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So you're just going to give all the classes the spell list and the caster levels of the sorcerer? That could be REALLY annoying to keep track of.
I would suggest a slightly different approach. Take the caster progression of say a paladin or ranger and give it to everyone.. except use the sorcerer spell list. This gives you fewer spells to manage and still keeps the flavor you have in mind.
So you're just going to give all the classes the spell list and the caster levels of the sorcerer? That could be REALLY annoying to keep track of.
I would suggest a slightly different approach. Take the caster progression of say a paladin or ranger and give it to everyone.. except use the sorcerer spell list. This gives you fewer spells to manage and still keeps the flavor you have in mind.
Maybe bard, since otherwise lowlevel chars wont have any spells at all and in most worlds 90% of npcs are 4th level or less so the whole everybody is a sorceror feel is lost.
Interesting idea- I'd also go with bard progression using sorcerer's list. Now, if it were ME I'd limit it a bit further: Let them pick 3 schools of magic and they can only ever learn sorcerer spells from those schools. It keeps wizard a very viable class (especially since they now have almost twice as many spells), and would make Generalist wizards nearly obsolete.
But, would this "Sorcerer casting" still be subject to spell failure? Would they get the casting alongside their base classes / prestige classes, or would each provide it separately? (example: paladin 4 / rogue 3 has sorcerer 7 spellcasting or has sorcerer 4/3 spellcasting?)
Interesting idea.
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Why not have every Pc and NPC cast spells as a sorcerer?
I know this sounds ridiculous and I realize that it is, but could it/ should it be done? I think the most difficult parts of it would be balancing Wizards Clerics and Druids but i think it could be interesting. What do you think?
One of the quick fixes to the touted superiority of the Cleric & Druid would simply be to requires them to either cast spontaneously (from a small fixed list, flexibly and with say, one more casting per day per level of spells) or via preparation (from a 'prayerbook,' which includes all the rotes and prayers and hymns they personally know, gaining 2 / level free, like a Wizard, and having to buy or acquire the rest normally).
If *every* spellcaster had to make this choice at 1st level, to gain Spells Known / spell slots as a Sorcerer, or to maintain a spellbook / prepare spells like a Wizard, I think the game would have benefitted quite a bit, by making burgers out of the 'divine casters automagically know every spell on their list' sacred cow.
Most lesser divine casters, such as Paladins and Rangers, would probably choose the spontaneous option, and have a few extra castings, flexible casting, and access to smaller sub-sets of their already small spell lists. Some might go the other direction, and prepare special prayers and rites at the beginning of the day from a holy book, adding new rituals to their prayerbook as they discover them. Bards could be completely normal spontaneous casters, but a few might be true arcane dilettantes, who dropped out of the wizard's academy, but still have a collection of notes that kinda/sorta resemble a poorly-maintained spellbook, and from which they can prepare a few spells (and are always looking for some new useful spells to add to their haphazard collection).
I pushed for this in alpha, but it was probably far too big of a change for a backwards-compatible design. Plus it would have rendered the Sorcerer, as a class, utterly obsolete. Once you can make a Spontaneous Wizard, what's the niche of the Sorcerer?
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Contributor
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Why do I keep thinking about Darkswords?
Masochism is a deep-seated mental illness, DF. ;-)
Aside from that, I know what you mean. Phantasia was the first RPG system I ever learned to run. It wasn't exactly the most memorable gaming experience, but it definitely opened the door to a lifetime hobby.
Why not have every Pc and NPC cast spells as a sorcerer?
Have you tried 4th Edition? I don't mean that in a negative way, it really was the first thing that came to mind from that idea.
Why not have every Pc and NPC cast spells as a sorcerer?Have you tried 4th Edition? I don't mean that in a negative way, it really was the first thing that came to mind from that idea.
Yeah, 4e did a lot to homogenize the class differences. Still, when it comes to balance, every class playing the same means it's hard to be gamebreaking.
Still, I think tone it down a bit (the sorcerer idea), perhaps even coming up with 2 alternate spell progressions (bard for non-casters, ranger/paladin for full casters) to help even it all out.
Why do I keep thinking about Darkswords?
Heh, I started rereading that a few days ago.
Humm to the OP what if ya gave everyone a number of cantrips equal to 1+cha mod. You could also give them the bounes spells from high Int or cha even without having a caster level. So a shoe maker with chat of 14 could have 3 cantrips and 1 1st and 1 2nd level spell9gaining the 2nd level spell at the correct level]
anyhow just a thought