In the book it says once per long rest but the rest of the discription seems to imply that once you roll on the wild magic table you gain the abillity back.
The DM decides: "Any time before you regain the use of this feature, the DM can have you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table immediately after you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher. You then regain the use of this feature."
Unfortunately this is a poorly designed ability because it depends entirely on DM fiat. If you have a petty, inexperienced or biased DM, then this is probably a class you don't want to play since your effectiveness can be hampered or you can become a liability to the party. It's a definite "talk to your DM before you play" class in order to understand each other on how it will play out in game.
As a side-note, if you're DM is amenable, a very easy fix is to simply say that every time you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, you roll a d20 to see if you get a Wild Surge or not. The chance is only 5%, so it already hardly ever happens, even if you're casting quite often, and it still maintains the 'random' theme of wild magic. This way, Tides of Chaos resets after every levelled spell cast, which makes it a fun, exciting and interesting class to play. It also brings up the mechanical power level to roughly about the same as the dragon sorcerer (it's considered fairly weak if played RAW).
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
That is up to your DM. Under ordinary circumstances, whenever a Wild Magic Sorcerer casts a levelled spell, the DM can have them roll a d20 and then Wild Surge on a 1. However, if they have used Tides of Chaos, the DM can just have them automatically Wild Surge should they cast a levelled spell. While it's not required at all, and is explicitly up to the DM, you should probably ask your DM if you should just always roll for the possibility of Wild Surging whenever you cast a levelled spell (mine even takes the extra step of having a Wild Surge activate on a 1-4), and if they don't frequently have you regain Tides of Chaos via automatically Wild Surging, you could occasionally remind them you have the feature. I don't know how other people's groups do it, but one of my DMs has even taken the liberty of ordering a player to regain Tides of Chaos by Wild Surging even when he didn't cast a spell (although, we were in an area filled with magic and messing around with coffins that contained the vestiges of powerful dead gods, so you can see his rationale).
For my group, I made a d100 table that the Sorcerer rolls on depending on their multiclass spellcaster level and the level of spell slot used. If they use Tides of Chaos right away, by the time they use all their slots they'll get an average of 2 uses back (besides the one they started with) between levels 1-4; 3 uses back between 5-10; 4 uses back between 11-16; and 5 uses back between 17-20. Using metamagic gets them another d100 roll for every sorcery point used, which lets them get even more uses and try to force a surge on a specific spell.
It's worked out well for us. I don't have to keep track of anything and the player knows their odds and has a good amount of control over their surges. Their character's a gambler, so it seemed thematically appropriate too.
Unfortunately this is a poorly designed ability because it depends entirely on DM fiat.
Kinda like Divine Intervention, any kind of social interaction with NPCs, who's surprised in combat, who can hide, which actions require a skill check, and whether you'll be attacked in the middle of a short rest.
The DM gets to decide, mainly because it has the potential to disrupt story. That's the kind of thing that has the potential to ruin a game in an inappropriate moment. It could create new stories as well, but the book errs on the side of caution here.
That said, its easy enough to just come to an agreement with your DM about when they would allow a Wild Surge, and run with that. I find that most DMs are pretty happy not micromanaging a PC, they have enough on their plates, though there are exceptions.
Kinda like Divine Intervention, any kind of social interaction with NPCs, who's surprised in combat, who can hide, which actions require a skill check, and whether you'll be attacked in the middle of a short rest.
Irrelevant and you know it. Do me a favour and never reply to anything I post, hmm?
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
Unfortunately this is a poorly designed ability because it depends entirely on DM fiat.
Kinda like Divine Intervention, any kind of social interaction with NPCs, who's surprised in combat, who can hide, which actions require a skill check, and whether you'll be attacked in the middle of a short rest.
Kinda like Divine Intervention, any kind of social interaction with NPCs, who's surprised in combat, who can hide, which actions require a skill check, and whether you'll be attacked in the middle of a short rest.
Irrelevant and you know it. Do me a favour and never reply to anything I post, hmm?
How is pointing out other game mechanics which also depend entirely on DM fiat irrelevant to your comment about how this ability is "poorly designed" because it depends entirely on DM fiat?
Maybe because it's irrelevant to the specific topic of surges and u are just trying to me argumentative about a small opinion.
Also, could be "poorly designed" is referring to the lack of exact instructions because so much is left to the DM. You won't find any definitive answer except from your current DM.
As a DM, I try to have my Wild Magic Sorcerer able to Surge on most turns. So, if they use Tides the turn before they cast a spell leveled 1 or higher, I'll usually have them roll Wild Magic and let Tides recharge. Sometimes I'll wait two turns to set it off just to keep them guessing, but as a DM you want to be allowing a roll on the WM table more often than not, since they're basically never going to get it the other way (rolling a nat 1 after casting a leveled spell). And Wild Magic is a good thing. You're not being unfair or broken for letting them roll on it often, I know some DMs think that way, but the opposite is true. If you're not allowing Tides of Chaos to refresh regularly, then your sorcerer player may as well pick a different subclass because they'll get nothing out of this one without it.
The one time I've DM'd for a Wild Magic Sorcerer we sat down to talk about wild magic surges and we decided that any time she used metamagic, a wild surge happens.
Whenever you cast a Sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, roll a d20. If you roll higher than '2x spell level' nothing happens, otherwise a wild surge occurs. This means if you cast a 1st level spell and you roll a 1 or 2, then you surge. Conversely if you cast a 9th level spell, getting an 18 or lower results in a surge.
