I would add a feat that would allow sorcerers to burn a higher level slot for a lower level spell.
There is one, but it's in CMage.
I would add a feat that would allow sorcerers to burn a higher level slot for a lower level spell.There is one, but it's in CMage.
There is no reason it couldn't be built into the class though... Is there?
The Abyssal sorcerer cracks me up, because most of the feats and bloodline abilities they get are very melee-oriented. Please don't change this, though. While it is hilarious, it's also extremely appropriate.
However, I think the summoning abilities would be better suited to the Infernal bloodline than the abyssal. I know Pathfinder is OGL, but the Babylonian power Druaga ("Ruler of the Fiendish World") presented within the Planescape setting is an excellent example of the thematic ties between Devils and summoning magic; a god dedicated to the summoning of baatezu.
What else I might suggest is making the wings optional, or - if you do make a sorcerer prestige class for those who "embrace their heritage" like the Dragon Disciple was in 3e, put the wings there. Otherwise, you start to limit the bloodline options for sorcerous characters of races who already have wings.
A half-dragon sorcerer taking the draconic bloodline, for example, has no real use for the wings his bloodline would give him.
Another example is a water genasi, who already has a swim speed. Taking the water elemental bloodline wouldn't give nearly the same benefit, but it would be ludicrous to be a race like that and then say you get your powers from your Celestial ancestor.
I would like to put my two cents in for keeping the slower spell progression on the Sorc, and the lesser metamagic capability, as I happen to *like* both of these things. I wouldn't add the ability to cast in armour, but if anything is being added I would suggest more skill points or a higher BAB.
I've noticed that a popular suggestion is to give the sorcerer a higher BAB. This is such a bad idea on so many levels. Primarily, though, it makes a primary spellcaster far far too potent. We've all got books that expand the magic-user's lists of touch and ranged touch spells and I for one have no wish to see an orb-tossing monstrosity laying waste to everything I throw at it.
Flavor-wise: Magic Missile always hits so why take the time developing rigorous combat training?
Spells that use AB are a good argument against a higher BAB, they'd slipped my mind. On the other hand, though, Sorcerers no longer have familiars that could run into combat and deliver their touch attacks for them.
Edit: For clarity's sake, I don't want the familiar added back to the sorc either. Flavour-wise it made little sense for them to have one, and anything that can be done to make them more different from the wizard is a big plus in my books.
While I find the idea of adding bloodlines to the Sorcerer to be excellent, a lot of the abilities leave me flabbergasted, because they seem much more suited to a melee class, rather than a caster. In my opinion, Paizo should proceed in either of two ways.
They could revise the bloodline abilities, so that they are all useful for a pure caster class, which twenty straight levels of Sorcerer do represent.
OR
They could add class combinations feats, like the ones from Complete Adventurer and Complete Scoundrel ( Ascetic Knight, Ascetic Hunter, Daring Outlaw, Swift Hunter, etc. ), which could let the Sorcerer bloodline powers continue with a more melee oriented class, like the Fighter, Rogue, etc.
I´d prefer either option, although the second one seems to be more appealing to me.
Also, I would like to add my voice to the chorus of people who want Eschew Materials to be part of the Sorcerer core abilities.
As an addendum, someone before said that the "spontaneous caster tax" on spell progression will remain unchanged, citing one of the developers.
May I ask the the developers for the reason for this? As far as I know, I never heard a convincing reason as to why spontaneous casters remain one level behind in the progression curve, and if Paizo is already updating the rules, an explanation for the reason behind this ( to me seemingly arbitrary ) rule would be highly appreciated.
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cant' they do that anyway?There is no reason it couldn't be built into the class though... Is there?I would add a feat that would allow sorcerers to burn a higher level slot for a lower level spell.There is one, but it's in CMage.
It's perfectly legal to use a higher level slot to cast a lower level spell. The only feat I know of affecting anything like this in any manner is Heighten Spell to increase the DC of the spell.
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When first reading D&D3.0, I had initially assumed sorcerors were intended to get the effects of Heighten Spell. The RAW stated they could use a higher slot on a low-level slot, and I assumed it would count in all ways (save DC, ability to puncture Globe of Invulnerability, etc) as a spell of that level.
