The fact that there isn't a meta-magic option to change your damage type for sorcerers is, imo, mindboggling.
There is in the UA
Elemental Spell When you cast a spell that deals a type of damage from the following list, you can spend 1 sorcery point to change that damage type to one of the other listed types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder
It is UA though and not official yet and it kinda got dampened (in my eyes at least) with the UA Order of Scribes Wizard that swaps any damage type to any damage type free, unlimited per day as long as he has a spell in his spellbook that deals the damage type you wanna swap too
While Transmuted Spell now exists if you are allowed to use Tasha's, if they ever update old subclasses, they could consider building it into the 6th level upgrades that each dragon sorcerer gets this automatically, but only for their damage type, and they can stack it with other metamagics.
WoTC just really like fire. I suspect that they're all just pyromaniacs.
Vitrolic Sphere transmuted into a damage type that you have Elemental Adept in is a powerful way to boost damage. That's what I like about the (2) acid spells in 5e - they use d4 damage in an unusual way which makes them powerful for elemental adept.
You can play any elemental theme you want with Chromatic Orb, its a top notch 1st level spell. Any spell slot you use can be whatever element you like and it's close to fireball damage to one target (handy if your party is in melee). After that also take fireball and transmute it for 1 sorc pt for that extra umph when needed, bypassing the most commonly resisted element in the game, Fire.
There aren't a lot of acid spells, true, but you don't need that many. There's a cantrip that can hit two targets at once, two good 1st-level spells for dealing damage at range, and an okay 2nd-level spell that's better with a familiar. And once you reach 7th-level, vitriolic sphere averages 37 damage across 2 rounds of combat. That's more damage than fireball, even upcast with a 5th-level slot. It packs a wallop and is efficient to boot.
And not many creatures have defenses against acid. Just in the Monster Manual, 77 creatures either have Damage Resistance or Damage Immunity to fire. For Cold. it's 66. Lightning, 45. Poison is an astounding 100, with 95 of them having outright immunity. Thunder is one of the least, overall, at just 16.
I disagree, Jounichi, that we don't need more acid spells. If a character wants to be an acid-slinger (Dissolver? Corroder?), they need to have more than just a handful of acid-damaging spells. We do have enough for the lower levels, IMO, but could use a lot more higher level acid spells. What about a wave of acid that dissolves a cone of enemies (Level 6 spell, perhaps)? Or the ability to turn a portion of the ground into a toxic pit of acid (Level 7 or 8, probably)?
We could use a ton more acid spells in the game. We honestly kind of need them.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
I disagree, Jounichi, that we don't need more acid spells. If a character wants to be an acid-slinger (Dissolver? Corroder?), they need to have more than just a handful of acid-damaging spells. We do have enough for the lower levels, IMO, but could use a lot more higher level acid spells. What about a wave of acid that dissolves a cone of enemies (Level 6 spell, perhaps)? Or the ability to turn a portion of the ground into a toxic pit of acid (Level 7 or 8, probably)?
We could use a ton more acid spells in the game. We honestly kind of need them.
I think this could honestly apply to everything other than fire. Acid is just kind of weak as a damage type thematically.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I disagree, Jounichi, that we don't need more acid spells. If a character wants to be an acid-slinger (Dissolver? Corroder?), they need to have more than just a handful of acid-damaging spells. We do have enough for the lower levels, IMO, but could use a lot more higher level acid spells. What about a wave of acid that dissolves a cone of enemies (Level 6 spell, perhaps)? Or the ability to turn a portion of the ground into a toxic pit of acid (Level 7 or 8, probably)?
We could use a ton more acid spells in the game. We honestly kind of need them.
I think this could honestly apply to everything other than fire. Acid is just kind of weak as a damage type thematically.
I disagree, Jounichi, that we don't need more acid spells. If a character wants to be an acid-slinger (Dissolver? Corroder?), they need to have more than just a handful of acid-damaging spells. We do have enough for the lower levels, IMO, but could use a lot more higher level acid spells. What about a wave of acid that dissolves a cone of enemies (Level 6 spell, perhaps)? Or the ability to turn a portion of the ground into a toxic pit of acid (Level 7 or 8, probably)?
We could use a ton more acid spells in the game. We honestly kind of need them.
I think this could honestly apply to everything other than fire. Acid is just kind of weak as a damage type thematically.
(all of the elemental damage types besides fire could use more spells)
Frankly, that should have been the dragon sorcerer's thing: Being able to change the damage type of their spells to match that of their draconic heritage. Of course, a better version of that was given to the scribes wizard because <reasons>
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Transmuted Spell and Awakened Spellbook are both powerful, and both are limited in their own way. The sorcerer doesn't need to know those other spells, they can just do it. And it can be done with any subclass. Awakened Spellbook, on the other hand, can do more with different damage types. But there's a gold cost associated with it. And you may have to upcast a spell to change it to the damage type you want.
All you're changing is the damage type; presumably to get around a resistance/immunity, or to take advantage of a vulnerability. You don't need that many spells to take advantage of the features. Shatter, regardless of the damage type, is still going to impose disadvantage on the saving throw for a creature made of an inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal. A fireball that does cold damage is still going to ignite flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
The ability to create custom spells already existed. This just simplifies it for an opportunity cost.
Transmuted Spell and Awakened Spellbook are both powerful, and both are limited in their own way. The sorcerer doesn't need to know those other spells, they can just do it. And it can be done with any subclass. Awakened Spellbook, on the other hand, can do more with different damage types. But there's a gold cost associated with it. And you may have to upcast a spell to change it to the damage type you want.
