means I mix up the spell lists to avoid spell duplication and enter a PRC like Mage of the Arcane Order or Guild Wizard of Waterdeep for access to a Spell Pool and purchase a Ring of Theurgy at higher levels 11/12+ and a few Rune Staves from MIC.
For a level 1 sorcerer in a short low level game I like going Battle Sorcerer with Color Spray or Sleep taking the Precocious Apprentice feat Scorching Ray to fuel the Reserve feat Fiery Burst. The PC gets D8, average BAB, No ASF in light armor, a nice hand held weapon proficiency and has a very small spell list to worry about. Beguiler probably a better choice at this level.
I like Ravens for familiars.
Last edited by CASTLEMIKE : 03-12-2008 at 01:18 PM.
The spell appraisals were just to help the process a little and entertain.
And in that intention you have most definately succeeded. I applaud you sir, may you be know throughout the web as the snarky king of awesome death rain. Thanks for an entertaining read.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeroNumerous
A treasure destroying trap sounds like the work of someone who puts items in barrels or at the bottom of a death filled labyrinth.
Ah, you're starting to get it. Then you dig down and loot the remains. Give them bread and circusses and the proles wont rise against you. Give adventurers dungeons and trapped chests and they won't waste time looking for your home to kill your wife.
Disagreed! At least, with regard to sorcerers. Spell slots are extremely valuable. A sorcerer who learns fireball and delayed blast fireball is, in my opinion, worse off than a sorcerer with empower who learns fireball something entirely different, like, say, forcecage.
The way I'm playing my current sorcerer is to use lowish slots for elemental damage - scorching ray, lightning bolt, orb of acid, cold, or force. Metamagic them up to higher damage. High slots get reserved for utility or save or die effects like dim door, baleful polymorph, forcecage. With enough metamagic (thank you, incantatrix) you should be able to get by with a single spell from each element, saving your precious slots for other effects. If you go the energy admixture route you might even be able to get away with one or two elemental damage spells and mix/sculpt accordingly.
And I would disagree with you completely.
I would get one damage spell from the lower level, my favorite is Lesser Sonic Orb, or perhaps Magic Missile. Then use Master of Elements later on to change it to whatever flavor you need.
Everything else is non-damaging effects.
Seriously, I get one or maybe two different blasters. I never get any of the Reflex Save spells, except perhaps DBF, which I use in tandem with Time Stop to make it marginally useful. Everything else is stuff like Stinking Cloud, Cloudkill, Solid Fog, Forcecage (or even better, just use Greater Shadow Evocation, there is both Forcecage *AND* Contingency, at no cost whatsoever), and the like.
Why bother with Fireball when I can get Slow, Haste, and Stinking Cloud? If there's casters against me, drop a Stinking Cloud to target their weak save, otherwise drop a Slow to screw over the opponent melee guys, and follow up with a Haste for my guys. I'll be way more effective using any of those methods than using a Fireball. Let the tanks do the damage, that's their job.
Why bother with Scorching Ray/Acid Arrow? At 2nd level, you've got a lot of 'must have' spells, including Mirror Image, Blindness/Deafness, and Rope Trick.
Even 1st level has Shield, which any decent Sorcerer should pick up, but at least you can afford both Magic Missiles and Lesser Sonic Orb here, since the only other one you really want is Feather Fall for pesky dispels on your overland flight later on.
IMO, the only excuse for Empower Spell is Enervation, because negative levels are all kinds of good fun and you don't get many other ways to apply them.
IMO, the only excuse for Empower Spell is Enervation, because negative levels are all kinds of good fun and you don't get many other ways to apply them.
Even then Chain and Split Ray are both better choices, in fact they're my two favorite metas, depending on what you use them for they can make you the king of Buffing or ungodly cheestastic, best of all they can both (albeit mostly chain) on buffs, debuffs, blasts and utility spells, in combat and out of it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZeroNumerous
A treasure destroying trap sounds like the work of someone who puts items in barrels or at the bottom of a death filled labyrinth.
Ah, you're starting to get it. Then you dig down and loot the remains. Give them bread and circusses and the proles wont rise against you. Give adventurers dungeons and trapped chests and they won't waste time looking for your home to kill your wife.
Even then Chain and Split Ray are both better choices, in fact they're my two favorite metas, depending on what you use them for they can make you the king of Buffing or ungodly cheestastic, best of all they can both (albeit mostly chain) on buffs, debuffs, blasts and utility spells, in combat and out of it.
True, however neither of these are Core, which is what the discussion is about.
However, Empowered Twin Ray Enervation is a scary, scary thing.
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. Let's also consider Divine Favor as the example for my argument. So in the hands of the Cleric it channels divine power from his deity and turns it into an attack and damage bonus of up to +5 for a short time. Who cares where the power comes from. CHange the name of the spell to something non-divine like a cliched "Combat Favor" or whatever. Now make it an arcane spell that grants the same mechanical bonus sans deity. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Look at spells like Bull's Strength and Dispel Magic that are on multiple spell lists. The only spells I would see being a problem would be Miracle, True Resurrection, and Resurrection. Yah, so the Sorcerer could try to avoid the XP loss from Wish by going for Miracle, but I'd veto that particular one. The Resurrections are problematic enough for Clerics as it is. I would say being brought back to life without penalty would also qualify as needing divine backing. Other than those, magic is magic, regardless of power source.
