Be Gone With The Bland Sorcerers and Wizards... (3.5)

[LordErebus12]

I always disliked the lack of class features with sorcerers and wizards. I like what Pathfinder did to both classes, but I still think a simpler approach could also work.

I realize spells are extremely potent, leading them to stand as Tier 1 'titans', but I do not think this excuses it. In a perfect world, there should only be three tiers, Tiers 1-3.

So here are my changes, effecting only what changes on the tables, leaving all other class features to function as normal.



Sorcerer

Level |Base Attack Bonus|Fort |Ref |Will |Special Ability |0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st| +0| +0| +0| +2| Summon Familiar, Weave Magic | 5| 3| —| —| —| —| —| —| —| —|
2nd| +1| +0| +0| +3| Twin Spell 1/Day | 6| 4| —| —| —| —| —| —| —| —|
3rd| +1| +1| +1| +3| | 6| 5| —| —| —| —| —| —| —| —|
4th| +2| +1| +1| +4| Bonus Feat | 6| 6| 3| —| —| —| —| —| —| —|
5th| +2| +1| +1| +4| | 6| 6| 4| —| —| —| —| —| —| —|
6th| +3| +2| +2| +5| Twin Spell 2/Day | 6| 6| 5| 3| —| —| —| —| —| —|
7th| +3| +2| +2| +5| | 6| 6| 6| 4| —| —| —| —| —| —|
8th| +4| +2| +2| +6| Bonus Feat | 6| 6| 6| 5| 3| —| —| —| —| —|
9th| +4| +3| +3| +6| | 6| 6| 6| 6| 4| —| —| —| —| —|
10th| +5| +3| +3| +7| Twin Spell 3/Day | 6| 6| 6| 6| 5| 3| —| —| —| —|
11th| +5| +3| +3| +7| | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 4| —| —| —| —|
12th| +6/+1| +4| +4| +8| Bonus Feat | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 5| 3| —| —| —|
13th| +6/+1| +4| +4| +8| | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 4| —| —| —|
14th| +7/+2| +4| +4| +9| Twin Spell 4/Day | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 5| 3| —| —|
15th| +7/+2| +5| +5| +9| | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 4| —| —|
16th| +8/+3| +5| +5| +10| Bonus Feat | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 5| 3| —|
17th| +8/+3| +5| +5| +10| | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 4| —|
18th| +9/+4| +6| +6| +11| Twin Spell 5/Day | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 5| 3|
19th| +9/+4| +6| +6| +11| | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 4|
20th| +10/+5| +6| +6| +12| Bonus Feat | 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6| 6|


Table: Spells Known
Level|0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|4|2|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
2nd|5|2|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
3rd|5|3|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
4th|6|3|1|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
5th|6|4|2|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
6th|7|4|2|1|—|—|—|—|—|—
7th|7|5|3|2|—|—|—|—|—|—
8th|8|5|3|2|1|—|—|—|—|—
9th|8|5|4|3|2|—|—|—|—|—
10th|9|5|4|3|2|1|—|—|—|—
11th|9|5|5|4|3|2|—|—|—|—
12th|9|5|5|4|3|2|1|—|—|—
13th|9|5|5|4|4|3|2|—|—|—
14th|9|5|5|4|4|3|2|1|—|—
15th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|2|—|—
16th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|2|1|—
17th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|2|—
18th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|2|1
19th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|2
20th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|3


Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
A sorcerer is proficient with all simple weapons and any light or one-handed martial weapon of the sorcerer's choice. She also gains proficiency with light armor. Furthermore, wearing light armor does not penalize the sorcerer's arcane casting of spell's with somatic components, as it does with normal arcane casters.

Weave Magic (Su):
A sorcerer can, as a full round action, combine two or more (unspent) spell slots into one spell slot for the purpose of casting a spell with the same action. Add the two spell’s levels together and subtract one. This combined number counts as the highest spell slot that the two spell slots can create together. The chosen spell slot must be one that you are capable of casting normally.

Twin Spell (Su):
Casting a twinned spell causes the spell to take effect twice in the same area or on the same target simultaneously. Any variable characteristics (including attack rolls) or decisions you would make about the spell (including target and area), are applied to both spells, with affected creatures receiving all the effects of each spell individually (including getting two saving throws if applicable). A spell whose effects wouldn't stack if it was cast twice under normal circumstances will create redundant effects if successfully twinned (see Combining Magical Effects, page 171 of the Player's Handbook).

