Sorcerers need an extra helping of love, and no amount of archetypes will do. Not only do the existing ones need to be tweaked, but the whole class needs to be reconfigured. Here's my main issues:
WotC over-valued Metamagic. The tradeoff for Metamagic should be the list of spells available, not the lifeblood of a spellcaster.
No spell-related recovery on short rests. Both Wizards and Warlock have something. Sorcerers get a measly boon at 20 that can't even turn into a single Fireball.
Draconic's level 18 ability is just a fear/charm spell and doesn't feel amazing at all. Spend too many points and you'll end up locking yourself out of using it too. Other classes would label it as a "once per long rest" bit.
Ever since Draconic and the sorta-dead Shadow UA, no archetypes have required sorc points to use their abilities. Clearly an idea WotC wanted to do away with.
I can handle the 15 spell bit, but I can't handle how you need to devote some of those spells to the "theme" of your archetype. How can a Fire Draconic Sorc not get Fireball? You also want to get spells like Burning Hands and Fire Storm, but then you begin to spend too many slots. In the end, you settle on two or three that fit your "theme" while devoting the rest to standard spell-caster behavior, like haste and polymorph. Sorcerers need what Warlocks and Clerics have with a "Domain" type list, even if it means dipping into other classes.
I think back to the original Favored Soul UA, and its usage of Domains. Everyone deemed it not OP because of the extra spells, but more desirable than the other archetypes. It wasn't just that we had access to more spells, but that the spells we were given meant we didn't need to waste slots on basically fixing our archetype. Favored Soul was intended to give us Cleric type abilities, so instead of taking away from sorcerers, it gave to sorcerers. The same logic should apply to all the other archetypes. Lightning Draconic gives me a boon to lightning damage, but I need to basically pay to use chain lightning. That just seems silly. As does the resistance bit.
This is by no means a new issue. Its been around for a while, but WotC keeps fixing it in the wrong ways. Instead of new archetypes, we need a revamp.
I like the Sorcerer actually, even as is. The Sorcery Points may be limited, but this is the only class that has access to Metamagics. Quickened spells and twinned spells give the Sorcerer extra options that the other classes don't get. Quickening a Fireball and then Twinning a Firebolt at two enemies can allow you to pump out extra damage in a round that other classes can have a hard time meeting. Or what about a heightened control spell like Dominate Monster? Forced disadvantage on an already difficult save for many NPCs is the best guarantee of having them fail you can get. I don't think that they over-valued this part, it just requires you to think about the things you can do with the variety of options.
For your themed spells argument, that's personal choice. You can make the same case for an Evoker who take the feat energy affinity for fire. Sorcerers have always had that limitation on spells known, and in exchange they have usually gotten additional power to compensate for their limits. Wizards get versatility in selection and swapping out their spells.
I agree that a fire/sorcerer feels a little bit forced since going with acid or ice seems a lot weaker.
As a beginner, i felt overwhelmd with the amount of spells and there functions. Now i also think that it is reasonable to say "fire" is the best choice for damage output.
But instead of producing even more spells, i would suggest to "adjust" the damage type of the standard spells.
A "scorching ray" could be an acid spell or the "fireball" could explode into an acidbomb.
I like your post but i am actually happy that the level 20 bonus is not that attractiv because i can happily multiclass into a life-cleric without looking back. :D
I do agree that the Sorcerer is a little weak. The number of spells known is my biggest issue, and I think that 5 spells known associated with origin (spread out at every other character level from one to nine) is the best fix.
The lack of a short rest mechanic is something I agree would be welcome. My favored option would be to regain a small number of sorcery points back on each rest, basically extending the weak capstone downward. Even a single sorcery point per short rest at level two, working its way up to a handful at higher levels would be good.
Additionally, there are a number of things I would like to see published as metamagic options. The recent Wizard put out in Unearthed Arcana can change damage types or saving throws of their spells, and that's something that I've always felt should be a metamagic option.
Finally, I would like to see sorcerers able to choose one more metamagic option somewhere between levels three and ten.
None of this is to say I don't like Sorcerers. They remain my favorite even with their shortcomings, and I think that just a little rebalancing would bring them up to par.
