Hi all! Just started a new campaign at LvL 1 and never played a sorcerer before. I'm super excited by my character's background which has a lot to do with Illithids, one of my favorite monsters from D&D. The character concept is pretty social setting strong and I can't make a decision about how I want to contribute during combat and need your help.
The character concept is heavy on enchanting/dominating people and using subtle metamagic in order to use Detect Thoughts and other shenanigans more easily out of combat. Since their powers are very heavily psionic, I thought they could be helpful in combat in one of two ways (both preferably, but very unlikely). I thought I could make a battlefield controller or a spell blade like Magick or Psylocke. I'm not opposed to multiclassing and my DM is pretty easy going so I could potentially switch up a few things if I ask nicely. Here are my starting stats (point-buy):
I'm fairly new and didn't look closely at the Sorcerer spell list as they get high up and I'm sort of disappointed. I was really hoping to turn people into thralls by using Geas or using Feeblemind. If I can't control the battlefield very well, I'm thinking about falling back upon an Eldritch Blast Sorlock build and I'll flavor it like they're psionic bursts, but E.B. doesn't really excite me. Sorcadin is also an option but the paladin spell list isn't exciting for the character concept and I'd need to move my stats around to be more heavily invested in STR which is a possibility.
So I'm looking for help finding fun combos on how to be an effective battlefield controller Sorcerer. As an example, I'm considering 2 levels of Wizard for Portent and make dominating people that much easier (and which is why I have an INT of 13). Or maybe enchanting isn't their strong suit? What are your thoughts?
You can control the battlefield, but you do it by taking options away from enemies rather than physically taking control of them and enslaving them to your will.
EDIT: if you're allowed to use UA, using the mind splinter cantrip and quicken a save or suck spell might be a great way to stick your control spells on an enemy.
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.
1 level of Wizard gives you a nice increase in the number of 1st level spells you know/prepare. The 2nd is more iffy, Divination portents are nice, but you are now always 1 level behind, rather than 50% of the time.
Sorceror has some good spells, particularly for battle field control even without all the Wizardly goodness
1 level of Wizard gives you a nice increase in the number of 1st level spells you know/prepare. The 2nd is more iffy, Divination portents are nice, but you are now always 1 level behind, rather than 50% of the time.
Sorceror has some good spells, particularly for battle field control even without all the Wizardly goodness
I played a sorlock (sorcerer warlock MC) and what Mog says is spot on. Being behind on my spells wasn't worth the ability to spam EB. If I had the character to make again, it would be single class rather than MC.
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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.
Stay sorcerer. That's how to have fun. You can control people with low level spells, and save the big slots for when you can't charm the dragon. You can also use low level spells with high level slots, making them more powerful.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
Thanks for all the replies. Some feedback to consider. A lot of you have said not to MC as a Sorcerer. When I look at the level 7-9 spell list for Sorcerer and I compare it to my character concept, there aren't a lot of standout spells on the Sorcerer list. Wish... Dominate Monster. Yeah, good spells. But are they worth it? As I stated in the post, I'm fairly new and truly don't know. A wider array of spell selection seems more valuable than having 1 or 2 nukes in my pocket.
Wish is absolutely worth it. Wish allows you to duplicate /any/ 8th level and below spell effect. That opens up your options once you get to level 17.
if you wish to have a broader variety of spells, perhaps divine soul sorcerer might have some options for you worth investigating. That opens up the entire /cleric/ spell list to choose from as well, and I think there might be a bit of controllery type goodness in there.
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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.
Yes, I like variety in spells. Wish does open things up. I love the idea of getting Wish and using it to cast a Simulacrum or any other powerful spell. But it also has a chance for failure and it could be a one-time spell. The reason for going Shadow Sorcerer is the character concept of enchanting people and the 6th level ability makes that all the much easier. Take a look at it some time. It's called Hound of Ill Omen.
Other advice I've been given is that twinning Hold Monster/Dominate Person can be really impactful in a battle and I will continue on with this build with that in mind.
