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#1 Armoured_Priest Apr 21, 2006 22:36:55	Why should we care about another article discussing sorcerers? After all, the intricacies of sorcerers have been debated to death on these boards. There are 50+ different threads concerning this subject, with many of these threads degenerating into “wizard vs. sorcerer” shouting matches. As such, my intent here is not to compare the sorcerer against the wizard, for the sake of which is “better”, or “more powerful”. I happen to think the sorcerer is perfectly playable as written. Personal experience, personal eyewitness, as well as testimony of many forum posters and RPG convention goers are enough evidence for me on this fact. That having been said, I recognize that there is a problem with the sorcerer class design that makes some people believe that the sorcerer is somehow “underpowered.” The class probably wouldn’t have generated the sort of controversy that it does if there weren’t some kind of unbalancing factor. I intend to address what I believe the true nature of that unbalancing factor is, what can be done to fix other classes that are perceived in a similar light as the problematic sorcerer, give some suggestions on some ways that this problem can be addressed in the sorcerer’s design, and finally, deal with “Straight class vs. PrClass” problem. What is the true nature of the problem behind the sorcerer? In some of the earlier “sorc vs. wizard” threads, I personally termed this problem, that “…intangible something that is missing but nobody can actually agree what that something should be.” After further consideration, I’d like to call this intangible something “dessert.” Yes, the tasty thing you get after you have the main course at dinner. The issue with the sorcerer does not lie with its over-all power or its primary class feature of spellcasting. (To use my analogy, spellcasting would be the sorcerer “main-course.”) I find it hard to believe that any class that can cast spells like Wish, Teleport, Disintegration, and Shapechange is “underpowered.” The game designers and testers realized that spontaneous spellcasting could be obscenely overpowering if not properly balanced. As such, a staggered spell casting level progression and limited spells known were implemented to counteract the power of spontaneous casting. A number of people have cited this as one of the problems in the sorcerer’s design. I disagree. The one level difference in when top-level spells are gained is truly not that big of a difference. As for the “spells known” cap, what is currently in the book works just fine, although a little more wiggle room would certainly be appreciated. No, the design problems of the sorc do not lie here. The main course is perfectly filling and very flavorful if one is willing to put the work into its preparation. Many have pointed out the sorcerer needs a fair amount of planning to be effective, otherwise your plate ends up with too many of one thing: blaster spells (meat), utility spells (potatoes), other spells/theme spells (vegetables), and feats, specifically metamagic feats (condiments). What is the problem then? One of the most common areas mentioned in many sorcerer debates as the sorcerer’s problem point is concerned with the Special Abilities column in the sorcerer class description. Specifically, the fact that other then “Summon Familiar,” the Special Abilities column is completely barren. The barren Special Abilities column, however, isn’t the entirety of the problem. After all, the Cleric’s, and even the Wizard’s SA areas are pretty empty, or so it seems. The illusion for the cleric and wizard comes from other class abilities that really aren’t covered in an obvious way on the SA chart. The cleric’s “dessert” comes in the form of two specific things: domains and their turn undead ability. Turn undead by itself isn’t much but it is a gateway to some nifty abilities like the metamagic feats powered by turns. However, the main portion of cleric dessert comes from their domains. It is true that you keep your domain spell access regardless of whether you PrClass or not, but many of the special powers granted by domains scale with cleric level only. The combination of domain abilities and turning is enough for many players to consider whether they want to PrC or not. (Unlike the sorcerer where one almost always tries to PrClass as fast as possible. I’ll discuss this in more depth later.) Now consider the wizard’s SAs: Summon Familiar, Scribe scroll, Bonus Feats, and School specialization (which isn’t a special ability but a wizard option that affects the wizard in a similar way as the SA chart, so gets included here.) Summon Familiar needs little discussion as it is basically a bonus feat with a minor benefit and a minor penalty built in along with it. The bonus feat “Scribe Scroll” is the key to one of the main powers of the wizard, and boy, is it a tasty dessert. For a paltry money and XP fee, this feat enables the wizard to prepare utility spells that he might need in an emergency. It allows the wizard to simulate the sorc’s ability to cast any spell he knows, and costs less then the reason the sorc loads up on scrolls--to simulate the wizard’s spell access. Bonus feats force a wizard to choose between his base class and a PrC. While it’s not enough to dissuade someone from taking a PrC, it’s certainly a tangible loss. What character couldn’t use three bonus feats? (I say three, because rarely will a straight class wizard manage to PrC before level 5.) Finally, School Specialization, while not strictly a Special Ability chart item, is an ability unique to wizards that enables a benefit that is not a direct aspect of spell-casting but certainly has a major effect on it. School specialization helps make up some ground on the sorcerer’s higher spells per day at the penalty of two barred schools. I find most wizards are diviners, and for a free spell slot per level, many players find a divination spell or two they don’t mind leaving prepared. Finally, the need to stay in the base class is far less then other classes, between the strength of