To help with the spell types my DM ok'd me using the Elemental Evil spells for Sorcerer as well. It's a little bit of a help.
But I agree, for having magical power be innate to their very being, they get shafted with number of spells, spell recovery, and their higher-level abilities.
Sorcerer points recover on short not long. This gives them recovery initially on par but quickly above wizard and druid, but I think the late game bonus makes up for the lack of versatility. I came up with this idea myself.
Light armor and simple weapons are granted at 1st level. This is mostly flavorful as sorcerers don't study for their magic like a wizard, so they have the basic armor and weapons feats. The idea originayed from Nerdarchy.
All origins give bonus spells like many other classes. This helps them have a limited spell selection, but still embrace the theme of the origin. All caster classes except wizard get extra spells, and obviously wizards don't need them (Bards have their late game bonus spells which are arguably better.) The idea originated from Web DM.
Added the energy substitution metamagic that can shift damage. I don't include physical damage, radiant, necrotic, or force, as those are all stronger and less sorcerery than the other more traditional elements. I also let the subclasses that care about a specific damage type use the feature cheaper. The idea orginated from Nerdarchy.
I do agree that the Sorcerer is a little weak. The number of spells known is my biggest issue, and I think that 5 spells known associated with origin (spread out at every other character level from one to nine) is the best fix.
The lack of a short rest mechanic is something I agree would be welcome. My favored option would be to regain a small number of sorcery points back on each rest, basically extending the weak capstone downward. Even a single sorcery point per short rest at level two, working its way up to a handful at higher levels would be good.
Additionally, there are a number of things I would like to see published as metamagic options. The recent Wizard put out in Unearthed Arcana can change damage types or saving throws of their spells, and that's something that I've always felt should be a metamagic option.
Finally, I would like to see sorcerers able to choose one more metamagic option somewhere between levels three and ten.
None of this is to say I don't like Sorcerers. They remain my favorite even with their shortcomings, and I think that just a little rebalancing would bring them up to par.
I think that's the main thing. I really like sorcerer too, but there's just a few things that need fixing. A small batch of themed spells and good sorc point recovery on short rests is all what they need.
Sorcerers need an extra helping of love, and no amount of archetypes will do. Not only do the existing ones need to be tweaked, but the whole class needs to be reconfigured. Here's my main issues:
WotC over-valued Metamagic. The tradeoff for Metamagic should be the list of spells available, not the lifeblood of a spellcaster.
No spell-related recovery on short rests. Both Wizards and Warlock have something. Sorcerers get a measly boon at 20 that can't even turn into a single Fireball.
Draconic's level 18 ability is just a fear/charm spell and doesn't feel amazing at all. Spend too many points and you'll end up locking yourself out of using it too. Other classes would label it as a "once per long rest" bit.
Ever since Draconic and the sorta-dead Shadow UA, no archetypes have required sorc points to use their abilities. Clearly an idea WotC wanted to do away with.
I can handle the 15 spell bit, but I can't handle how you need to devote some of those spells to the "theme" of your archetype. How can a Fire Draconic Sorc not get Fireball? You also want to get spells like Burning Hands and Fire Storm, but then you begin to spend too many slots. In the end, you settle on two or three that fit your "theme" while devoting the rest to standard spell-caster behavior, like haste and polymorph. Sorcerers need what Warlocks and Clerics have with a "Domain" type list, even if it means dipping into other classes.
I think back to the original Favored Soul UA, and its usage of Domains. Everyone deemed it not OP because of the extra spells, but more desirable than the other archetypes. It wasn't just that we had access to more spells, but that the spells we were given meant we didn't need to waste slots on basically fixing our archetype. Favored Soul was intended to give us Cleric type abilities, so instead of taking away from sorcerers, it gave to sorcerers. The same logic should apply to all the other archetypes. Lightning Draconic gives me a boon to lightning damage, but I need to basically pay to use chain lightning. That just seems silly. As does the resistance bit.
This is by no means a new issue. Its been around for a while, but WotC keeps fixing it in the wrong ways. Instead of new archetypes, we need a revamp.