Divine Soul allows you to have spells like Geas which is on the cleric list. Keep in mind that spells like Hold Person upscale so you would only be twinning it at its lowest level. At a higher level you can hold more than one person so twin won't work anymore. Admittedly it's tough to pass up Hound of Ill Omen but Divine Soul will give you the control you seem to be looking for.
Yes, I like variety in spells. Wish does open things up. I love the idea of getting Wish and using it to cast a Simulacrum or any other powerful spell. But it also has a chance for failure and it could be a one-time spell. The reason for going Shadow Sorcerer is the character concept of enchanting people and the 6th level ability makes that all the much easier. Take a look at it some time. It's called Hound of Ill Omen.
Other advice I've been given is that twinning Hold Monster/Dominate Person can be really impactful in a battle and I will continue on with this build with that in mind.
I've looked at hound of ill omen. It gets a lot of great press, but I am not terribly impressed by it.
I prefer the flexibility of divine sorcerer's massively increased spell list.
As for wish, duplicating a spell effect doesn't cause wish to burn out:
The stress of casting this spell to produce any effect other than duplicating another spell weakens you. After enduring that stress, each time you cast a spell until you finish a long rest, you take 1d10 necrotic damage per level of that spell. This damage can't be reduced or prevented in any way. In addition, your Strength drops to 3, if it isn't 3 or lower already, for 2d4 days. For each of those days that you spend resting and doing nothing more than light activity, your remaining recovery time decreases by 2 days. Finally, there is a 33 percent chance that you are unable to cast wish ever again if you suffer this stress.
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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.
Also note: After enduring that stress, each time you cast a spell until you finish a long rest, you take 1d10 necrotic damage per level of that spell. This damage can't be reduced or prevented in any way. In addition, your Strength drops to 3, if it isn't 3 or lower already, for 2d4 days. For each of those days that you spend resting and doing nothing more than light activity, your remaining recovery time decreases by 2 days. Finally, there is a 33 percent chance that you are unable to cast wish ever again if you suffer this stress
It says if you cast another spell you take more damage. My advice? Do wish then take a long rest. Then chill for a week.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
yes, but if they suffer the stress, they cause a 33% chance of burnout. That's not if they cast it again after they suffer the stress. That's as soon as they suffer the stress.
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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.
Largely dpendant on whether you DM allows 3rd party books but "The Midgard Players book" by Kobold Press has some spells that would deliver for a shaodw sorcerer looking for control and that actually invovle shadow.
edit: just realised its called the Midgard Heroes Handbook not players book.......
Hi all! Just started a new campaign at LvL 1 and never played a sorcerer before. I'm super excited by my character's background which has a lot to do with Illithids, one of my favorite monsters from D&D. The character concept is pretty social setting strong and I can't make a decision about how I want to contribute during combat and need your help.
The character concept is heavy on enchanting/dominating people and using subtle metamagic in order to use Detect Thoughts and other shenanigans more easily out of combat. Since their powers are very heavily psionic, I thought they could be helpful in combat in one of two ways (both preferably, but very unlikely). I thought I could make a battlefield controller or a spell blade like Magick or Psylocke. I'm not opposed to multiclassing and my DM is pretty easy going so I could potentially switch up a few things if I ask nicely. Here are my starting stats (point-buy):
STR: 8(-1) DEX: 14(+2) CON: 14(+2) INT: 13(+1) WIS: 10(+0) CHA: 16(+3)
I'm fairly new and didn't look closely at the Sorcerer spell list as they get high up and I'm sort of disappointed. I was really hoping to turn people into thralls by using Geas or using Feeblemind. If I can't control the battlefield very well, I'm thinking about falling back upon an Eldritch Blast Sorlock build and I'll flavor it like they're psionic bursts, but E.B. doesn't really excite me. Sorcadin is also an option but the paladin spell list isn't exciting for the character concept and I'd need to move my stats around to be more heavily invested in STR which is a possibility.
So I'm looking for help finding fun combos on how to be an effective battlefield controller Sorcerer. As an example, I'm considering 2 levels of Wizard for Portent and make dominating people that much easier (and which is why I have an INT of 13). Or maybe enchanting isn't their strong suit? What are your thoughts?
Thanks all!
You can control the battlefield, but you do it by taking options away from enemies rather than physically taking control of them and enslaving them to your will.
