Wizards learn more spells over time (if they use the studying rule thing.) They also have to prepare their spells that they will use in the day. Which means in a sense they choose what spells they think they need and "pack them" so to speak. They also get a familiar or a magic object.
Sorcerers get more spell uses per day, as in they can cast the spells they know more than a wizard in one day. (They don't know as much spells though.) They don't have to prepare spells though, so any spell they know they can cast period. Also they get extra spells and buffs from their bloodline.
Sorcerers can use magic innately like a superhero. Wizards study how to cast spells and such.
I would say most "classic magic users" that you see in books, movies, etc. are actually probably closer to Sorcerers. Where they can fling off spells left and right without doing much pre-preparation, until they run out of juice.
Wizards are more like the guy who has to pick what tools he's taking with him before he leaves the house in the morning, and if he needs something he didn't pack, he's out of luck. Also each tool can only be used once; if he wants to use it again, he needs to have packed a second one. But his tool shed can be pretty big, and he can pack it with as many tools as he can afford to buy and have space for.
Exactly! Glad that helped =)
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A wizard is a classic magic user that has to "learn spells" vs a sorcerer can just cast them? A bit confused.
What does that prep time and sorc casting look like comparatively in-game?
One is better in theory while the other is better in reality.
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WIZARDS
Wizards have a spellbook, and can add any number of spells to that spellbook over time. They learn two free spells of any level they can cast at each level, and they can learn more by copying them into their spellbook from scrolls or copying them from another wizards spellbook. This costs money and becomes more expensive as you level up.
Wizards are the ultimate in versatility because ostensibly they have access to every spell on the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list if they are willing to pay the cost to get a scroll and scribe it into their book. From then on they can memorize that spell any time. If a Wizard has some idea of what he will be fighting, he can tailor his spell list for the day to be seriously effective against that target.
Wizards are intelligent, often lawful and generally very logical. They are very much the "classic mage" whose magic knowledge comes from study and applying oneself to the discovery of magical power. A Wizard is only as good as his spellbook and without it he can do very little, but with it he can change the world around him.
SORCERERS
Sorcerers have magic in their blood, and they cast spells spontaneously from a short list of spells that they know. They are born with their magical abilities, or develop them from having some kind of magical heritage in past generations. Be it from Dragons, Demons, Angels, Fey or just raw magical energy, someone in a Sorcerers family tree was touched by magic and it manifested in the Sorcerers bloodline.
A Sorcerer knows only a very limited number of spells that she picks each level and cannot change, but she can cast any of these spells any number of times per day up to her maximum castings for each level. She does not have anywhere near the depth of magic that a Wizard does, but she can use it much more often. Sorcerers are the ultimate specialists. They pick a focus and that's all they do. They make great blasters, and can often use their bloodline powers to fuel this focus. As they get more powerful and level up, their bloodlines manifest themselves in different ways giving them access to modifications to their spells, skills and physical abilities.
Sorcerers have a very wide range of bloodlines and can fill many roles from blaster to front-line striker, but they are not versatile due to the limited number of spells they know. Unlike a Wizard they lack the ability to change the spells they have access to each day.
COMPARISON
Personally I prefer Wizards, because they fit my style of play more but Sorcerers can be a boatload of fun depending on the bloodline you pick. A Wizard is a great Knowledge-Monkey and an excellent party support character that can buff his allies, debuff his opponents and fill the battlefield with alternate targets to keep his friends from taking damage. He almost always knows the capabilities of his enemies and if given even a day to prepare he can heavily sway the battle in his parties favor. Even still with good spell selection a Wizard can generally perform his role well, but he rarely gets the glory. A Wizards allies usually do his killing for him. The Wizards job is to make this as easy as possible.
Sorcerers fly by the seat of their pants, and generally seek to overcome their lack of versatility with raw power. They tend to be damage dealers in one fashion or another and while many options are open to them, they must pick a narrow focus and so can be thrown off if facing the wrong opponent. Wizards can have this happen as well, but not as often. Sorcerers make up for it by having access to more castings each day and generally being able to last longer in combat. With good resource management they can save those vital spell castings for use where they really matter. Sorcerers are a more "glorious" class to play than Wizards due to their higher damage dealing potential. They are usually more likable too since they use their Charisma as a primary stat. They make an excellent "party face" where a Wizard usually does not.
Which one you choose is a personal choice best determined by your style of play. If you like wading into combat and slinging spells around while rolling lots of dice for damage then a Sorcerer is probably your best bet. It's a high-risk high-reward style of play. If instead you like being the man with all the answers and prefer to pull the strings of combat from a less prominent role then a Wizard will suit you better. I personally prefer the latter.
NOTE:The Advanced Class Guide is being released shortly and includes the class Arcanist, which is a combination of Wizard and Sorcerer. It combines aspects of both classes to allow for the breadth of spell knowledge that a Wizard has with the versatility of Spontaneous casting like a Sorcerer. Overall they cast less than Sorcerers but they can change which spells they "know" from their spellbook each day. It's pretty interesting so if you are looking for elements of both classes you might look into it and talk to your DM about it!