I am confused by your lifeblood comment. Do you mean they get fewer hit points per level? If so most PURE casters get a d8 or lower, clerics warlocks and druids can classify as hybrids of sorts, yes they cast spells but they also have high potential for melee damaging roles as well. Most of the high damage classes get the trade off of less life.
They can convert sorc points into spell slots, isn't that recovery? Those sorc points spent on recovery also can be regained mid combat, only one other class can do that and it takes them 1 minute at level 20 but restores 4 spell slots.
The effect of the 18th level draconic is underwhelming if you don't take into consideration it's a reworked fear spell into a sphere rather than a cone it costs the same amount of points as a 3rd level too however the charmed option is where it shines. A creature charmed by you cannot willingly target you singly, and a creature frightened of you cannot move closer to you and has disadvantage on ALL attacks/ability checks so long as you are in it's line of sight. No target cap and a 60 foot aura are not bad but yes if you ignore status ailments then yes it does nothing.
I agree the abilities using sorc point may have been deemed a bad choice by WotC but only because they may have realized how many sorc points are needed to compete with wizards.
Yes warlocks get an expanded spell list but they don't function like cleric domains, they have to learn spells they don't get those as freebies. So they are capped at 15 spells known not counting their arcanum which are locked upon choosing as opposed to your ability to swap out any of your spells 1/per level when you level up. also on the topic of locks they get 4 spell slots and 4 arcanum. That's 8 spells unless you take short rests and they only have 2 spell slots until level 11 where you get 3 and one arcanum. By that time a Sorcerer has 16 spell slots. That's double what a warlock has when you have basically the same number of spells known and both can cast any spell they know on the fly. If a warlock wants more than 15 spells and their 4 arcanum they have to settle for pact of the tome and are then restricted to rituals as they additional stuff they can learn, Rituals tend to be more towards the flavorful side than the combustive side of spells.
Sorcerers need an extra helping of love, and no amount of archetypes will do. Not only do the existing ones need to be tweaked, but the whole class needs to be reconfigured. Here's my main issues:
WotC over-valued Metamagic. The tradeoff for Metamagic should be the list of spells available, not the lifeblood of a spellcaster.
No spell-related recovery on short rests. Both Wizards and Warlock have something. Sorcerers get a measly boon at 20 that can't even turn into a single Fireball.
Draconic's level 18 ability is just a fear/charm spell and doesn't feel amazing at all. Spend too many points and you'll end up locking yourself out of using it too. Other classes would label it as a "once per long rest" bit.
Ever since Draconic and the sorta-dead Shadow UA, no archetypes have required sorc points to use their abilities. Clearly an idea WotC wanted to do away with.
I can handle the 15 spell bit, but I can't handle how you need to devote some of those spells to the "theme" of your archetype. How can a Fire Draconic Sorc not get Fireball? You also want to get spells like Burning Hands and Fire Storm, but then you begin to spend too many slots. In the end, you settle on two or three that fit your "theme" while devoting the rest to standard spell-caster behavior, like haste and polymorph. Sorcerers need what Warlocks and Clerics have with a "Domain" type list, even if it means dipping into other classes.
I think back to the original Favored Soul UA, and its usage of Domains. Everyone deemed it not OP because of the extra spells, but more desirable than the other archetypes. It wasn't just that we had access to more spells, but that the spells we were given meant we didn't need to waste slots on basically fixing our archetype. Favored Soul was intended to give us Cleric type abilities, so instead of taking away from sorcerers, it gave to sorcerers. The same logic should apply to all the other archetypes. Lightning Draconic gives me a boon to lightning damage, but I need to basically pay to use chain lightning. That just seems silly. As does the resistance bit.
This is by no means a new issue. Its been around for a while, but WotC keeps fixing it in the wrong ways. Instead of new archetypes, we need a revamp.
I am confused by your lifeblood comment. Do you mean they get fewer hit points per level? If so most PURE casters get a d8 or lower, clerics warlocks and druids can classify as hybrids of sorts, yes they cast spells but they also have high potential for melee damaging roles as well. Most of the high damage classes get the trade off of less life.
