Hungry Hungry Wild Sorcerer

[Yoroichi]

Hello dear playground people,

I am flirting with a wild sorcerer and was wondering what your thoughts were on the wild magic archetype.

Firstly i believe that the wild magic surge should happen much more ofter but there should be a different roll regarding when (and if) the surge happens.

For example:
Roll 1d6
1: No surge
2: No surge
3: Happens in 1 minute
4: Happens in 1 hour
5: Happens instantly
6: Happens instantly

Or even more often ( as i love the effects of the table). The current 5% is too little to give any flavour to the character plus the clause, whenever your DM wants, is just crappy in combination to the effects of the RAW table.

Second, i am wondering if anyone has home brewed a wild magic surge table with 100 possibilities (the RAW table has 50, PH page 104)!

That is all, happy new year! :D

[Talderas]

Hello dear playground people,

I am flirting with a wild sorcerer and was wondering what your thoughts were on the wild magic archetype.

There are three things I would like to see altered for wild magic. The first is that you roll 1d20 after every time you cast a sorcerer spell of first level or higher. The second would be to change Tides of Chaos so that any time you roll on the wild magic surge table you regain use of that ability. The third would be to change Tides of Chaos so that when you use it the the (1d6)th spell you cast before a long rest after using Tides of Chaos forces you to roll directly on the table rather than rolling 1d20.

[Dalebert]

There are three things I would like to see altered for wild magic. The first is that you roll 1d20 after every time you cast a sorcerer spell of first level or higher. The second would be to change Tides of Chaos so that any time you roll on the wild magic surge table you regain use of that ability. The third would be to change Tides of Chaos so that when you use it the the (1d6)th spell you cast before a long rest after using Tides of Chaos forces you to roll directly on the table rather than rolling 1d20.

Ugh. So much math. Wild magic sorcs def need a tweak but rolling a d6 and then keeping up with when you cast that many spells on top of keeping up with sorc points, spell slots, hp, etc.? I think you're on the right track but maybe find a way to simplify.

[CapnZapp]

The current 5% is too little to give any flavour to the character plus the clause, whenever your DM wants, is just crappy in combination to the effects of the RAW table.
The Wild Mage Surge feature is a distraction that makes people forget about the real feature for Wild Mages, namely Tides of Chaos.

Almost all of the power available to the Wild Mage subclass comes from getting advantage to everything. To tap this power, you need to use Tides of Chaos as often as possible.

This specifically means that after each time you gain advantage on your attack roll, ability check or saving throw you should cast a non-cantrip spell. Not only does this regain the advantage, it lets you roll on the Wild Surge table.

This means that:
a) rolling on the Surge table is not only 5%. It is 100% - when you want it.
b) if you don't have Wild Surges you're playing it wrong. Getting advantage is almost the only thing a Wild Mage has going for her, so unless you use this and use this often, you should play something else. A 5th level sorcerer has about ten spell slots, meaning you should ideally have ten Wild Surges each day!
c) you absolutely must ask your DM about wild surges before you roll up your character. Put simply, if the DM talks about restricting your use of Tides of Chaos and the Wild Surges that go with it in any way, you should not play this subclass.

[Atanvarno]

The Wild Mage Surge feature is a distraction that makes people forget about the real feature for Wild Mages, namely Tides of Chaos.

Almost all of the power available to the Wild Mage subclass comes from getting advantage to everything. To tap this power, you need to use Tides of Chaos as often as possible.

This specifically means that after each time you gain advantage on your attack roll, ability check or saving throw you should cast a non-cantrip spell. Not only does this regain the advantage, it lets you roll on the Wild Surge table.

This means that:
a) rolling on the Surge table is not only 5%. It is 100% - when you want it.
b) if you don't have Wild Surges you're playing it wrong. Getting advantage is almost the only thing a Wild Mage has going for her, so unless you use this and use this often, you should play something else. A 5th level sorcerer has about ten spell slots, meaning you should ideally have ten Wild Surges each day!
c) you absolutely must ask your DM about wild surges before you roll up your character. Put simply, if the DM talks about restricting your use of Tides of Chaos and the Wild Surges that go with it in any way, you should not play this subclass.

I agree, though I think there may be some disagreement over exactly what "Your DM can have you roll" means.

I read the "Your DM can have you roll" clause on the wild surge abilities in much the same way as "Your DM can have you roll [skill check] in order to [do thing skill does]". Its just an artifact of 5E going out of its way to stress that the DM has the final say in things, and can waive rolls if they really don't matter.

