When should a Dungeon Master have a Wild Magic Sorcerer roll on the Magic Surge table?
It doesn't specify. Is it at a DM's will kind of thing?
Slit518 wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Slit518 wrote:
As a DM providing advice to another DM: Ask for a roll on the wild magic chart every time that the potential affects of a wild magic surge will enrich enjoyment of your game for your group, and don't roll any time that the outcome could spoil someone in your group's enjoyment of your game.
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
I appretiate the feedback as per usual, everyone! Thanks again, all!
I always have them roll, but I don't always use the chart.
A few examples that I remember off the top of my head
- Charm spell worked a little too well and the target (an orc) was completely, totally infatuated with the caster.
- Magic missile opened a rift and a demon jumped out, grabbed the target and ate it. The demon then waved and returned to the abyss (the spell would have killed or come close to killing the target anyway).
- A fireball turned into a swarm of bunnies that all exploded
Basically if a random funny thought pops into my head that isn't too disruptive I use it instead. Especially if it moves the story along or helps make the scene more memorable.
AndrewJO wrote:
I have a wild magic sorceror in the party I DM. We have used an incremental system (1 on a d20 the first time a sorceror spell is cast, 2 the 2nd time and so on, re-setting after a surge). The player has indicated he wants to roll whenever it is possible to roll and so that is what we do. So far he has turned himself into a pot plant, greased himself on a balcony so that he fell over (not off it) and grew feathers as a beard. Fun stuff, but if he fireballed the party it might have been a different story but we'd work out a fun way to deal with it.
I'm playing a WMS Gnome and have a similar set up to you El_condoro. I roll every time I cast a 1st level spell or higher but the determining factor for me is the number of current expended spell slots. So I have no chance on the first spell I cast of the day, then up form there, but can reduce if I spend sorcery points to get back expended slots. The idea being that my magic becomes more wild the more I've used each day. I also like the idea of tying it to spell level, might have gone with that instead had I thought of it before starting play.
For Tides of Chaos, I can instantly recharge it anytime out of combat (which leads to hillarious little scenes of me moving away from the party just in case I explode. In combat, I can choose to attempt to recharge it as a bonus action by rolling a 5 or 6 on a d6. If I recharge it, I then Wild Surge. Makes for a great decision point for me to risk a wild effect in combat to gain advantage on an upcoming roll.
I worked both of these out with my DM in session 0 as she did not want to have to track this and make the decision as to whether I roll or not and I wanted to increase the number of times I wild surge.
Short answer, that may seem flippant: Whenever it's fun.
As a potential 'other player' in a group: you can Wild Surge and make funny stuff happen to yourself, all day long.
You cannot damage my character nor sabotage the group's plans. (So no Fireball when standing next to me, nor Thunderwave when we are trying to set up so the Assassin can get his Alpha Strike.)
Yes I confess: I think poorly of Wild Magic as a class concept. 
YMMV - though if you decided to play a Wild Sorcerer on purpose, YMWV (your mileage WILL vary) would be more appropriate, I suppose.
Based on every anecdote about Wild Mages on this board, there is a 100% chance they will fireball and kill the entire party every time they get a Wild Surge.
So I would say the correct answer to the OP question is "Once, when everyone wants to make new characters or go out for chinese food."
What? In my post I mentioned the 3 times the sorceror in the party I DM surged and every time it was a fun, non-damaging experience for the party. 100% chance? Are you being facetious or something?
A 1 in 20 per spell is a 5% chance. So every 20 times a spell is cast one should expect a wild surge to occur. There are two attack spells centered on self on the table, each with a 2% chance of occuring. Only fireball is immediately deadly. So basically to fireball your party you have to roll a 5% chance followed by a 2% chance. My combinations and permutations class was so far back I don't remember how to calculate those two events together as a single percent of occuring - but once in a blue moon is a good description.
Wild Mage Fireballs himself and nearby friends:
Statistics says 0.0001 chance.
Anecdotes say more like 0.1 chance.
Personal experience with dice suggests 1.0 chance.
(to get more-familiar percents, multiply all numbers by 100)