They can convert sorc points into spell slots, isn't that recovery? Those sorc points spent on recovery also can be regained mid combat, only one other class can do that and it takes them 1 minute at level 20 but restores 4 spell slots.
The effect of the 18th level draconic is underwhelming if you don't take into consideration it's a reworked fear spell into a sphere rather than a cone it costs the same amount of points as a 3rd level too however the charmed option is where it shines. A creature charmed by you cannot willingly target you singly, and a creature frightened of you cannot move closer to you and has disadvantage on ALL attacks/ability checks so long as you are in it's line of sight. No target cap and a 60 foot aura are not bad but yes if you ignore status ailments then yes it does nothing.
I agree the abilities using sorc point may have been deemed a bad choice by WotC but only because they may have realized how many sorc points are needed to compete with wizards.
Yes warlocks get an expanded spell list but they don't function like cleric domains, they have to learn spells they don't get those as freebies. So they are capped at 15 spells known not counting their arcanum which are locked upon choosing as opposed to your ability to swap out any of your spells 1/per level when you level up. also on the topic of locks they get 4 spell slots and 4 arcanum. That's 8 spells unless you take short rests and they only have 2 spell slots until level 11 where you get 3 and one arcanum. By that time a Sorcerer has 16 spell slots. That's double what a warlock has when you have basically the same number of spells known and both can cast any spell they know on the fly. If a warlock wants more than 15 spells and their 4 arcanum they have to settle for pact of the tome and are then restricted to rituals as they additional stuff they can learn, Rituals tend to be more towards the flavorful side than the combustive side of spells.
I think that Kita's "lifeblood" comment was a reference to spells known being the lifeblood of a spellcaster instead of hit points.
Converting sorcery points into spell slots is indeed a form of recovery, but at the expense of the sorcerer's only unique class feature. Converting all sorcery points into spell slots barely keeps up with Arcane Recovery, but that leaves no sorcery points left over for metamagic, so it's not exactly advisable, and I think it is a problem that would be rectified by a handful of sorcery points being recovered on a short rest.
I also think that the comparison to warlocks isn't the best one, but mostly because the sorcerer is a full caster, whereas the warlock is something else entirely. Warlocks get 15 spells known plus the arcanum (so 18 overall), but spellcasting isn't even their main focus. They also get at-will damage on par with a fighter, their many powerful invocations (which can even translate to more spells known), and their pact boons.
When looking at class balance with warlocks you do also have to assume that there will be some short rests in there (WotC recommends about 2 per day if I recall correctly). Given that, at level 11 they would have nine 5th level slots, one 6th level arcanum, and the at-will damage of a fighter. That seems to compare pretty favorably to sorcerers to me, but I do understand that there is wiggle room in the interpretation.
WotC over-valued Metamagic. The tradeoff for Metamagic should be the list of spells available, not the lifeblood of a spellcaster.
I am confused by your lifeblood comment. Do you mean they get fewer hit points per level? If so most PURE casters get a d8 or lower, clerics warlocks and druids can classify as hybrids of sorts, yes they cast spells but they also have high potential for melee damaging roles as well. Most of the high damage classes get the trade off of less life.
I think that Kita's "lifeblood" comment was a reference to spells known being the lifeblood of a spellcaster instead of hit points.
Yup. Spells known and spells available. I can do without Bigby's hand for example. But why do Sorcerers not get Flaming Sphere, but they get the other 2 concentration spheres? Why is the list essentially just a smaller Wizard list, with one or two exceptions? I know Wizards don't get Fire Storm.... And neither will Sorcerers when Fireball has better versatility.
While that bit with Warlocks holds true, they also have the best Cantrip in the game. Of course their lack of damaging skills helps to keep them sedated, but if their patron is a Fiend, they get access to fireballs.
Their at will effects are also more than just damage. Perma-levitate and arcane eye both sounds nice. But the big thing is that these aspects don't take away from the Warlock. Sorcerery points do. After you use up all your points and spells... Wizards are still flinging them around because they got to recover a few from a short rest.