For example, a twinned charm person doesn't create a more potent or long-lasting effect, but any ally of the target would have to succeed on two dispel attempts in order to free the target from the charm. As with other metamagic feats, twinning a spell does not affect its vulnerability to counterspelling, so a single successful counterspell negates both instances of a twinned spell.

Although this is considered a metamagic effect, it does not increase casting time (as it would with a spontaneous caster) or the spell level. You can use this ability once per day at 2nd level and one additional time per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond 2nd.

Bonus Feats:
At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th level, a sorcerer gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, she can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or a reserve feat. The sorcerer must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.

These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The sorcerer is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, or reserve feats when choosing these feats.



Wizard

Level |Base Attack Bonus |Fort |Ref |Will |Special Ability |0|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|+0|+0|+0|+2| Summon Familiar, Scribe Scroll |3|1|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3| Metamagic Mastery 1/Day |4|2|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3| |4|2|1|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
4th|+2|+1|+1|+4| Bonus Feat |4|3|2|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
5th|+2|+1|+1|+4| |4|3|2|1|—|—|—|—|—|—
6th|+3|+2|+2|+5| Metamagic Mastery 2/Day |4|3|3|2|—|—|—|—|—|—
7th|+3|+2|+2|+5| |4|4|3|2|1|—|—|—|—|—
8th|+4|+2|+2|+6| Bonus Feat |4|4|3|3|2|—|—|—|—|—
9th|+4|+3|+3|+6| |4|4|4|3|2|1|—|—|—|—
10th|+5|+3|+3|+7| Metamagic Mastery 3/Day |4|4|4|3|3|2|—|—|—|—
11th|+5|+3|+3|+7| |4|4|4|4|3|2|1|—|—|—
12th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8| Bonus Feat |4|4|4|4|3|3|2|—|—|—
13th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8| |4|4|4|4|4|3|2|1|—|—
14th|+7/+2|+4|+4|+9| Metamagic Mastery 4/Day |4|4|4|4|4|3|3|2|—|—
15th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+9| |4|4|4|4|4|4|3|2|1|—
16th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10| Bonus Feat |4|4|4|4|4|4|3|3|2|—
17th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10| |4|4|4|4|4|4|4|3|2|1
18th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11| Metamagic Mastery 5/Day |4|4|4|4|4|4|4|3|3|2
19th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11| |4|4|4|4|4|4|4|4|3|3
20th|+10/+5|+6|+6|+12| Bonus Feat |4|4|4|4|4|4|4|4|4|4


Metamagic Mastery (Su):
At 2nd level, you can apply any one metamagic feat that you know to a spell you are about to cast. This does not alter the level of the spell or the casting time. You can use this ability once per day at 2nd level and one additional time per day for every four wizard levels you possess beyond 2nd. Any time you use this ability to apply a metamagic feat that increases the spell level by more than 1, you must use an additional daily usage for each level above 1 that the feat adds to the spell. Even though this ability does not modify the spell's actual level, you cannot use this ability to cast a spell whose modified spell level would be above the level of the highest-level spell that you are capable of casting.

Bonus Feats:
At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, she can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, a reserve feat or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.

These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The wizard is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, reserve feats or Spell Mastery when choosing these feats.

[Kamai]

I do have to admit that both of these addons feel really odd. For the Sorcerer, Twin is considered a +3 metamagic, and I would say feels fair at that, being essentially a restricted quicken, and that feels really odd to have for free. On top of that, it's a wasted class feature for a sorcerer not building to blast. I wonder how a class feature like this would play out:

Augment Magic (su): At 2nd level, you gain any one Sudden Metamagic feat that you qualify for. At 6th level, and every 4 levels after that, you gain 1 additional use per day of any Sudden Metamagic feat that you have access to. Sudden Metamagic feats that you use do not increase the casting time (as it would with a spontaneous caster).

Might be too strong, though.

You give Weave Magic at 1, but it doesn't actually do anything until 6th level (when you get 3rd level spells). At 1-3, you're combining 1st and 1st to get a first. At 4-5, you can combine a 2nd and 2nd, but you can't actually step up to 3rd because you can't normally cast 3rds. At 6th, you can finally weave 2 2nds to get a 3rd. On the hand, I'm sure that a 9th is worth more than 2 5ths. Cool ability, but really wonky balance.

On the Wizard, balance wise, it's a fine ability (look at Pathfinder's Generalist), but I'm not sure that spontaneous metamagic is the right ability thematically. The Wizard playstyle should reward forward planning. Could you maybe add in optional material components to get better effects out of the spell? Something like having a scale from the dragon you're about to fight or a large brick from the castle you're about to defend giving you a bonus to your spells. Truenames, if your setting has them, would also be fitting.