So I only had three of these left. Druid, Wizard, and Sorcerer. Druid is probably gonna be another one that needs reworking and I want to take it easy today. So let's look at some hot, dumb spellsluts.
This is Class Acts, where I re-examing my history and thoughts on the D&D classes and revisit their implementation in Heroes By Hearthlight, my fitd rpg.
Wizards work hard and study, learning spells by rote so they can manage them until able to understand the underlying principles. Warlocks make pacts that let them call on dark powers like a cleric does with their god. And Sorcerers just... do it. Maybe she's born with it, maybe its draconic heritage. They are the nepo babies of the arcana classes. People hate the Warlock because they are an evil bastard who will get them all killed. People hate the Sorcerer because they make this shit look easy.
So traditionally, what is a Sorcerer? What makes them different. To start with their spellcasting is based off Charisma instead of Intelligence. This means your class rewards you for bumping up that score and also letting you be the party face. Screw being some nerd- you are hot and that will open all the doors. Speaking in 3E/Pathfinder the big differences between them and wizards came to how spellcasting is gained. Wizards get the next tier of spell a level earlier than Sorcerers- So level 2 spells at level 3 while sorcerers gain it at level 4. Both get access to all 9 levels of arcane spells but a wizard's hard work pays off first. The Wizard also can know more spells. Sorcerers don't learn shit by studying they just gain spells as they level and that's what they know. You can just cast from that pool of spells. Wizards gain a couple spells every level but can study and learn any- find a scroll and the wizard can copy it down, they have the potential to master every spell in the game. So really what does the Sorcerer have going for them? SPELL SLOTS. They get more casts than anyone else in the game. Beyond which there is a freedom to just having spells known vs having to prepare. At the start of each day the Wizard needs to consider which level 2 spells they are going to have ready and oh no what if we need feather fall or something- oh bother. Sorcerers say fuck that- you know all the magic you are going to know and you are going to make it work. Who needs variety when you throw Fireball six times per day without needing to use higher spell slots.
This is why Sorcerers always have been the recommendation for your first caster because it fights analysis paralysis and just lets you go off. It's the berserker for arcanists. aren't you tired of being nice? don't you wanna just... let it all out?
So we get an interesting branching point from how sorcerers got differentiated into Pathfinder and 4e then 5e. Sorcerers got their fucking lunch eaten by Warlocks in 4E, taking their slot in the Player's Handbook as the Arcane Striker. Warlocks were now the blasty pew-pew caster. Both Pathfinder and D&D added mechanics for their bloodlines- giving them abilities across their career, which is great! Because hey, you wanna see what Sorcerers got as class abilities over their career in 3E?
A familiar at first level and that is IT. Wizards at least got a free feat every 5 levels that would let them learn metamagic and item crafting. Most rpgs nowadays wanna make sure players get something cool every time they level. The Bloodline abilities really helped there. Pathfinder kept the Sorcerer's old spell slot advancement so they'd max out at 6 slots/spell level. A 20th level Sorcerer can throw out Meteor Swarm six times per day. In 5E they reduced them down to Wizard progresson. They learn spells at the same speed and get the same number of slots. There is also now a system of arcane power you can spend to create more spell slots but you can only make up to 5th level spells and its just... Way more complicated then just having given the Sorcerer their spell slots. But they also use those Sorcery Points for metamagic which is now just a premiere Sorcerer thing when, as I was talking about earlier- Wizards got extra feats specifically to learn those.
It's weird. They've giving Sorcerers choices to make and that's gonna scare them- they don't have the capacity to count past their fingers and you want them to subtract 7 points from their pool to get a 5th level slot, and the pool has points equal to their level? This is a hate crime to bimbos.
So whats my thesis? Sorcerers are powerful, they have a direct connection to magic in a way no one else can. But that is also dangerous and they are likely to blow themselves up. But that's fine- live fast, fuck hard, and leave a charred corpse. Let's Go!
All Sorcerers have access to WILD MAGIC. Instead of being the result of a specific bloodline, this is opening yourself as a conduit to the mystic forces and hoping for the best. Spend a charge before making a roll- the die pool becomes 1d6, on a 1-3 you fail and suffer desperate consequences. On a 4-6 you succeed with great effect. No other ability/rule can affect this. I fucking love this move- it was one I had originally come up with for THE FOOL in my TMNT game and its just about removing all the variable and reducing the odds to pure 50/50. Other rules can't effect it so the Bard can't let you reroll, you can't add more dice, immunity can't snatch your 1d away. You just have to make this roll without a net and hope for the best. Because we are dealing with wild magic it also means the consequences can be dire and just WEIRD. If the Sorcerer does succeed the just had them the camera and let them show off what they do here. Perfectly suits my ideal himbo sorcerer who doesn't wanna think about odds and so reduces it to simplicity.
ARCANE RESEVOIR is the alternate power use. Letting you spend a charge of Wild Magic to retain a spell after its been cast. This is somewhat similar to the Wizard's SPELLBOOK power but there's nuance I like. Spellbook lets you spend charges to as extra spell slots, they can have more prepped than anyone and it lets them be prepared without having to actually do it in advance, this is a FitD game after all. Resevoir only lets you keep a spell you cast- but it also doesn't care about size. If the Sorcerer brings a heavy spell they could cast that thing a maximum of 5 times (4 charges and initial use) while the Wizard would have 3 casts (Initial use, and 4 uses of spellbook to prepare 2 two-slot spells). It does exactly what I want it to as far as recreating the difference between those two casters.