And lets say things were balanced or whatever. While all the other classes are working towards short rests, Sorcerers are stuck trying to micromanage everything to last from long rest to long rest. Its a different way of thinking of things, and when the fighter and warlock say "All we need is a short rest" and you say "uh guys I need about 8 hours of sleep, a bedroll and some hot tea", they'll be a little annoyed.
And the sick thing? I like that part of the sorcerer. I like their bursty style. What I don't like is how when its gone, its gone, and that if you don't play to that specific style, you get punished for it.
In terms of flavor, maybe for damage dealing spells, you could choose 1-2 damage types when you choose your origin (probably specified by the origin like thunder and lightning for stormborn) and whenever you deal damage from a spell that is a damage type other than the one you chose (or bludgeoning, slashing, piercing) the damage type is changed to one of your two types. This would "add" more spells in that now fireball could just as easily be "thunderball." Also, once you start doing this, you could add more spells to the spell list, knowing that they will be adapted to the sorceror's origin. For example, (I'm not sure if it is on the spell list or not) you could add magic missile and it would become fire missiles or acid missiles or death missiles.
As another thing, you could try giving them more raw power by doing something like at a certain level, choose a 1st level spell and then you can cast it a number of times equal to your CHA modifier per long rest without using a spell slot. Or, for a simpler thing, just give them signature spells or spell mastery like wizards.
Sorcerers are OP if you focus on being really good at one or possibly two things. If you want versatility and recovery, go wizard or warlock. I mean, at some point you can dump all your low level spells to sorcery points and cast hold monster at advantage with heighten metamagic 5+ times and then finger of death at advantage heightened. You just made a dragon waste all it's get out of jailcards and killed it when it gets to 100 hit points, this is all happening while your crew is murdering it at advantage.
how about casting any spell without consequence with sublte, no counter spell on those mages on you. Or mass suggest a whole room of NPC's without them even knowing it was you? honestly, sorcerer are gods at certain things, if you don't know those things, or don't enjoy casting cantrips in the back until they happen... then roll something else.
Sorcerers are OP if you focus on being really good at one or possibly two things. If you want versatility and recovery, go wizard or warlock. I mean, at some point you can dump all your low level spells to sorcery points and cast hold monster at advantage with heighten metamagic 5+ times and then finger of death at advantage heightened. You just made a dragon waste all it's get out of jailcards and killed it when it gets to 100 hit points, this is all happening while your crew is murdering it at advantage.
how about casting any spell without consequence with sublte, no counter spell on those mages on you. Or mass suggest a whole room of NPC's without them even knowing it was you? honestly, sorcerer are gods at certain things, if you don't know those things, or don't enjoy casting cantrips in the back until they happen... then roll something else.
First off, subtle is a really weak metamagic. First, it only negates the verbal and somatic component - not the material. Fact is, an enemy will know you're casting a spell regardless simple because you're pointing a wand at them. Counterspell also got nerfed in Xanathar's, thanks to you required a reaction to identify spells. And as for Mass Suggestion... You can just hide the verbal component in the suggestion anyway.
All casters are powerful at higher levels. Yeah you can totally screw over a Dragon at level 20, but so can a Wizard without the need for sorcery points.
I don't get why you end with a "If you don't like the class, play something else!" note. I DO like the class. I just know it needs some improvements.
Subtle is very weak currently yes. It should be the most powerful but again, the focus of the meta magic is mute since barely any dm plays that hardcore and casually roleplay is perfectly fine.
you don’t have to point a wand. An arcane focus doesn’t have to be a wand. Gem socket in your eye etc.
you should not be allowed to cast any sort of spell without npc noticing something fishy, unless you take subtle spell. Arcane focus or hardcore users just touch the material component in your pocket or pouch. Hand in a pocket is not abnormal.
a sorcerer can screw over a dragon way earlier than 20 if you build for boss lock down. Heightened meta magic and a nasty spell that puts advantage disadvantage or a spell that is enough for Dm to no t ignore cause of effect.
First off, subtle is a really weak metamagic. First, it only negates the verbal and somatic component - not the material. Fact is, an enemy will know you're casting a spell regardless simple because you're pointing a wand at them.
The only thing that changed is that before there were no rules for identifying spells, and Xanathar's added an official rule which DMs may or may not choose to use. Remember, all of the rules in Xanathar's are optional.
