In the 2014 rules, relatively few feats gave a +1 on an ability score, now most of them do, except for Origin feats and Fighting Styles. Metamagic Adept is a feat from Tasha's, and there's good reasons why it would be popular/useful still (I mean, Subtle Spell is great when you use a lot of enchantments or stealth in your campaign, and Extended Spell also has a few uses, for sure, the others feel a bit more niche when you have so few sorcery points), but I feel like it's a bit limited by not giving a +1 on an ability. Still, another feat from Tasha's (Gunner) does give a +1, so it might be this was entirely intentional, even keeping in mind that most feats should give a +1? I can see why it would be argued it's quite powerful already (normally you would need two levels as sorceress to get it), so perhaps it's better left as is. Opinions for homebrew rebalances of it? Should it be changed, or not? Why and how would you change it?
The design rule for 24 feats is that they all give a stat bump. It's a big improvement for encouraging feats. (When my group updated, they went from 'very few feats' to 'quite a few'.
If MMA were so good that it couldn't get a stat bump without being overbalanced, that would be an argument for toning down the main ability.
It really isn't that good (if anything, the point pool is too low -- it's basically "use one MM option per long rest"), so the only question is what stat bump to give it.
Either just charisma or choice of caster stat make sense, and it'd be weird for a caster-specific feat to be disincentivized to some casters, so it ought to be choice of caster stat.
If you're also thinking of improving the base utility, I'd suggest trying out "proficiency bonus sorcery points", and doing some testing in actual play to see if it eats into the sorcerer's schtick too much.
Well I'd definitely make it any caster stat, not just Charisma. Every single other casting feat in the game lets you pick between Cha/Int/Wis, after all. Not sure about tying it to Proficiency Bonus though, I feel it'd make enemies with the Silence spell a lot more boring? Since you could Subtle Spell through the entire fight, rather than having to get out of the area/break concentration/rely on spells without verbal components after spending your points (if you haven't spent them yet). And with that ability increase, it's a feat basically every non-sorceress caster would want to have, probably (which is fine, I mean, Resilient (Constitution) and War Caster are also among those, for sure, and those are in the PHB anyway), like I don't know, but, say, a Diviner with Subtle Spell and Suggestion can very much cheese through a lot of social situations (in our current campaign our Diviner had to pretend she was casting Tongues when she was actually casting Suggestion). Maybe half the PB (round down) plus one?
Well I'd definitely make it any caster stat, not just Charisma. Every single other casting feat in the game lets you pick between Cha/Int/Wis, after all. Not sure about tying it to Proficiency Bonus though, I feel it'd make enemies with the Silence spell a lot more boring? Since you could Subtle Spell through the entire fight, rather than having to get out of the area/break concentration/rely on spells without verbal components after spending your points (if you haven't spent them yet). And with that ability increase, it's a feat basically every non-sorceress caster would want to have, probably (which is fine, I mean, Resilient (Constitution) and War Caster are also among those, for sure, and those are in the PHB anyway), like I don't know, but, say, a Diviner with Subtle Spell and Suggestion can very much cheese through a lot of social situations (in our current campaign our Diviner had to pretend she was casting Tongues when she was actually casting Suggestion). Maybe half the PB (round down) plus one?
Is that really that big of an issue for you? If a player can use a niche ability in a rare case, let them - that's a fun moment. If you are using the same tactic several times in a campaign, then maybe you should try using different monsters.
Ahh you rickrolled me, lol. Anyway, I'm actually more speaking as a player than a DM here, and I feel like Silence is a spell that can pose a fun challenge, even at higher levels, probably? And its niche isn't filled by any other spell really (the closest might be Antimagic Field, but that's quite a bit different), so it's not simply a matter of using different monsters. But it's only really fun when it's actually a challenge? It's ok that it's not really a challenge to Great Old One Warlocks (Psychic Spells) and Sorceresses, I guess, but they have those abilities at the cost of other abilities. If there's no such caster in the party, well, the party needs to find ways around it, and that's part of the fun for me. For example, use Steel Wind Strike. Or use your limited (!) pool of Sorcery Points, at the cost of not being able to use those on something else in the next fight. Or don't, and deal with the hassle of getting out, potentially needing a Disengage or Dash (or a use of your teleport Step if you're an Astral Elf/Eladrin/Cloud Goliath) — players can find a lot of ways to mess with monsters' action economy, why shouldn't they get to do the same (sometimes, as long as it's not so much it's annoying)? Also encourages teamwork and increases DM options, since, say, even a high-level Wizard without Steel Wind Strike, or a Cleric, might still be taken out by some low-level thugs with a scroll of Silence, if they're alone.