It seemed to balance it well, had surges happen often enough for the excitement without disruption, and didn't rely on the DM. Made it a lot of fun.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I play a Wild Magic Sorc Multiclass in one of my games, and my DM basically just makes the next leveled spell after ToC trigger wild magic. It means it triggers quite a lot, but I enjoy it (and so far it hasn't been world shaking for the other party members....my character tends to be a blaster and stays back in case the self-fireball occurs).
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In the book it says once per long rest but the rest of the discription seems to imply that once you roll on the wild magic table you gain the abillity back.
The DM decides: "Any time before you regain the use of this feature, the DM can have you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table immediately after you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher. You then regain the use of this feature."
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Unfortunately this is a poorly designed ability because it depends entirely on DM fiat. If you have a petty, inexperienced or biased DM, then this is probably a class you don't want to play since your effectiveness can be hampered or you can become a liability to the party. It's a definite "talk to your DM before you play" class in order to understand each other on how it will play out in game.
As a side-note, if you're DM is amenable, a very easy fix is to simply say that every time you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, you roll a d20 to see if you get a Wild Surge or not. The chance is only 5%, so it already hardly ever happens, even if you're casting quite often, and it still maintains the 'random' theme of wild magic. This way, Tides of Chaos resets after every levelled spell cast, which makes it a fun, exciting and interesting class to play. It also brings up the mechanical power level to roughly about the same as the dragon sorcerer (it's considered fairly weak if played RAW).
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
That is up to your DM. Under ordinary circumstances, whenever a Wild Magic Sorcerer casts a levelled spell, the DM can have them roll a d20 and then Wild Surge on a 1. However, if they have used Tides of Chaos, the DM can just have them automatically Wild Surge should they cast a levelled spell. While it's not required at all, and is explicitly up to the DM, you should probably ask your DM if you should just always roll for the possibility of Wild Surging whenever you cast a levelled spell (mine even takes the extra step of having a Wild Surge activate on a 1-4), and if they don't frequently have you regain Tides of Chaos via automatically Wild Surging, you could occasionally remind them you have the feature. I don't know how other people's groups do it, but one of my DMs has even taken the liberty of ordering a player to regain Tides of Chaos by Wild Surging even when he didn't cast a spell (although, we were in an area filled with magic and messing around with coffins that contained the vestiges of powerful dead gods, so you can see his rationale).
For my group, I made a d100 table that the Sorcerer rolls on depending on their multiclass spellcaster level and the level of spell slot used. If they use Tides of Chaos right away, by the time they use all their slots they'll get an average of 2 uses back (besides the one they started with) between levels 1-4; 3 uses back between 5-10; 4 uses back between 11-16; and 5 uses back between 17-20. Using metamagic gets them another d100 roll for every sorcery point used, which lets them get even more uses and try to force a surge on a specific spell.
It's worked out well for us. I don't have to keep track of anything and the player knows their odds and has a good amount of control over their surges. Their character's a gambler, so it seemed thematically appropriate too.
Kinda like Divine Intervention, any kind of social interaction with NPCs, who's surprised in combat, who can hide, which actions require a skill check, and whether you'll be attacked in the middle of a short rest.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
The DM gets to decide, mainly because it has the potential to disrupt story. That's the kind of thing that has the potential to ruin a game in an inappropriate moment. It could create new stories as well, but the book errs on the side of caution here.
That said, its easy enough to just come to an agreement with your DM about when they would allow a Wild Surge, and run with that. I find that most DMs are pretty happy not micromanaging a PC, they have enough on their plates, though there are exceptions.
Irrelevant and you know it. Do me a favour and never reply to anything I post, hmm?
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
How is pointing out other game mechanics which also depend entirely on DM fiat irrelevant to your comment about how this ability is "poorly designed" because it depends entirely on DM fiat?
Maybe because it's irrelevant to the specific topic of surges and u are just trying to me argumentative about a small opinion.
Also, could be "poorly designed" is referring to the lack of exact instructions because so much is left to the DM. You won't find any definitive answer except from your current DM.
As a DM, I try to have my Wild Magic Sorcerer able to Surge on most turns. So, if they use Tides the turn before they cast a spell leveled 1 or higher, I'll usually have them roll Wild Magic and let Tides recharge. Sometimes I'll wait two turns to set it off just to keep them guessing, but as a DM you want to be allowing a roll on the WM table more often than not, since they're basically never going to get it the other way (rolling a nat 1 after casting a leveled spell). And Wild Magic is a good thing. You're not being unfair or broken for letting them roll on it often, I know some DMs think that way, but the opposite is true. If you're not allowing Tides of Chaos to refresh regularly, then your sorcerer player may as well pick a different subclass because they'll get nothing out of this one without it.
The one time I've DM'd for a Wild Magic Sorcerer we sat down to talk about wild magic surges and we decided that any time she used metamagic, a wild surge happens.
The group I played with enjoyed the houserule:
Whenever you cast a Sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, roll a d20. If you roll higher than '2x spell level' nothing happens, otherwise a wild surge occurs. This means if you cast a 1st level spell and you roll a 1 or 2, then you surge. Conversely if you cast a 9th level spell, getting an 18 or lower results in a surge.
It seemed to balance it well, had surges happen often enough for the excitement without disruption, and didn't rely on the DM. Made it a lot of fun.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I play a Wild Magic Sorc Multiclass in one of my games, and my DM basically just makes the next leveled spell after ToC trigger wild magic. It means it triggers quite a lot, but I enjoy it (and so far it hasn't been world shaking for the other party members....my character tends to be a blaster and stays back in case the self-fireball occurs).