You can just hide the verbal component in the suggestion anyway.
you don’t have to point a wand. An arcane focus doesn’t have to be a wand. Gem socket in your eye etc.
you should not be allowed to cast any sort of spell without npc noticing something fishy, unless you take subtle spell. Arcane focus or hardcore users just touch the material component in your pocket or pouch. Hand in a pocket is not abnormal.
the gem in the eye is so RP cool though...cmon =) Yeah i'll go with you on that. I always prefer finding and purchasing material components anyways, arcane focus would be incase DM isn't imaginative enough to allow you to find your components.
So slipping your hand in your component pouch in a crowd with subtle spell works. If you're going to mass suggest the king and court while bowing in front of him, you could just pull out the component and slip in your pocket beforehand and that will allow to cast the spell unoticed right in front of their eyes.
Again most DM's allow any caster to do that anyways.... so subtle spell is gimp instead of the true OP'ness it is. I'm not arguing to make it more serious, I like casual. I'm saying if the game is casual, then subtle spell is almost useless to take since you can do it without.
I mean, it is cool, but it'd have to be removable.
The Ersatz Eye from Xanathar's Guide to Everything fits the bill, actually. Its an artifical eye you can place in your eye socket and will function as a normal eye.
You might want to ask your DM to switch fire to cold damage. It would add some cold flavour. but agreed, there are somewhere near 15 fire spells for a dragon sorcerer and less than 5-6 for all the other elements each.
if you're using xpacks, there are enough cold spells to make a decent sorc focused on ice.
Dragon Breath: Choose a dragon with cold background. Breathe cold ice.
Cantrip: Frostbite- Spam this cantrip. A hit gives disadvantage to attacks. I personally think this is th emost underrated cantrip. Adv/Dis is OP in 5e. Cantrip: Ray of Frost. Slows down enemy. Meh. I prefer frostbite but if you only play players handbook, this is the cantrip. 1st level: Ice Knife. Nice AOE but small radius 1st level: Chromatic Orb. You can choose what element. Use cold. 2nd level: Snillocs' Snowball Storm : Aoe. 4th level: Ice Storm. 5th level: cone of Cold: Mandatory. Pretty much just use this and Hynotic Pattern once they are close. You freeze all the mobs while your party kills the boss. Best spell. Use it. 6th level: Investure of ice. Pick up Quickend metamagic and you can Bonus Action the Damage then use your action to use another spell. Big fights, this rocks.
Pick up some defence spelllike shield,misty step or dimension door then get a few mind ones, porbably hypnotic pattern and mass suggestion. after just grab wish spell and your done.
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Sorcerers need an extra helping of love, and no amount of archetypes will do. Not only do the existing ones need to be tweaked, but the whole class needs to be reconfigured. Here's my main issues:
I think back to the original Favored Soul UA, and its usage of Domains. Everyone deemed it not OP because of the extra spells, but more desirable than the other archetypes. It wasn't just that we had access to more spells, but that the spells we were given meant we didn't need to waste slots on basically fixing our archetype. Favored Soul was intended to give us Cleric type abilities, so instead of taking away from sorcerers, it gave to sorcerers. The same logic should apply to all the other archetypes. Lightning Draconic gives me a boon to lightning damage, but I need to basically pay to use chain lightning. That just seems silly. As does the resistance bit.
This is by no means a new issue. Its been around for a while, but WotC keeps fixing it in the wrong ways. Instead of new archetypes, we need a revamp.
I like the Sorcerer actually, even as is. The Sorcery Points may be limited, but this is the only class that has access to Metamagics. Quickened spells and twinned spells give the Sorcerer extra options that the other classes don't get. Quickening a Fireball and then Twinning a Firebolt at two enemies can allow you to pump out extra damage in a round that other classes can have a hard time meeting. Or what about a heightened control spell like Dominate Monster? Forced disadvantage on an already difficult save for many NPCs is the best guarantee of having them fail you can get. I don't think that they over-valued this part, it just requires you to think about the things you can do with the variety of options.