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The 'versatility' of Wizards is largely theoretical. You'll often hear that Wizards have access to every spell in the game - and that certainly sounds impressive... but the truth is that they potentially have access to every spell in the game - big, big difference. Wizard versatility is based on some pretty huge theoretical assumptions:
1) That the Wizard has direct access to a particular spell. Wizards are only guaranteed access to two spells per level, they are reliant on chance and GM fiat for all the rest, neither of which are guaranteed.
2) That the Wizard will be able to accurately predict which of the many spells they know that they will need - and more over, exactly how many of each they will need. Even presuming they have full access to all the divination spells they might need (see above), that they ask the right questions and get the right answers ahead of time... situations still change. The old military adage applies - no battle plan survives contact.
3) That they have any idea whatsoever how and when they will need to apply metamagic feats, because, again, they have to decide all of things from the beginning and they're stuck with what they choose whether its what they need or not.
Sorcerers on the other hand, have a more limited number of spells known, but the truth is only a fraction of the spells available are commonly used, so that's not as big a limitation as its made out to be. More importantly, what they have, they can use as and when they need and can apply metamagic feats on the fly. Do you need a dozen Scorching Rays, a dozen Silent Images or a dozen Charm Person spells? No worries, they're all available in whatever combination you need in the moment. Don't know which spells you might need to apply Extend Spell or Reach Spell to? Don't worry, you don't need to decide that until the moment it comes up.
And guess what? For those one-offs or odd spells you think you'll need but don't have as part of your spell list? Sorcerers can use all the same scrolls that Wizards can.
Wizards are all about theoretical options whereas Sorcerers are all about actual options. Moreover, the Human Sorcerer has a favored class bonus that greatly expands the number of spells available to him and should definitely be considered.
Aldarionn makes a good point about skills and the 'feel' of the classes. Sorcerers tend to have limited skill points and the skills they have usually focus on social aspects while Wizards, by nature of their high Intelligence scores, will have more skill points, the lion's share of those will be Knowledge-based.
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Wiggz makes excellent points, and is very correct in that a Sorcerer will have plenty of options. Their focus is narrower but they can use the tools of that focus in any combination which lends them a certain amount of versatility.
What I tend to dislike about the class is that they gain access to new spells a level later than Wizards, and if prestige classes are your thing many of them reduce your effective Sorcerer level pushing back the level at which you gain spells even further, and potentially delaying your Bloodline powers (Get a Robe of Arcane Heritage ASAP!). They also take a few levels before their spell list has any depth at the top end, so when they hit 6th level they REALLY have to choose which of those 3rd level spells they want all of their 3rd level castings to go into.
Wizards on the other hand have that theoretical access, and there is a mechanic in place by which one can obtain spells by purchasing scrolls. If a Wizard badly wants access to a spell, he can usually find it in a town by making checks each day to locate it. If the town is big enough he may not even need to make checks. Additionally if an enemy Wizard is encountered and killed, a Wilzard can gain a decent chunk of knowledge if they locate his spellbook.
None of this is guaranteed, sure, but if you run adventure paths the devs tend to throw bones to each class in turn. Kingmaker has an ENORMOUS bonus for Wizards, and Skull & Shackles is full of enemy spellcasters that drop scrolls, spellbooks and other items of note that both Wizards and Sorcerers will find useful.
Make no mistake, neither class is strictly better than the other. It all comes down to style, and I prefer the Wizard because if you are smart about your decisions you can often find yourself with the tools you need when you need them. Wizards are much more of a support character, so spells like Glitterdust, Grease, Haste, Slow, and Summon spells will almost always be useful for helping your party "win". You might run out of them faster, but if a Sorcerer picks Scorching Ray at level 4 as his one 2nd level spell, he could end up facing any of the multitude of fire-based creatures in the game that will pretty much ignore it, regardless of his ability to cast it 3+ times per day (Read: invest in the Elemental Spell Metamagic Feat, or a Rod!) The Wizard may also have to prepare his Metamagic ahead of time, but when he casts it he can also move, or draw a rod to add to it that round where a Sorcerer basically has to stand still and use his entire turn.
I've played far fewer Sorcerers than Wizards though, and I have not read all of the Sorcerer guides in the Advice forum so I'm less familiar with Sorcerer options than I am with Wizard. Take my opinion of the Sorcerer with a grain of salt, and certainly look to others on these forums for the virtues of the Sorcerer before you make your decision. They may not fit my style very well but they might fit yours.
Wizards really need the ability to craft scrolls from one session to the next, as well as buy scrolls of spells they don't possess. Unless you can do those two things (which depends entirely on the DM), you may wind up a very frustrated spellslinger.
Arcane school bonuses rival bloodlines in how cool they are, and given how cheap scrolls are to write, having slightly fewer spells per day isn't as tough to manage as you might think. I prefer wizards, though, mostly for their "feel". I want to be the knowledgeable seeker of ancient lore, rather than the flamboyant blaster.