This would help offset the fact they know fewer spells. Effectively, each spell the sorceror knows is actually a whole group of spells, with similar effects.
Eg Sorc 10 with Cha 18 knows Charm Person (among others).
He can therefore cast;
Charm Person 1 (DC 15),
Charm Person 2 (DC 16),
Charm Person 3 (DC 17),
Charm Person 4 (DC 18), or
Charm Person 5 (DC 19).
Since the spell is innate, rather than a learned formula, it is easier for him to mould, than if he were a wizard.
The wizard has the versatility of a wider repertoire, but all of his spells are recipes, learned by rote, and as such, he must spend a feat on Heighten Spell, in order to break each one down to its raw essence, and rebuild from scratch.
One of the main issues with the class is the limited known spells and spellcasting versatility at low to mid levels of play not higher levels of play. All of the WoTC spontaneous caster fixes after the sorcerer have improved on spellcasting in some form be it more known spells like the Favored Soul which picked up a lot of class specials for dual attribute spontaneous casting, overall much better mechanics like the Variant Spellcaster, more known spells from a more limited selection like the Beguiler, Dread Necromancer and the Warmage base classes to PRCs that provide more spellcasting options like the Mage of the Arcane Order or Guild Wizard of Waterdeep or PRCs like the Sandshaper, Frost Mage, Dracolexi.........
IMO spellcasting versatility is less of an issue in game somewhere after the L7/L8 to L11 range for a sorcerer.
One option could be a few Sorcerer only feats or spells that provide a little more spell effect versatility like the mechanic from the Dragon magazine Bloodlines (The basic mechanic is open for use if renamed).
A handful of capstone leveling spells if the sorcerer will be limited to current known spell mechanics and receiving a single known spell leveling. Maybe third, fifth, seventh and ninth level sorcerer only spells with multiple spell effects. Allow the sorcerer the "option" to use several of the new PF Polymorph spells as a single sorcerer only class spell.
A spell and a feat from the Complete Enchanter (The Hedge Magic feat is a little powerful something comparable could be nice at lower levels of play possibly with the restriction it must be taken at first level (of course PF has the new cantrip variant which negates some of the feat benefits)):
Adan’s Pyrotic Delight
Transmutation [Fire]
Level: 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: See text
Target: See text
Duration: See text
Saving Throw: See text
Spell Resistance: See text
This multipurpose spell produces a variety of flame effects, creating flames or small explosions, clouds of smoke, and sprays of sparks. It can effectively duplicate the effects of relevant spells of up to level two. Examples include Flame (Acid) Arrow, Summon Bonfire (suitable for camping or cooking), Darkness (dense smoke), Fog Cloud (light smoke), Glitterdust (sparks), Flare, Flame Blade, Flaming Sphere, Heat Metal, Burning Hands, Flame Darts (Magic Missile variant), Flame Blade, Heat Metal, Continual Flame (user must still supply the ruby dust), Elemental (Fire) Javelin, Elemental (Fire) Bolt or Lance, Lesser Elemental Wall (of Fire), and Elemental Burst (Fire) Pyrotic Delight is a specific version of Greater Invocation. For practical purposes, other-elemental variants on any elemental attack spell should be treated as standard spells.
Hedge Magic (General)
You can channel your power into a wide variety of minor practical magics and create minor Conjures for household and village use.
Prerequisites: Ability to cast first level spells
Benefit: You may prepare or spontaneously cast a wide variety of household magics according to your magical style. These spells never exceed level two and few of them are really useful for adventuring.
Consider the samples below typical.
L0) Light, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation,
Call Domestic Animal (one domesticated animal comes to you),
Cure Hide (cures one pelt),
Check Edibility (checks for natural poisons, not flavor),
Oven Gauntlets (hand-held forcefields for touching dangerous stuff),
Unplug Drains (obvious),
Sharpen Blades (also works on tools),
Butcher (makes it much easier to cut up a dead body),
Contraception (24 hours),
The Good Cook (improves the flavor of a meal),
Extract Butter (from milk),
Clean Clothing (obvious),
Create Water, Purify Food and Drink,
Mystic Blanket (keeps users warm at night),
Air Mattress (makes hard, cold, bumpy ground warm and
comfortable),
Soothe Infant (keeps an infant dry and happy for up to 12 hours),
Umbrella (keeps rain off for up to 6 hours),
Dry (dries food or cleans up spills), Check Health (gives a basic evaluation of the health of one creature), and
Mill (converts up to a large bag of grain into flour).