For your themed spells argument, that's personal choice. You can make the same case for an Evoker who take the feat energy affinity for fire. Sorcerers have always had that limitation on spells known, and in exchange they have usually gotten additional power to compensate for their limits. Wizards get versatility in selection and swapping out their spells.
I agree that a fire/sorcerer feels a little bit forced since going with acid or ice seems a lot weaker.
As a beginner, i felt overwhelmd with the amount of spells and there functions. Now i also think that it is reasonable to say "fire" is the best choice for damage output.
But instead of producing even more spells, i would suggest to "adjust" the damage type of the standard spells.
A "scorching ray" could be an acid spell or the "fireball" could explode into an acidbomb.
I like your post but i am actually happy that the level 20 bonus is not that attractiv because i can happily multiclass into a life-cleric without looking back. :D
I'd be content with a Metamagic (or perhaps a Feat) that switched one flavor of magic for another.
See the Energy Beam Talent in the Mystic UA. Exactly that.
⬐ If you thought I added value to the conversation, please let me know!
I do agree that the Sorcerer is a little weak. The number of spells known is my biggest issue, and I think that 5 spells known associated with origin (spread out at every other character level from one to nine) is the best fix.
The lack of a short rest mechanic is something I agree would be welcome. My favored option would be to regain a small number of sorcery points back on each rest, basically extending the weak capstone downward. Even a single sorcery point per short rest at level two, working its way up to a handful at higher levels would be good.
Additionally, there are a number of things I would like to see published as metamagic options. The recent Wizard put out in Unearthed Arcana can change damage types or saving throws of their spells, and that's something that I've always felt should be a metamagic option.
Finally, I would like to see sorcerers able to choose one more metamagic option somewhere between levels three and ten.
None of this is to say I don't like Sorcerers. They remain my favorite even with their shortcomings, and I think that just a little rebalancing would bring them up to par.
To help with the spell types my DM ok'd me using the Elemental Evil spells for Sorcerer as well. It's a little bit of a help.
But I agree, for having magical power be innate to their very being, they get shafted with number of spells, spell recovery, and their higher-level abilities.
My group uses the following changes:
Sorcerer points recover on short not long. This gives them recovery initially on par but quickly above wizard and druid, but I think the late game bonus makes up for the lack of versatility. I came up with this idea myself.
Light armor and simple weapons are granted at 1st level. This is mostly flavorful as sorcerers don't study for their magic like a wizard, so they have the basic armor and weapons feats. The idea originayed from Nerdarchy.
All origins give bonus spells like many other classes. This helps them have a limited spell selection, but still embrace the theme of the origin. All caster classes except wizard get extra spells, and obviously wizards don't need them (Bards have their late game bonus spells which are arguably better.) The idea originated from Web DM.
Added the energy substitution metamagic that can shift damage. I don't include physical damage, radiant, necrotic, or force, as those are all stronger and less sorcerery than the other more traditional elements. I also let the subclasses that care about a specific damage type use the feature cheaper. The idea orginated from Nerdarchy.
In terms of flavor, maybe for damage dealing spells, you could choose 1-2 damage types when you choose your origin (probably specified by the origin like thunder and lightning for stormborn) and whenever you deal damage from a spell that is a damage type other than the one you chose (or bludgeoning, slashing, piercing) the damage type is changed to one of your two types. This would "add" more spells in that now fireball could just as easily be "thunderball." Also, once you start doing this, you could add more spells to the spell list, knowing that they will be adapted to the sorceror's origin. For example, (I'm not sure if it is on the spell list or not) you could add magic missile and it would become fire missiles or acid missiles or death missiles.
As another thing, you could try giving them more raw power by doing something like at a certain level, choose a 1st level spell and then you can cast it a number of times equal to your CHA modifier per long rest without using a spell slot. Or, for a simpler thing, just give them signature spells or spell mastery like wizards.
Sorcerers are OP if you focus on being really good at one or possibly two things. If you want versatility and recovery, go wizard or warlock.