(if you meant the Suggestion, that's super fun and DMs shouldn't entirely prevent that, although they might still work around it even when players have Subtle Spell — for example, a monarch might have their court mage cast Dispel Magic on them after every audience, or only give audiences while standing in an Antimagic Field, or something, and then that's another fun obstacle for players to work around — or find another solution to their problems than just mind-controlling another authority figure)
Point is, I as a player feel like 2 Sorcery points + an ability increase from one feat is plenty. Unless one wanted to use the more expensive things that are typically reserved for Sorceresses, like Heightened Spell or Quickened Spell, on occasion, but frankly I feel fine with leaving that to be mostly a Sorceress exclusive?
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In the 2014 rules, relatively few feats gave a +1 on an ability score, now most of them do, except for Origin feats and Fighting Styles. Metamagic Adept is a feat from Tasha's, and there's good reasons why it would be popular/useful still (I mean, Subtle Spell is great when you use a lot of enchantments or stealth in your campaign, and Extended Spell also has a few uses, for sure, the others feel a bit more niche when you have so few sorcery points), but I feel like it's a bit limited by not giving a +1 on an ability. Still, another feat from Tasha's (Gunner) does give a +1, so it might be this was entirely intentional, even keeping in mind that most feats should give a +1? I can see why it would be argued it's quite powerful already (normally you would need two levels as sorceress to get it), so perhaps it's better left as is. Opinions for homebrew rebalances of it? Should it be changed, or not? Why and how would you change it?
The design rule for 24 feats is that they all give a stat bump. It's a big improvement for encouraging feats. (When my group updated, they went from 'very few feats' to 'quite a few'.
If MMA were so good that it couldn't get a stat bump without being overbalanced, that would be an argument for toning down the main ability.
It really isn't that good (if anything, the point pool is too low -- it's basically "use one MM option per long rest"), so the only question is what stat bump to give it.
Either just charisma or choice of caster stat make sense, and it'd be weird for a caster-specific feat to be disincentivized to some casters, so it ought to be choice of caster stat.
If you're also thinking of improving the base utility, I'd suggest trying out "proficiency bonus sorcery points", and doing some testing in actual play to see if it eats into the sorcerer's schtick too much.
Well I'd definitely make it any caster stat, not just Charisma. Every single other casting feat in the game lets you pick between Cha/Int/Wis, after all. Not sure about tying it to Proficiency Bonus though, I feel it'd make enemies with the Silence spell a lot more boring? Since you could Subtle Spell through the entire fight, rather than having to get out of the area/break concentration/rely on spells without verbal components after spending your points (if you haven't spent them yet). And with that ability increase, it's a feat basically every non-sorceress caster would want to have, probably (which is fine, I mean, Resilient (Constitution) and War Caster are also among those, for sure, and those are in the PHB anyway), like I don't know, but, say, a Diviner with Subtle Spell and Suggestion can very much cheese through a lot of social situations (in our current campaign our Diviner had to pretend she was casting Tongues when she was actually casting Suggestion). Maybe half the PB (round down) plus one?
Is that really that big of an issue for you? If a player can use a niche ability in a rare case, let them - that's a fun moment. If you are using the same tactic several times in a campaign, then maybe you should try using different monsters.
Ahh you rickrolled me, lol. Anyway, I'm actually more speaking as a player than a DM here, and I feel like Silence is a spell that can pose a fun challenge, even at higher levels, probably? And its niche isn't filled by any other spell really (the closest might be Antimagic Field, but that's quite a bit different), so it's not simply a matter of using different monsters. But it's only really fun when it's actually a challenge? It's ok that it's not really a challenge to Great Old One Warlocks (Psychic Spells) and Sorceresses, I guess, but they have those abilities at the cost of other abilities. If there's no such caster in the party, well, the party needs to find ways around it, and that's part of the fun for me. For example, use Steel Wind Strike. Or use your limited (!) pool of Sorcery Points, at the cost of not being able to use those on something else in the next fight. Or don't, and deal with the hassle of getting out, potentially needing a Disengage or Dash (or a use of your teleport Step if you're an Astral Elf/Eladrin/Cloud Goliath) — players can find a lot of ways to mess with monsters' action economy, why shouldn't they get to do the same (sometimes, as long as it's not so much it's annoying)? Also encourages teamwork and increases DM options, since, say, even a high-level Wizard without Steel Wind Strike, or a Cleric, might still be taken out by some low-level thugs with a scroll of Silence, if they're alone.
(if you meant the Suggestion, that's super fun and DMs shouldn't entirely prevent that, although they might still work around it even when players have Subtle Spell — for example, a monarch might have their court mage cast Dispel Magic on them after every audience, or only give audiences while standing in an Antimagic Field, or something, and then that's another fun obstacle for players to work around — or find another solution to their problems than just mind-controlling another authority figure)
Point is, I as a player feel like 2 Sorcery points + an ability increase from one feat is plenty. Unless one wanted to use the more expensive things that are typically reserved for Sorceresses, like Heightened Spell or Quickened Spell, on occasion, but frankly I feel fine with leaving that to be mostly a Sorceress exclusive?