L1) Alarm, Unseen Servant,
Tarp (puts a tarp or basic tent over a small area),
Remove Lice (or other
minor parasites/pests/skin problems),
Preservation (keeps things from spoiling very fast),
Child Ward (keeps a kid out of trouble for 24 hours),
Dowsing (look for water, fish, etc),
Relieve Illness and Relieve Poison (reduces the severity and discomfort of any one disease or poison),
Dentistry (fixes teeth),
ExpelParasites (mostly stomach and intestinal worms or things which burrow under the skin),
Unburn Meal (for those who left things in the oven too long),
Deodorize House (fairly obvious),
Sheer Sheep (takes the wool off of a sheep neatly and quickly; related spells include Card, Spin, and Weave), and
Scarecrow (basically a specialized Unseen Servant which chases pests out of a field for 24 hours; it works whether or not you leave it; similar variants turn cranks, pump water, and so on).
L2) Spring Cleaning (cleans and straightens up throughout a small house),
Hearthfire (makes a small fire which burns without fuel or smoke for up to 24 hours),
Ward versus Vermin (keeps normal rats and pests out of the warded area for several weeks),
Continual Flame,
Train Animal (teaches a domestic animal basic good behavior and helps teach it useful tasks, such as herding sheep; this does not help teach it to fight),
Herb Mastery (effects equivalent to Goodberry, but use a variety of herbs),
Find Stray (animal or child, fairly nearby),
Harvest (gathers the harvest of a small field),
Weedkill (kills weeds in a small field), Turn Soil (loosens and turns soil in a large field),
Tree to Lumber (turns a cut-down tree into useful boards), Sow (scatters and tamps in seeds evenly over a field),
Render (extracts and purifies fat),
Thresh (converts a steady stream of rice, grain, corn on the cob, or similar, into separate streams of prepared seed and husks),
Fountain (creates up to 50 gallons of water per level), and
The Laborers’s Word (does an hour’s simple work, such as shelling peas or chopping wood, as if the caster was doing it by hand).
Conjures are minor enchanted items made with such spells. They’re usually made with the Ambient Magic limitation, and tend to be bulky, fragile, and a bit awkward to use. They’re considerably cheaper to make than more combative devices. If there’s some need for an exact figure, use 50% of normal costs. Typical conjures include child and livestock-locating charms, boxes that keep food fresh longer, and charms against bugs and vermin getting into the granary.
Normal: There are no practical mages. Mages are good at killing things and not much else.
Special: Anyone with a level or two of sorcerer and this feat becomes much more popular, welcome at family gatherings, and marriageable. Hedge Wizards tend to be vital members of their communities.
I like both the ideas to make Quicken spell available to the sorcerer as well as possibly giving them the ability to heighten spells for free without the 1 round casting increase.
The reason given in the last great flame war thread was backwards compatability.
Personally I think that argument is laughable given the substantial chanegs made to other classes.
I concur. If the idea is to make a "3.75" edition, the devs should try to erase old errors. I think most people believe that the delayed casting progression was just that... at least I have never seen any fan defend it.
I did, nine posts above yours. So, er.
This isn't really a constructive post in itself though, since I'm just pointing that out and being a jerk. But it's part of what offsets their higher number of spells/day and makes them different from the Wizard.
While all the discussions above have been fascinating and thought-provoking, I didn't run across this other idea for differentiating sorcerers from wizards---spellcasting with reduced armor penalties.
If the sorcerer is pulling the energy and such for spells from inside his/her self, an argument can be made that the casting ritual is less complex and certainly more intuitive than the way a wizard casts, replacing gut instinct and the flow of magic for intellectual study and willpower. That said, there's less problem with armor inhibiting either the movements or tapping into the power of a spell.
So lemme toss out this suggestion: Why not halve the arcane armor penalties for the sorcerer? You still have the option to go unarmored, but if you choose to wear armor, you're only half as hindered by it as the wizard.