All you're changing is the damage type; presumably to get around a resistance/immunity, or to take advantage of a vulnerability. You don't need that many spells to take advantage of the features. Shatter, regardless of the damage type, is still going to impose disadvantage on the saving throw for a creature made of an inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal. A fireball that does cold damage is still going to ignite flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
The ability to create custom spells already existed. This just simplifies it for an opportunity cost.
HAVING to homebrew things is a bug, not a feature.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Transmuted Spell and Awakened Spellbook are both powerful, and both are limited in their own way. The sorcerer doesn't need to know those other spells, they can just do it. And it can be done with any subclass. Awakened Spellbook, on the other hand, can do more with different damage types. But there's a gold cost associated with it. And you may have to upcast a spell to change it to the damage type you want.
All you're changing is the damage type; presumably to get around a resistance/immunity, or to take advantage of a vulnerability. You don't need that many spells to take advantage of the features. Shatter, regardless of the damage type, is still going to impose disadvantage on the saving throw for a creature made of an inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal. A fireball that does cold damage is still going to ignite flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
The ability to create custom spells already existed. This just simplifies it for an opportunity cost.
HAVING to homebrew things is a bug, not a feature.
Changing something is homebrew. That's not an excuse for lazy publishing.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
There is in the UA
Elemental Spell When you cast a spell that deals a type of damage from the following list, you can spend 1 sorcery point to change that damage type to one of the other listed types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder
It is UA though and not official yet and it kinda got dampened (in my eyes at least) with the UA Order of Scribes Wizard that swaps any damage type to any damage type free, unlimited per day as long as he has a spell in his spellbook that deals the damage type you wanna swap too
In the CFV UA, there is an option for this, so one can hope it will be published in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything this November.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Transmuted spell. Heheh. Shame it isn't possible to use as well as another Metamagic, but still.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
That would be nice.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
Yeah, that does suck. We do need more acid spells in the game (all of the elemental damage types besides fire could use more spells)
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
WoTC just really like fire. I suspect that they're all just pyromaniacs.
Vitrolic Sphere transmuted into a damage type that you have Elemental Adept in is a powerful way to boost damage. That's what I like about the (2) acid spells in 5e - they use d4 damage in an unusual way which makes them powerful for elemental adept.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
You can play any elemental theme you want with Chromatic Orb, its a top notch 1st level spell. Any spell slot you use can be whatever element you like and it's close to fireball damage to one target (handy if your party is in melee). After that also take fireball and transmute it for 1 sorc pt for that extra umph when needed, bypassing the most commonly resisted element in the game, Fire.
There aren't a lot of acid spells, true, but you don't need that many. There's a cantrip that can hit two targets at once, two good 1st-level spells for dealing damage at range, and an okay 2nd-level spell that's better with a familiar. And once you reach 7th-level, vitriolic sphere averages 37 damage across 2 rounds of combat. That's more damage than fireball, even upcast with a 5th-level slot. It packs a wallop and is efficient to boot.
And not many creatures have defenses against acid. Just in the Monster Manual, 77 creatures either have Damage Resistance or Damage Immunity to fire. For Cold. it's 66. Lightning, 45. Poison is an astounding 100, with 95 of them having outright immunity. Thunder is one of the least, overall, at just 16.
And acid damage is 33. That's pretty good.
I disagree, Jounichi, that we don't need more acid spells. If a character wants to be an acid-slinger (Dissolver? Corroder?), they need to have more than just a handful of acid-damaging spells. We do have enough for the lower levels, IMO, but could use a lot more higher level acid spells. What about a wave of acid that dissolves a cone of enemies (Level 6 spell, perhaps)? Or the ability to turn a portion of the ground into a toxic pit of acid (Level 7 or 8, probably)?
We could use a ton more acid spells in the game. We honestly kind of need them.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
A cool idea would be a kind of Watery Sphere - but with acid.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
I think this could honestly apply to everything other than fire. Acid is just kind of weak as a damage type thematically.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Yep. I already mentioned that in this post:
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Frankly, that should have been the dragon sorcerer's thing: Being able to change the damage type of their spells to match that of their draconic heritage. Of course, a better version of that was given to the scribes wizard because <reasons>
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Transmuted Spell and Awakened Spellbook are both powerful, and both are limited in their own way. The sorcerer doesn't need to know those other spells, they can just do it. And it can be done with any subclass. Awakened Spellbook, on the other hand, can do more with different damage types. But there's a gold cost associated with it. And you may have to upcast a spell to change it to the damage type you want.
All you're changing is the damage type; presumably to get around a resistance/immunity, or to take advantage of a vulnerability. You don't need that many spells to take advantage of the features. Shatter, regardless of the damage type, is still going to impose disadvantage on the saving throw for a creature made of an inorganic material such as stone, crystal, or metal. A fireball that does cold damage is still going to ignite flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
The ability to create custom spells already existed. This just simplifies it for an opportunity cost.
HAVING to homebrew things is a bug, not a feature.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Yep. Fully agree, crzyhawk.
This isn't a "fix" or "simplification" of anything.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
That feature is found on page 283 of the DMG.
Changing something is homebrew. That's not an excuse for lazy publishing.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
How many spells, do you think, we'd have lost out on if new ones weren't allowed to be invented?
Abi-Dalzim, Aganazzar, Bibgy, Evard, Leomund, Melf, Mordenkainen, Nystul, Otiluke, Otto, Rary, Snilloc, Tasha, Tenser...
Widogast
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