It's really up to what flavor of character you like.
Wizards are only guaranteed access to two spells per level, they are reliant on chance and GM fiat for all the rest, neither of which are guaranteed.
Not guaranteed, but cheap scrolls being available in every town is the normal game assumption.
The differences I've noticed:
Sorcerers take a while to get going. You get to level 4, and you finally get to learn one, and only one, second level spell. A wizard could be casting three different level two spells a day at level 3.
With wizards and other prepared characters, if you cast a spell, you no longer have that spell. For me that makes casting spells a stressful decision. If I cast Fly now, and I only prepared it once, I won't have access to it for the rest of the day, which could be fatal. That leads me to try to save all my spells for emergencies. (Most people don't seem to have this issue. It can also be mitigated with Pearls of Power.)
With spontaneous casters, once you've leveled up enough, if you have five level 3 spells per day and you know Fly and Haste and Fireball, you can cast any of those spells four times and still have the ability to cast all those spells, or a lower level spell (with a metamagic feat?) from the same slot.
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Wizards use a Vancian magic system.
For players who've never been exposed to that sort of idea, Sorcerers' mechanics for casting magic is much more intuitive. Sorcerers know some number of spells, and they can make magic happen some number of times per day. Easy peasy.
I prefer sorcerers because you don't have the spell book weakness.
If you lose that as a wizard your stuck putting read magic in all your slots as that is the only spell that most wizards can prepare from memory.
Kingmaker has an ENORMOUS bonus for Wizards.
Make no mistake, neither class is strictly better than the other. It all comes down to style, and I prefer the Wizard because if you are smart about your decisions you can often find yourself with the tools you need when you need them. Wizards are much more of a support character, so spells like Glitterdust, Grease, Haste, Slow, and Summon spells will almost always be useful for helping your party "win".
Beg pardon, this will be OT here but what is the 'enormous bonus for wizards' that you can find in Kingmaker? I have the entire AP and I'm banking on this right now.
And speaking on a purely personal level, I prefer the sorcerer as Pathfinder does them. Less versatility than the wizard, yes, but to me the color and flavor of the bloodlines can more than make up for it. I think they do tend towards being best when specialized, though.
That said you can overcome some of that by having a second arcane caster in the party, like an alchemist or magus.
The comparing the difference between a wizard and a sorcerer is like comparing the difference between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. Who cares... You're still driving a sports car while everyone else is stuck in hatchbacks.
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I prefer sorcerers because you don't have the spell book weakness.
If you lose that as a wizard your stuck putting read magic in all your slots as that is the only spell that most wizards can prepare from memory.
The spell book weakness is overrated. If your GM is the kind of guy to go after your book, then he's a very spiteful GM. It'd be no different from stealing all the fighters gear.
Still, if it is a concern, there are ways to mitigate the risk.. Backup spellbook, bookplate of recall, secret chest, spellbinder archetype with Locate Object.
Basically, being afraid of losing something should never be a consideration when choosing a class to play. If a GM wants to screw you over, they will, regardless what class you are playing.
Basically, being afraid of losing something should never be a consideration when choosing a class to play. If a GM wants to screw you over, they will, regardless what class you are playing.
In your opinion, what is the point of having the mechanic of a spell book if it can't ever be a vulnerability/limitation?
I've said it before. Sorcerers and wizards are apples and oranges. Both are different, both are awesome. You just have to know how to play them right to get the most out of them, so everyone has a preference.
Wizards are great if you need to change out your spells for rare situations. If you know you will be fighting undead a lot tomorrow, and if the wizard has a lot of spells in the spellbook that can be very useful against undead, the wizard is awesome for that day.
A sorcerer has a very limited spell selection, and is stuck with that selection almost for life. This makes selection more a practice of choosing spells that the sorcerer knows will be cast every single day. The bonus is that a sorcerer can cast a single spell over and over again. True, a wizard can choose the same spell over and over, yet it is not likely as the wizard has s many other spells to choose from.
An example that helps the sorcerer - the group flees some great danger and runs into an unexpected cliff. Although a wizard could know one or two fly spells, this only helps the wizard and maybe one buddy. The sorcerer with the fly spell could probably cast it on everyone in the party. In that day, the sorcerer becomes awesome.
Some of the discussed issues of versatility for sorcerers are not as applicable anymore either thanks to gear. For 5k gold, a sorcerer can get their hands on a Mnnemonic Vestment, which enables them to cast any spell they can get their hands on. Likewise, Rings of Spell Knowledge can help them to know more spells, as can favored class bonuses these days. Limitations to these items are obvious, but they greatly increase the sorcerer's versatility at any given time.
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Wizards use a Vancian magic system.
For players who've never been exposed to that sort of idea, Sorcerers' mechanics for casting magic is much more intuitive. Sorcerers know some number of spells, and they can make magic happen some number of times per day. Easy peasy.
Necro'd for appreciation of Vancian lore.