Is that too much of a gimmee for the sorcerer or does it help balance out the wizard's spell progression AND still make those new bloodline abilities (that might force a PC into melee) useful?
Steven
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He purchased the Battlecaster feat from Complete Arcane, which gives the arcane caster ability to cast spells in armor one category heavier than without the feat - in his case, he can wear light armor now. I've allowed the use of spell-point casting system, so the sorcerer is much more versatile both in combat and in roll-play. System works like this: Level X spell slot equals X spell points. Example: First level spell equals 1 SP. The total number of SPs is equal to the sum of all spell levels + INT modifier (or CHA, if you want more powerful sorcerer). Now we're trying to come to the solution for other things, like famililars (both classical and item familiars) and bloodlines. I think that idea is great, but it needs improving.
He meant spells (per day per spell level times appropriate spell level) for sure.
So a 6th level sorcerer would have... ähh... ok:
6x1 + 6x2 + 5x3 + 3x4 = 45 Spell points.
With this method, you can not only cast any ONE spell that is lower than the spell slot used, but actually use fractions of spell slots.
F.e.: A 6th lvl spell slot can be used to cast 1 6th level spell, or 2 3rd level spells, or 6 1st level spells or ANY combination of spell levels summing up to 6.
He purchased the Battlecaster feat from Complete Arcane, which gives the arcane caster ability to cast spells in armor one category heavier than without the feat - in his case, he can wear light armor now. I've allowed the use of spell-point casting system, so the sorcerer is much more versatile both in combat and in roll-play. System works like this: Level X spell slot equals X spell points. Example: First level spell equals 1 SP. The total number of SPs is equal to the sum of all spell levels + INT modifier (or CHA, if you want more powerful sorcerer). Now we're trying to come to the solution for other things, like famililars (both classical and item familiars) and bloodlines. I think that idea is great, but it needs improving.
Why the INT or CHA kicker? Shouldn't bonus spells cover this?
Nice and interesting idea.
EDIT:
I had just the idea of making all sorcerers "spells" actually work as spell-like abilities.
Something like: 3 1st level spells = Ability to use 1st level spell-like abilities (chosen like "known spells" as is) 3 times a day, etc.
What would it change?
- Well first of, the sorcerer wouldn't be mumbling spells and gesturing with strange material components but rather just concentrates and the effect occures.
- Second, that actually FEELS more right than saying he casts spells like the wizard, but doesn't need to memorize...
Problem to be solved: Costy material components.
- Either the sorcerer can just ignore them
- Or he must use some sorts of fetishes as foci for his spell-like abilities. (Maybe one fetish per spell level and a simple formula to set the needed price...)
What if you just removed spell slots from the Sorcerer all together.
The sorcerer would strictly use their list of 'known' spells but could cast them as much as they wanted?
Sorcerer's would not be permitted to use Metamagic to alter their spells but they would automatically Eschew Materials or need only a single focus for all spells that have a material component of 5 gp or less.
The prohibition of no metamagic means that the Sorcerer could not just use the feat Energy Substitution to have endless versions of Scorching Ray.
This means that the Sorcerer would need to keep a variety of attack spells instead of just the one best spell that they infinitely metamagiced.
The sorcerer would thus still be needing to make decisions on what to choose as known spells but any spell that they did know then they could endlessly cast.
The sorcerer would thus be trading a very limited number of spells which they could endlessly cast compared to a mages ability to cast a very wide number of spells only a few times. The mage also could alter their spells as they understood the fabric of magic while a sorcerer strictly channeled the exact same energies in the exact same way each time.
6th level sorcerer 6 0-level spells, 6-1st level spells, 5 2nd-level spells, and 3 3rd-level spells.
Let's say 0-level spells = 1/2 a SP.
That makes 3+6+10+9= 28 SPs, and +4 charisma for 32 points.
That's 10 fireballs, or 16 scorching rays. The sorcerer already has a lot of flexibility in casting, and this system actually affords more firepower to a sorcerer by letting him use lower level spells to fuel his higher level ones.
What if you just let the sorcerer cannibalize lower level spells to fuel higher ones like they can do higher ones for lower level ones.