EDIT: if you're allowed to use UA, using the mind splinter cantrip and quicken a save or suck spell might be a great way to stick your control spells on an enemy.
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
1 level of Wizard gives you a nice increase in the number of 1st level spells you know/prepare. The 2nd is more iffy, Divination portents are nice, but you are now always 1 level behind, rather than 50% of the time.
Sorceror has some good spells, particularly for battle field control even without all the Wizardly goodness
I played a sorlock (sorcerer warlock MC) and what Mog says is spot on. Being behind on my spells wasn't worth the ability to spam EB. If I had the character to make again, it would be single class rather than MC.
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
Stay sorcerer. That's how to have fun. You can control people with low level spells, and save the big slots for when you can't charm the dragon. You can also use low level spells with high level slots, making them more powerful.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Thanks for all the replies. Some feedback to consider. A lot of you have said not to MC as a Sorcerer. When I look at the level 7-9 spell list for Sorcerer and I compare it to my character concept, there aren't a lot of standout spells on the Sorcerer list. Wish... Dominate Monster. Yeah, good spells. But are they worth it? As I stated in the post, I'm fairly new and truly don't know. A wider array of spell selection seems more valuable than having 1 or 2 nukes in my pocket.
Wish is absolutely worth it. Wish allows you to duplicate /any/ 8th level and below spell effect. That opens up your options once you get to level 17.
if you wish to have a broader variety of spells, perhaps divine soul sorcerer might have some options for you worth investigating. That opens up the entire /cleric/ spell list to choose from as well, and I think there might be a bit of controllery type goodness in there.
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
Yes, I like variety in spells. Wish does open things up. I love the idea of getting Wish and using it to cast a Simulacrum or any other powerful spell. But it also has a chance for failure and it could be a one-time spell. The reason for going Shadow Sorcerer is the character concept of enchanting people and the 6th level ability makes that all the much easier. Take a look at it some time. It's called Hound of Ill Omen.
Other advice I've been given is that twinning Hold Monster/Dominate Person can be really impactful in a battle and I will continue on with this build with that in mind.
Divine Soul allows you to have spells like Geas which is on the cleric list. Keep in mind that spells like Hold Person upscale so you would only be twinning it at its lowest level. At a higher level you can hold more than one person so twin won't work anymore. Admittedly it's tough to pass up Hound of Ill Omen but Divine Soul will give you the control you seem to be looking for.
I've looked at hound of ill omen. It gets a lot of great press, but I am not terribly impressed by it.
I prefer the flexibility of divine sorcerer's massively increased spell list.
As for wish, duplicating a spell effect doesn't cause wish to burn out:
The stress of casting this spell to produce any effect other than duplicating another spell weakens you. After enduring that stress, each time you cast a spell until you finish a long rest, you take 1d10 necrotic damage per level of that spell. This damage can't be reduced or prevented in any way. In addition, your Strength drops to 3, if it isn't 3 or lower already, for 2d4 days. For each of those days that you spend resting and doing nothing more than light activity, your remaining recovery time decreases by 2 days. Finally, there is a 33 percent chance that you are unable to cast wish ever again if you suffer this stress.
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
Also note: After enduring that stress, each time you cast a spell until you finish a long rest, you take 1d10 necrotic damage per level of that spell. This damage can't be reduced or prevented in any way. In addition, your Strength drops to 3, if it isn't 3 or lower already, for 2d4 days. For each of those days that you spend resting and doing nothing more than light activity, your remaining recovery time decreases by 2 days. Finally, there is a 33 percent chance that you are unable to cast wish ever again if you suffer this stress
It says if you cast another spell you take more damage. My advice? Do wish then take a long rest. Then chill for a week.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
yes, but if they suffer the stress, they cause a 33% chance of burnout. That's not if they cast it again after they suffer the stress. That's as soon as they suffer the stress.
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
Largely dpendant on whether you DM allows 3rd party books but "The Midgard Players book" by Kobold Press has some spells that would deliver for a shaodw sorcerer looking for control and that actually invovle shadow.
edit: just realised its called the Midgard Heroes Handbook not players book.......