Under that reading, the default is to roll the 1d20 after every level 1+ spell, and always roll on the wild surge chart while Tides of Chaos is on cooldown, which lets you get advantage on things as long as you have spells left, and it lets you roll the wild surge table as often as you want, which (given that you're playing a wild mage) is probably all of the time. :smallwink:

[Yoroichi]

The Wild Mage Surge feature is a distraction that makes people forget about the real feature for Wild Mages, namely Tides of Chaos.

Almost all of the power available to the Wild Mage subclass comes from getting advantage to everything. To tap this power, you need to use Tides of Chaos as often as possible.

This specifically means that after each time you gain advantage on your attack roll, ability check or saving throw you should cast a non-cantrip spell. Not only does this regain the advantage, it lets you roll on the Wild Surge table.

This means that:
a) rolling on the Surge table is not only 5%. It is 100% - when you want it.
b) if you don't have Wild Surges you're playing it wrong. Getting advantage is almost the only thing a Wild Mage has going for her, so unless you use this and use this often, you should play something else. A 5th level sorcerer has about ten spell slots, meaning you should ideally have ten Wild Surges each day!
c) you absolutely must ask your DM about wild surges before you roll up your character. Put simply, if the DM talks about restricting your use of Tides of Chaos and the Wild Surges that go with it in any way, you should not play this subclass.

You are 100% wrong, you must finish a long rest before reusing this ability, but you roll on the wild surge table when you cast a spell. You do no regain it when you cast a spell.

I don't want this to get sidetracked with speculation as there is another similar thread going on, does anyone have a wild surge table with 100 possibilites?

[Talderas]

Ugh. So much math. Wild magic sorcs def need a tweak but rolling a d6 and then keeping up with when you cast that many spells on top of keeping up with sorc points, spell slots, hp, etc.? I think you're on the right track but maybe find a way to simplify.

Well, the right path is to the the DM out of when wild magic happens. The suggestion for a d6 for how many casts after using Tides of Chaos is mostly a way to make its recovery a certainty while still random to keep in line. No matter how you cut it, a lot of the potential and power of the wild magic path over dragon path is in wild magic surge and the potency from wild magic surge and rolling on the tables is entirely in the hands of the DM. A DM who is trying to be benevolent by withholding wild magic surge rolls in order to avoid the party wiping fireball at 1st level is just weakening the potential of the wild magic sorcerer.

[Once a Fool]

You are 100% wrong, you must finish a long rest before reusing this ability, but you roll on the wild surge table when you cast a spell. You do no regain it when you cast a spell.

Er...no. You must finish a long rest to regain the feature, except the DM can have you roll on the Wild Surge table immediately after you cast a 1st level sorcerer spell. If the DM does, Tides of Chaos recharges.

[Once a Fool]

I would personally like to see a less zany Wild Surge table and instead one that has power fluctuations, random targets, and random damage types.

[Amnoriath]

You are 100% wrong, you must finish a long rest before reusing this ability, but you roll on the wild surge table when you cast a spell. You do no regain it when you cast a spell.

I don't want this to get sidetracked with speculation as there is another similar thread going on, does anyone have a wild surge table with 100 possibilites?
No, he is right. The long rest is only mentioned so that if the DM never gave you a Wild Surge for that day you get it again the next day. Quote: "Any time before you regain the use of this feature, the DM can have you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table immediately after you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher. You then regain the use of this feature."(PHB 5E, 103)

[Yoroichi]

No, he is right. The long rest is only mentioned so that if the DM never gave you a Wild Surge for that day you get it again the next day. Quote: "Any time before you regain the use of this feature, the DM can have you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table immediately after you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher. You then regain the use of this feature."(PHB 5E, 103)

You guys are right -_-, how could i have missed that, i even read it 4-5 times before posting

Thank you for your input

[eastmabl]

I would personally like to see a less zany Wild Surge table and instead one that has power fluctuations, random targets, and random damage types.

I think that this "less zany" wild magic might be more zany that it is presently. With power fluctuations and random targeting, you move out of "wacky side effects" and into "regularly harming your friends" - which is why most people hate wild magic.

[Feldarove]

I am flirting with a wild sorcerer and was wondering what your thoughts were on the wild magic archetype.



You don't want to date a wild sorcerer. If you think regular guys are unstable to begin with, wait till you have a wild sorc on your hands.

Kidding aside

This archetype looks so awesome, but could play out so poorly. I think if you like the idea of it, play it a bit, if you aren't getting enough rolls on the table, I would try to work something out with your DM. I haven't seen it played, so I am not sure how frequent it actually is.

[Once a Fool]

I think that this "less zany" wild magic might be more zany that it is presently. With power fluctuations and random targeting, you move out of "wacky side effects" and into "regularly harming your friends" - which is why most people hate wild magic.

Not zany. Risky. And unpredictable. But I'd have no problem with limiting the scope of power fluctuation based on character level.