A spell requires 2 spell uses of the level below it to be cannibalized to fuel it. In order to cast a 4th fireball, the sorcerer could use 2 2nd level spell uses, 4 1st level uses, or a combination of 1 2nd level, 1 1st level, and 2 0th level spells.
This makes it more costly to get a large number of high level instant death spells off.
A 7th level prismatic spray would cost 2 6th level spells, 4 5th, or a combination of numerous lower level spells that would be less and less cost efficient.
Effectively this would allow the sorcerer to either cast the exact spell he needs by sacrificing a higher level usage, as currently written, and to sacrifice a lot of lower level power to fuel the most powerful of his abilities one or two more times.
It's not as elegant as spell points, but I think it is more balanced since the 6th level sorcerer from above would only be able to cast 7 fireballs, or 12 scorching rays, effectively double the normal, but at the cost of all his spell power.
The way I would look at it is like this:
At 6th with +4 mod0/6 1/6+1 2/5+1 3/3+1 = (1/2*6)+7+(2*6)+(3*4) =31
The +1 are from bonus spell the caster gets for having a high modifier. So when the caster gained 4th level spells another +4 spell points would become available to them from the high ability score.
So moving it up to say 8th level:
Your way gets:
0.5*6+1*6+2*6+3*5+4*3+4 = 52
Mine gets:
0.5*6+1*7+2*7+3*6+4*4 = 58
With Stat increases the extra spells you gain from lower levels will start moving this diffrence even wider. With a +4 cloak of charisma the numbers would be 54/61, with another +5 and +6 kicker when the PC reached a level capable of casting 5th and 6th level spells.
Some recent posts have been debating some issues that have already been confirmed by Jason to be "firm", and as such will not be changing. It would probably be best to stick to subjects that have a chance of being changed and improved in the sorcerer write up. (Feel free to tell me to stick it where the sun don't shine... this is only my humble opinion.)
To help, here is a short list of some things that Jason has said in previous threads will not be changing.
1) The sorcerer hit die is now a d6. It will not be changed to a d8.
2) Likewise, the sorcerer's Base Attack Bonus will not be changing. The sorcerer is a primary arcane caster, not a "battle caster" wizard/fighter hybrid.
3) The sorcerer's spell progression is in stone. Yes, he receives higher level spells at a slower progression than the wizard. But this is intentional, so as to balance the class's increased spell slots over the wizard, as well as to represent the sorcerer's lack of study and learned discipline.
Some people have posted that Jason has said that the increased casting time for spontaneous casters using metamagic feats will be kept as is. I haven't been able to find where he says this. Does anybody know where it is? And if so, that doesn't mean that sorcerers specifically will not be able to do so, only spontaneous casters in general. A class feature allowing the sorcerer the ability to cast metamagic spells spontaneously could still be added.
Also, we had a storyteller that used a spell point system in place of spell slots one time. I did like it, but it is highly unlikely that a similar system will be implemented now. The spell slot system is here to stay. So a debate on such, while fun, will ultimately prove fruitless.
Thanks Chris. I hope this will stop all this "battle sorcerer" stuff and get this [TT] back on line.
Thanks Chris. I hope this will stop all this "battle sorcerer" stuff and get this [TT] back on line.
No Prob.
And sorry I've been missing for a while. Had a little family emergency. But now I'm back and lookin to do some thinkin'!
How can we not discuss a more melee oriented Sorcerer, when the developers themselves add powerful touch attacks to the bloodline abilities? If they want to keep the Sorcerer as a primary caster, maybe they should change them to ranged touch abilities, that would keep the flavor.
I´m not saying that I am unhappy that the Sorcerer gets those new abilities, but at least I will always try to keep my Sorcerer PC out of melee...
Well then those NEW ABILITIES should be discussed.
While I really like the idea of bloodline powers, I am not that happy about the choices made.
How can we not discuss a more melee oriented Sorcerer, when the developers themselves add powerful touch attacks to the bloodline abilities? If they want to keep the Sorcerer as a primary caster, maybe they should change them to ranged touch abilities, that would keep the flavor.
I´m not saying that I am unhappy that the Sorcerer gets those new abilities, but at least I will always try to keep my Sorcerer PC out of melee...
Your right to be concerned about this. It's one of the main problems everyone had with the sorcerer rewrite.
