I built a sorcerer recently for a game I'm playing in, and I kind of went down a rabbit hole. For some reason I wanted to build a sorcerer (picked on a whim, but any spell casting class would do) that has access to the most number of different spells they can cast in a day. This is excluding items (though I don't think there are any items that a lvl 1 character can buy that grants them spells).
I found it to be dependent on getting more cantrips, as all of the spell casting classes have the same number of spells. This is what I came up with:
Gnome Ancestry;
Heritage - Wellspring Gnome: gains a cantrip from any tradition except primal
Ancestry feat - First World Magic: gains a primal cantrip
Sorcerer:
5 Cantrips + 3 1st lvl spells
Which grants a total of 7 cantrips and 3 first level spells. At level 2 you can boost that to 9 cantrips. And maybe more at higher levels...
Can anyone do any better?? I'm not looking to see how effective the character is, just how many different spells they can cast.
I think that starting with Ancient Elf for a Caster Dedication plus Otherworldly Magic will give one more cantrip at lvl 1. And if you don't mind losing a spell slot starting wizard for spell blending thesis for 2 extra cantrips at the cost of a slot.
Well a wizard with spell substitution has the highest number of soell options in any given day because they can cast anything in their book. They get the same number of actual castings as other characters though.
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I did some tinkering with this before and found the folowing for a PC who is optimized for Cantrips.
Ancient Elf + Sorcerer Dedication + Wizard w/Arcane School (Evocation) + Familiar Thesis + Cantrip Connection + Elemental Wrath can get you 10 Cantrips at Level 1 with a version of Acid Splash that deals your chosen Elemental Damage and 1 Persistent Elemental Damage on a Critical Hit.
Wizard = 5
Sorcerer Dedication = 2
Elemental Wrath = 1 (Special unique Cantrip)
Arcane School = 1
Familiar Thesis/Cantrip Connection = 1
At Level 2 you can raise this to 12 Cantrips if you take Cantrip Expansion as you first Wizard Class Feat.
I REALLY wanted Gnome to come out ahead in this one but Ancient Elf proves that it is superior, at least when it comes to having a ton of Cantrips at your command.
Oh man, what am I gonna do with all these cantrips?!
(though I don't think there are any items that a lvl 1 character can buy that grants them spells).
Seriously?
All my first level casters are loaded with scrolls. Having 3-4 spells a day is way to few for me.
...Sorcerer Dedication...
How are you taking the sorcerer dedication at first level???
Oh man, what am I gonna do with all these cantrips?!
You can never have enough cantrips...
...Sorcerer Dedication...How are you taking the sorcerer dedication at first level???
Ancient Elf
Source Lost Omens Character Guide pg. 25"In your long life, you’ve dabbled in many paths and many styles. Choose a class other than your own. You gain the multiclass dedication feat for that class, even though you don’t meet its level prerequisite. You must still meet its other prerequisites to gain the feat."
Ancient Elf
"In your long life, you’ve dabbled in many paths and many styles. Choose a class other than your own. You gain the multiclass dedication feat for that class, even though you don’t meet its level prerequisite. You must still meet its other prerequisites to gain the feat."How did this feat get through playtest?
Me thinks it may die in the 1st errata.
Not feat, ancestry.
Ancient Elf
"In your long life, you’ve dabbled in many paths and many styles. Choose a class other than your own. You gain the multiclass dedication feat for that class, even though you don’t meet its level prerequisite. You must still meet its other prerequisites to gain the feat."How did this feat get through playtest?
Me thinks it may die in the 1st errata.
When it was released I thought that was busted as well, but then after some time I realized that you basically spend a heritage, something that you can select only once at lvl 1, that for elves includes darkvision and great resistances among the options to save yourself a lvl 2 class feat.
And in the future that heritage will compete with Tieflings, Aasimars, Dhampirs and so on that open even more ancestry feats options.
Ancient Elf
"In your long life, you’ve dabbled in many paths and many styles. Choose a class other than your own. You gain the multiclass dedication feat for that class, even though you don’t meet its level prerequisite. You must still meet its other prerequisites to gain the feat."How did this feat get through playtest?
Me thinks it may die in the 1st errata.
Heritage, and in play it's actually pretty benign. Lots of heritages give pretty good benefits over the course of a character's lifetime.
The bigger problem, for me, is that other ancestries don't have an equivalent, not that the heritage itself is all that powerful.
Gnome Ancestry;
Heritage - Wellspring Gnome: gains a cantrip from any tradition except primal
Ancestry feat - First World Magic: gains a primal cantrip
These 2 don't work together. The fine print on wellspring gnome says: Whenever you gain a primal innate spell from a gnome ancestry feat, change its tradition from primal to your chosen tradition.
You could still get 2 total cantrips. But they are from whatever tradition you choose with Wellspring, but can't mix traditions.
The bigger problem, for me, is that other ancestries don't have an equivalent, not that the heritage itself is all that powerful.
My problem is less balance and more that it doesn't make sense as a heritage. At some point you forget your darkvision, energy resistance or other heritage and remember how to multiclass cuz... You never leveled up? It make no sense if you think about it. An old Snowcaster elf is still a Snowcaster elf: Heritages, Source Core Rulebook pg. 33, "reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up." Getting old doesn't really fit the mold unless you're saying you grew up in an elven old folk home...
Yeah I agree, that's another problem too. Makes more sense as a level 1 feat. Incidentally, the first time I decided to houserule it I made it replace the level 1 feat, forgetting it was a heritage because it seems so odd.
I have a little Guide to Acquiring Common Cantrips on Google Docs. Thought it might be useful here.