Intelligence as a prime stat and the bonus feats, it’s far easier for a wizard to gain access into PrClasses geared to spellcasters then many other spell casting classes. As the other core PC classes have more entries in their SA charts, the sorcerer’s chart is virtually barren. While the sorcerer is by no means starving—after all, his main course is pretty tasty and has room for customization--he is left out when it is time for dessert. With this understanding we can move on to next step Of the classes maligned nearly as much as the sorcerer are straight melee classes in general, and Fighters in particular. Again, like sorcerers, I feel that the melee classes are perfectly playable as written, and if competently built (not even necessarily overly Min/Maxed) can be valuable contributing members of a party from level 1, up through Epic levels. Fighters specifically, like sorcerers, get shafted come time for dessert. The difference is Fighters still get some semblance of dessert, it just limited to pudding. Still, it’s much easier to deal with this then the sorc problem. What fighters need are more “Fighter Only” feats. Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Spec. good starts, but there need to be more. One suggestion I have is placing a fighter only feat at the top of some feat chains to capstone the chain. For example, in the Dodge/Mobility chain perhaps an ability that allows a fighter who has it to keep the +4 AC bonus gained from mobility to apply against a charged foe with reach for the whole next round on top of the attack of opportunity (if the enemy takes said AoO). Or in the Power Attack chain, perhaps an ability that allows fighters to apply 2X STR. modifier to his damage with a two handed weapon (and/or 1.5X STR mod to one handed weapon attacks). Call it “Heavy Attack” applied to a weapon one is specialized with, or something like that The point is most of the other classes don’t have the specific problem that the sorcerer has (no dessert) and most other class problems are easily addressed without actually doing much tinkering to the actual class, but rather the rules that work external to class that govern how the Special Abilities work (as the majority of them are derived from feats). I realize that making feats to repair a class problem is an indication of a design flaw, and doesn’t negate or excuse the flaw, but the foundation of the class designs are fairly sound. Tinkering with Special Abilities is an easier and more effective path to address class problems of balance. I want to briefly comment on another class that has a problem in its Special Abilities area--wizards. You’re probably thinking, “Wizards don’t need any more power.” I agree, they don’t need anymore power in and of themselves. The issue is that the bonus feats the wizard gains are not enough to keep people from going to a PrClass. Couple this with the fact that it is usually much easier for a wizard to gain entry into arcane specific PrClasses then other arcane classes. The prime wizard casting stat of Intelligence is usually a stumbling block for other classes trying to gain access to PrClass “skills.” Also, of the core arcane casters, wizards have the fastest spell level progression and, when dealing with prerequisites that key off of spell level, the other arcane casters to wait. In my opinion, this isn’t that big of an issue because many of the pure caster PrClasses can start to be taken as the 6th character level for a wizard, with sorcerers having to wait until 7 to do the same. People will often hold off a level for the mechanical benefit of saves and Base attack at level 6. Still, this leaves us with a class that is plenty powerful, and yet players still often feel the need to drop out of the class for a PrClass. This again lies with the wizard’s Special Abilities. It has been documented many times about the extremes in the wizard’s power curve and how it can open up abuses within gameplay. One possibility lies in the supplemental Planar Handbook (and ironically works as a sorcerer suggestion as well.) This possibility is the application of “substitution levels.” Similar in nature to the sorcerers Bloodline options, the wizard gives up his bonus feats for a series of special abilities instead. I don’t feel it is appropriate for actual bloodline abilities on the wizard, but perhaps a mild alteration of the school specialization rules. For example, when you become an Evoker, instead bonus feats the wizard gains a series of energy resistances, or possible a boost to his reflex save, or at high levels, possible even evasion. An Enchanter could gain bonuses to charisma based skill checks, or perhaps his illusions gain a measure of substance as per the shadow conjuration and evocation spells. These are just suggestions but I feel it would help bring both a general balance to the game as well as provide a wizard specific balance by making it a bit more interesting to stay straight classed wizard. Note that none of the abilities I’ve mentioned are outside of the possibility of a normal wizard as written, with the exception of evasion (and a wizard that high level can usually either make one or buy one.) This concludes Part 1 of this article. Part 2 will directly deal with some suggested solutions to change the basic sorcerer based on the issues that were outlined above.
#2 zombiegleemax Jun 05, 2006 11:48:08	In my opinion, the Battle Sorcerer from Complete Arcane goes quite a long way in improving upon the sorcerer. Although the main differences amount to little more than a 3/4 BaB and extra hit die, the ability to play as an arcane caster with decent combat and spell progression and no worries about cross classing, assigning mismatched skill points, or other mechanical hang-ups seemed like a very good idea. I kept thinking to myself that Armored Mage and the Arcane Strike feat should have been a class abilities though. Unfortunately, the Warlock, Duskblade, Warmage, and other similar classes appeared. While the Battle Sorcerer still has a niche, it doesn't look as popular anymore. I still think it would be a better version than the PHB sorcerer though.