It may be helpful to think of those touch attacks that the bloodlines get at early levels as "trusty daggers"- abilities that the character always has available for those "oh crap" moments. Also, since they're touch attacks, they use the opponent's lower touch AC anyway. You don't need a high Base Attack Bonus.
Now what about the later levels of bloodline abilities? Here your absolutely right. As a primary arcane caster the sorcerer should have powerful ranged touch attacks available at mid to higher levels. And, of course, they should be appropriate to the bloodline in question.
For example, the abyssal bloodline could have the ability to fire off bolts of black lightning (no energy type). The celestial, lines of holy light that burn your sin (and you along with it). And of course the dragon bloodline should have a more effective breath weapon (which should certainly be usable more than once per day)!
Ok, I haven't read everything on the forum, but have a question about the sorcerer with regard to the fey bloodline:
It gives Quicken Spell,which is useless for sorcerers as their metamagic spellcasting increase casting by one round...
Or is that rule cancelled??
Ok, I haven't read everything on the forum, but have a question about the sorcerer with regard to the fey bloodline:
It gives Quicken Spell,which is useless for sorcerers as their metamagic spellcasting increase casting by one round...
Or is that rule cancelled??
Good question. So far Jason has been silent on whether or not the "full round casting" rule for spontaneous casters will remain. A few people claim that somewhere, in some far off thread, Jason did address this and said that the full round rule would remain. (I haven't been able to find where he said this, if it indeed happened.)
It's no secret that a vast majority of people support the restriction being removed. Since the fey bloodline gives a feat to the sorcerer that he supposedly can't use it stands to reason that the restriction has been lifted. But until Jason gives a specific answer (be it directly here or in Alpha 3) we just can't know for sure.
P.S. I love your avatar. Zombies unite!
I know it hasn't been specifically addressed, but just reading through this and listening to the debate about spontaneous metamagic and casting times...
What about a middle-ground, which would give more emphasis and focus on the Sorcerer's bloodline. Bloodlines give bonus metamagic feats in their lists? What if the sorcerer can cast spells affected by metamagics from his bloodline bonus list without an increase in casting time?
This makes the Fey Bloodline's Quicken bonus feat useable and possibly more desireable, but those who don't want to deal with Quicken can gain benefits from their bloodlines, too. It makes your bloodline, and its associated metamagics more evocative and important, but doesn't prevent you from using non-associated metamagic feats. I think it's a reasonable compromise that helps maintain flavor all around.
Though I do like the idea that sorcerers just get Heighten Spell for free without increased casting time, so that they can cast lower level spells in higher level slots for greater effect. That's a good idea that I may house rule in if it doesn't get officially added.
Just a quick flag.
Many people asked for Use Magical Device to be a class skill for sorcerer, well, it IS. Just look at the Class Skills list on page 26 and table 5-4 on page 38 of the Alpha 2.
I don´t know if the designers had that in mind, but in Complete Mage, there is a feat called Rapid Metamagic, which lifts the restrictions on metamagic for spontaneous casters. You can take it as early as level 9.
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Sorry I haven't been able to reply to the posts concerning spell points - real life intruded. My idea was that SPs should be an alternative discussed in a side bar. That way, it wouldn't take a lot of printing space, but the sorcerer PC would have a lot more options. I think that sorcerer should be fundamentally different from wizard - not more powerful, or less; not better or faster caster - just different. I would like to see different familiars for sorcerers, different weapons and magical items. Sorcerer should stand on it's own, and not be just another kind of wizard. Just my 2c.
I know it hasn't been specifically addressed, but just reading through this and listening to the debate about spontaneous metamagic and casting times...
What about a middle-ground, which would give more emphasis and focus on the Sorcerer's bloodline. Bloodlines give bonus metamagic feats in their lists? What if the sorcerer can cast spells affected by metamagics from his bloodline bonus list without an increase in casting time?
This makes the Fey Bloodline's Quicken bonus feat useable and possibly more desireable, but those who don't want to deal with Quicken can gain benefits from their bloodlines, too. It makes your bloodline, and its associated metamagics more evocative and important, but doesn't prevent you from using non-associated metamagic feats. I think it's a reasonable compromise that helps maintain flavor all around.