I mean, at some point you can dump all your low level spells to sorcery points and cast hold monster at advantage with heighten metamagic 5+ times and then finger of death at advantage heightened. You just made a dragon waste all it's get out of jailcards and killed it when it gets to 100 hit points, this is all happening while your crew is murdering it at advantage.
how about casting any spell without consequence with sublte, no counter spell on those mages on you. Or mass suggest a whole room of NPC's without them even knowing it was you?
honestly, sorcerer are gods at certain things, if you don't know those things, or don't enjoy casting cantrips in the back until they happen... then roll something else.
Subtle is very weak currently yes. It should be the most powerful but again, the focus of the meta magic is mute since barely any dm plays that hardcore and casually roleplay is perfectly fine.
you don’t have to point a wand. An arcane focus doesn’t have to be a wand. Gem socket in your eye etc.
you should not be allowed to cast any sort of spell without npc noticing something fishy, unless you take subtle spell. Arcane focus or hardcore users just touch the material component in your pocket or pouch. Hand in a pocket is not abnormal.
a sorcerer can screw over a dragon way earlier than 20 if you build for boss lock down. Heightened meta magic and a nasty spell that puts advantage disadvantage or a spell that is enough for Dm to no t ignore cause of effect.
Apoligize, last comment was rather rude.
A lot of spells that can get you out of a really bad situation don't require a material component: most combat cantrips, expeditious retreat, absorb elements, shield, counterspell, dispel magic, misty step, disguise self, blink, blur, mirror image, and greater invisibility to name a few. You really don't want most of those getting counterspelled in a critical moment.
Xanathar's didn't change how counterspell works. The 3 core books never had a way to identify spells in the first place. Gambling on counterspell has always been part of the spell's design.
The only thing that changed is that before there were no rules for identifying spells, and Xanathar's added an official rule which DMs may or may not choose to use. Remember, all of the rules in Xanathar's are optional.
No, you can't. Verbal components are mystic words (see PH 203). The suggestion doesn't happen until after you've cast the spell successfully.
Handling a material component is meant to be a visible part of casting and you have to manipulate it with a hand so the gem-in-your-eye thing isn't going to work either.
the gem in the eye is so RP cool though...cmon =)
Yeah i'll go with you on that. I always prefer finding and purchasing material components anyways, arcane focus would be incase DM isn't imaginative enough to allow you to find your components.
So slipping your hand in your component pouch in a crowd with subtle spell works. If you're going to mass suggest the king and court while bowing in front of him, you could just pull out the component and slip in your pocket beforehand and that will allow to cast the spell unoticed right in front of their eyes.
Again most DM's allow any caster to do that anyways.... so subtle spell is gimp instead of the true OP'ness it is.
I'm not arguing to make it more serious, I like casual. I'm saying if the game is casual, then subtle spell is almost useless to take since you can do it without.
I would just like more cold damage spells. It's a general thing, I like the idea of turning things to ice more than turning them to ash.
You might want to ask your DM to switch fire to cold damage. It would add some cold flavour. but agreed, there are somewhere near 15 fire spells for a dragon sorcerer and less than 5-6 for all the other elements each.
if you're using xpacks, there are enough cold spells to make a decent sorc focused on ice.
Dragon Breath: Choose a dragon with cold background. Breathe cold ice.
Cantrip: Frostbite- Spam this cantrip. A hit gives disadvantage to attacks. I personally think this is th emost underrated cantrip. Adv/Dis is OP in 5e.
Cantrip: Ray of Frost. Slows down enemy. Meh. I prefer frostbite but if you only play players handbook, this is the cantrip.
1st level: Ice Knife. Nice AOE but small radius
1st level: Chromatic Orb. You can choose what element. Use cold.
2nd level: Snillocs' Snowball Storm : Aoe.
4th level: Ice Storm.
5th level: cone of Cold: Mandatory. Pretty much just use this and Hynotic Pattern once they are close. You freeze all the mobs while your party kills the boss. Best spell. Use it.
6th level: Investure of ice. Pick up Quickend metamagic and you can Bonus Action the Damage then use your action to use another spell. Big fights, this rocks.
Pick up some defence spelllike shield,misty step or dimension door then get a few mind ones, porbably hypnotic pattern and mass suggestion.
after just grab wish spell and your done.