BLOOD OF DRAGONS is our push ability and is focused on the common trope of the dragon descendant. When you push you can either release a close burst of elemental energy or take to the air and soar as part of your action. The close burst could be a lot of fun and its fun to give the sorcerer a backup weapon even if they get their gear taken. Being able to fly as part of an action is very fun and a nice way to let players gain access to flight (essentially spending a point of stress each round its active). I'm happy with both of these. I have this nagging feeling that the flight might be too similar to another ability but I have double checked and I think we are good. The monk has their superhuman feats ability but that's different than actually soaring.
DOWN IN FLAMES makes your first failed roll each session so spectacularly bad that it counts as a set up for a party member. There are a lot of ways this move could have been flavored and given to different playbooks. But I love the idea of Sorcerers just fucking up so bad that their enemies are just stunned for a moment.
ALL EYES ON ME is similar and gives you a +1d on setup actions that rely on you as a distraction. It's essentially down in flames on purpose- but I like how it represents a Sorcerer's charisma whether its their charming appearance or menacing aura.
SPELL EATER is a weird one. It lets you devour a magic effect- it then takes up one of your harm slots equal to its load... You know what pin in that
Spells and Gear slots in HBH- For those that don't know here's the basics. Most spells take up 1 slot of load, you can prep as many as you'd like and any class can use them. The outliers are rotes and heavy spells. A rote is a spell that doesn't take up any load, but only wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks gain slots for them in their loadouts. Heavy spells take up two load and each arcane class only has one slot for a heavy spell. However, in the world there are BIGGER spells and thats something players can try to discover or create.
So a rote or basic spell would take up a level 1 harm slot (because there isn't a level 0 harm slot for the rote). Heavy spells would be level 2... but there are bigger spells in the world. A sorcerer could try and devour the magic from a powerful artifact and have it kill them because they can't contain it. However, you do clear the harm when you cast the spell. This means- once again, we are giving Sorcerers new ways to cast spells. However, anyone can take this move**. You want to play an Eldritch Knight or a Spell-Sundering Berserker? Here is a fun way to gain access to spells.
ELEMENTAL RESONANCE is the Sorcerer's one defensive ability. When they cast a spell with an elemental tag they gain resistance to that element until they cast a spell with a different elemental tag. So you cast fireball you become resistant to fire. I like this one because of its shifting nature and if the Sorcerer preps two basic elemental rotes they will be able to swap between elemental defenses. But also a lot of time the resistance you want might not be the damage you are needing- fire restistance is useful against the magma elemental but your fireball isn't doing squat... unless you are using Wild Magic of course.
THE LANGUAGE OF SPELLS is our weird investigation/gather info move. When you examine magical effects or items, you can ask 1 question as though you rolled a 6 on gathering info- you also gain +1d on resisting this type of spell for the remainder of this adventure. I like the framing of Sorcerers as concentrated magic, so they can talk with spells because they are essentially cousins. No roll here, you just get to ask 1 question about a magic effect, such as say- can I use Spell Eater on this without dying? I think the additional resistance bonus might be gilding the lily. This lets you ask without rolling and you are getting info from a sources other wouldn't. And then also just getting free dice and having to track all the spells you talked to? That's too much for sorcerous minds to comprehend- let's cut it.
TERRIBLE AS THE DAWN is our final move and is definitely inspired by the Nova from Masks. You can always choose to increase effect while attacking to reveal your true might- the GM will inflict collateral damage on top of any other consequences of the roll. This is interesting because its essentially just a sorcerer's personal devil's bargain. Increase effect but cause chaos. I have a note in the move that collateral should be equivalent to the level of effect being put out- so if the Sorcerer pushed for Extreme effect, go fucking nuts. But also that you should think of things beyond just harm- what can you set on fire, what knives can be twisted, who can be put in danger? Still it is up to the GM.
The one thing I'm stuck on here is- do I want to change it from "while attacking" to "when casting a spell". If I make that change it opens things up more so the sorcerer and anyone else who takes it can go completely gonzo with their magic and be creative with it in fun ways... but on the other hand if I keep it as while attacking this more useful to EVERY class. A Berserker would have a lot of fun with this move.... Hmmm. It's HbH, everyone can prepare spells so this is still good for any playbook- where it might be too good as just an attack buff anyone can take.
That's Sorcerer reviewed and am still pleased with all of these. A couple tweaks, but after reading it I just want to immediately jump in and play one- which is the highest mark I can give a playbook.
So- Comics. this is a weirdly hard one because this is just BROAD? I used a couple anime gifs because guy with extreme power given because of their special bloodline is a LOT of anime. I could also just gesture at the X-Men and go take a nap. Like big power I need to keep in check and may hurt the ones I love is just... all of cape comics.
You know what- fuck it. Uno Reverse. Recommend some comics to me this time- if y'all can think of some good Sorcerer touchstones then I will definitely check them out.