I'm really in favor of the "full round casting time" restriction being lifted for all spontaneous casters, especially sorcerers. But this is a fantastic compromise! It makes sense, it fits well with little "reverse engineering" and it does make bloodline selection even more important. The only suggestion I would add in is for your bloodline to have said effect on it's select metamagic feats regardless of whether you received them as a bloodline bonus feat or through regular channels.
Though I do like the idea that sorcerers just get Heighten Spell for free without increased casting time, so that they can cast lower level spells in higher level slots for greater effect. That's a good idea that I may house rule in if it doesn't get officially added.
I have mixed feelings about this one. It certainly makes sense when considering the theme of the sorcerer (arcane caster who's power bubbles forth from within). But with so many already clammering for the addition of Eschew Materials as a bonus feat for all sorcerers regardless of bloodline (including myself), there may not be room. Mabye Heighten Spell should simply be added as a bonus feat for all bloodlines. Hmmm...
I'm really in favor of the "full round casting time" restriction being lifted for all spontaneous casters, especially sorcerers. But this is a fantastic compromise! It makes sense, it fits well with little "reverse engineering" and it does make bloodline selection even more important. The only suggestion I would add in is for your bloodline to have said effect on it's select metamagic feats regardless of whether you received them as a bloodline bonus feat or through regular channels.
Thanks. I'm not really at odds with sorcerers' metamagic not having the delays of the past, honestly. There are enough work-arounds that have been printed up from WotC that it's not exactly something of a sacred cow. But some people do seem to think it's an issue, and if the devs do as well, perhaps this solution is a good one to consider.
I have mixed feelings about this one. It certainly makes sense when considering the theme of the sorcerer (arcane caster who's power bubbles forth from within). But with so many already clammering for the addition of Eschew Materials as a bonus feat for all sorcerers regardless of bloodline (including myself), there may not be room. Mabye Heighten...
Eschew Materials isn't exactly a powerful feat, though. All it does is save the sorcerer 5gp and a bit of a headache when he's put in prison. I don't think it's really a big deal to give it to the sorcerer in addition to some other stuff. Heighten just gives the sorcerer a bit more flexibility with his limited spells known - at least the DCs increase if he uses a higher slot, which is a nice thing when you may not have any decent choices from your highest slot for CR appropriate saving throws.
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As someone who was actually playing a sorcerer for the past 5 years in Living Greyhawk, I'm pretty sure that a lot of what Paizo has already done for the sorcerer is quite appreciated.
As 3.5 stood they were underpowered. The got some extra spell slots and simple weapon proficiencies and that's it? It was all about spells and how you used them, and they are a lot of fun to play, especially in a living campaign where people just assume you've got spell X or Y and you don't and they give you that amazed look. (Had a DM assume I had Mage Armor and False Life, hehe)
The steps that Paizo has taken to improve the sorcerer class are absolutely huge! Inherent bloodline powers which used to cost us 1-7 feat slots to get the same use out of. More hit points (something we always should of had) and a much more robust selection of class skills with useful skills like Intimidate and Use Magic Device.
Combining those abilities with feats and good spell selection makes the sorcerer more then powerful enough.
Im playing a Sorcerer from scratch to now fifth level
It suck
I dont have any punch or wow effects
The spells i have are mage armor and hypnotism
now at fift level i have web and ray of enfeablement ill see wath i can do being a element of fire bloodline im shure web is going to be used a lot since its flamable
here is my quick fix
Sorcerers with claws:
Miow,miow,miow wath are you an house cat ?
Fix = roll D8 hit points instead of D6 that will give you some character and you might live a second round. you may take your charisma modifier instead of strength modifier to attack rolls
Sorcerers with rays: Dam 1D6+1 per 2 level and 30 foot range sucks...
wath is the meany wasp gona do to the dire bear
Shure at first and second level ist ok i guess the same as an archer except for the range
Fix = try 1D6+(1 per level)and 5 foot range increase per level to a maximum of a (100 feet) now you wont be called a fake wizard anymore
and you'l be able to cover your freinds while they charge the real wizard (it spoils the warlock class a bit but hey it does'nt exist in pathfinder yet)
Those 2 small fixes used separetly will not over power the sorcerer
but it will give him at least some presence in your game
try it for a couple of levels then come back to me