Advice on sorcerer

[Sir cryosin]

I'm thinking of playing a cold based dragon sorcerer and I would like to hear people storys, ideas, and ect... on playing a sorcerer. It don't have to be cold based storys or ect.. but I would like it to be because I'm all most set on cold theme.

[Gastronomie]

First ask the DM if he will allow you to change the damage type of certain spells (such as a Cold damage version of Burning Hands, Scorching Ray, Fireball etc.)

If he doesn't allow it, well, no worries - it could still be done by using Elemental Evil stuff. You could also re-fluff certain spells, such as Hold Person covering the target with ice and freezing him on the spot, and stuff like that.

Sorcerers are generally born with power, so a majority of them are either (i) narcissistic, living a life of pleasure, or (ii) careful and at times cruel, having lived through discrimination or being used to be seen as a total monster.

If it's the latter, a good reason for him/her to be with the other characters is because they're just as powerful as he/she is. In other words, they don't fear him/her. That could be a bond with the party members. Just a random idea, but.

[EvilAnagram]

I played a sorcerer who focused on enchantments and stealth. It was very fun when Wild Surges went off.

[Oramac]

Wild Surges

This is a good question. Which archetype are you looking at? You mention Draconic, which definitely works if you take Silver/White ancestry.

But Wild Magic and Storm could both work as well. Wild Magic is, well, wild. So it would make sense for it to have a type associated with its wielder.

Storm could easily be fluffed as "Blizzard", to account for cold damage.

And as Gastronomie you may be able to convince the DM to let you fluff certain spells as cold damage instead of their normal type.

[Carlobrand]

I am very much a not-sorcerer-fan. Not having to worry about memorizing and spell selection is nice, but they lack the versatility of the good old fashioned wizard, and I've never found charisma to be as useful as intelligence. However, I see that a great number of people are fans. I'm rather curious whether there's something about the class that I haven't fully appreciated. If you don't mind my asking, what draws you to the sorcerer?

[NorthernPhoenix]

I am very much a not-sorcerer-fan. Not having to worry about memorizing and spell selection is nice, but they lack the versatility of the good old fashioned wizard, and I've never found charisma to be as useful as intelligence. However, I see that a great number of people are fans. I'm rather curious whether there's something about the class that I haven't fully appreciated. If you don't mind my asking, what draws you to the sorcerer?

Thematics are what make me enjoy Sorcerer more than Wizard. Sure, Wizard might be better if you care about optimization, but they'l never be as cool.

[MrStabby]

I cant speak for anyone else, but for me the sorcerer is fun to play because of versatility and efficiency.

You really have to think about how to play them - you can't just pick up every spell, divine the future then prepare for what comes up. You need flexability, diversity and power. Limited spell selection sparks reativity as you work out how to solve the problems with the spells you do have.

Metamagic turns each spell into multiple variants - deciding which metamagic to use and when is a big part of the class.

[Sir cryosin]

I am very much a not-sorcerer-fan. Not having to worry about memorizing and spell selection is nice, but they lack the versatility of the good old fashioned wizard, and I've never found charisma to be as useful as intelligence. However, I see that a great number of people are fans. I'm rather curious whether there's something about the class that I haven't fully appreciated. If you don't mind my asking, what draws you to the sorcerer?

Innate magic all ways seem cooler to me. I all ready played a wizard and had fun. But there is a thing we're you have to many choices. And I would be lieing if I didn't say meta magic looks cool to use.

[Oramac]

I cant speak for anyone else, but for me the sorcerer is fun to play because of versatility and efficiency.

You really have to think about how to play them - you can't just pick up every spell, divine the future then prepare for what comes up. You need flexability, diversity and power. Limited spell selection sparks reativity as you work out how to solve the problems with the spells you do have.

Metamagic turns each spell into multiple variants - deciding which metamagic to use and when is a big part of the class.

This pretty much covers it for me as well. I've played Wizards too, and while I enjoyed it, I always come back to the sorcerer. For me, the main draw is Metamagic. As said, it gives each spell a number of different uses that only a sorcerer can achieve.

[DeAnno]

If you want to be Cold, Elemental Evil would be a very helpful splat, yes. In a larger sense ever since the damage nerf Dragon Sorcerer has been a bit underwhelming, but there's nothing wrong with the class as a whole as long as you use Twin and/or Quicken well.

[DizzyWood]

I am very much a not-sorcerer-fan. Not having to worry about memorizing and spell selection is nice, but they lack the versatility of the good old fashioned wizard, and I've never found charisma to be as useful as intelligence. However, I see that a great number of people are fans. I'm rather curious whether there's something about the class that I haven't fully appreciated. If you don't mind my asking, what draws you to the sorcerer?

My DM lets me play my sorcerer as having an intuitive understanding of magic. Nothing set in stone it is not like written rules. Twice I have been able to feel magic being cast nearby and I can tell what school an item is enchanted with quite often. It is mostly just a fluff thing but I even made 200 gp by casting spells over and over for a wizard friend to study. If the DM is on board sorcerers are WAY more interesting than Wizards..Ohh look at me I went to school and learned all this stuff.

Wizard Please!! I was born with this...suck it!

Wizards are the D&D equivalent of hipster grad-students.

Sorcerers are....emo hippies? Maybe... sure lets go with that.

[Nerdynick]

Playing a red dragon sorcerer in a game currently and just hit 5th level.

Sorcerer has some nice pros and some serious cons They not only have a limited list of spells known, but those spells are drawn from a list that is itself a cut-down wizard list. It's almost literally adding insult to injury. Quoting from another person somewhere on here, wizards have a total of 252 spells they can learn while sorcerers only have 160 on their class list. The sorcerer misses out on staples like rope trick and floating disk. It's very frustrating for me. That said though, the limits on concentration really help with this compared to previous editions. If you can find a good buff, a good debuff, and your staple blasting spells, then the rest of your spells can really go to whatever you want. Additionally, save DCs aren't based on spell level any more, so many remain viable throughout the game.

Metamagic and sorcery points are the real selling point of the class, and for what they do I think they're good. Twinned spell lets you circumvent buffing limitations (I regularly use it with Haste and Invisibility) and sorcery points let you tailor your spell slots to some extent (ex. I'm playing a blaster (which isn't optimized, I know) and got the elemental adept feat from variant human. By 4th level I had traded in all my 1st level spells known (to include things like sleep, which had lost its relevance by then) and only kept shield. Not needing shield most of the time, I just turned those 1st level slots into another scorching ray).

In my experience, sorcerer is "good enough", and twinned spell is really nice, but most of the things I do could be done almost as well by a wizard, who also can do a lot more. I don't regret playing a sorcerer, per se, but I would prefer to play a wizard in future games. Bottom line is that if your characters story makes more sense as a sorcerer (as mine did), play a sorcerer. They're perhaps not as powerful as wizards overall, but they're still very valuable to the team and I've been mvp more than one session.

[Gastronomie]

This may be sorta irrelevant to your character idea, but Paladin/Sorcerer is one of the most amazing multiclasses out there. It could be given a try, especially for those who wish to create Red or Blue Draconic Sorcerers (Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade), or those whose DMs permit you to change the damage types of said Cantrips. Quickened Spell works wonders in this build.

Shadow Sorcerers actually work best in this multiclass, but Draconics are pretty good too, especially with them having a good AC from a low level, without using Mage Armor (assuming you go DEX with your weapons). It's a bit of a pain that you need 13 STR to multiclass, so it's generally stronger in roll-for-stats than in point-buy, but you could always work out a STR-based one if you like. Either works. Sword-and-board is a good idea given your lower-than-average HP, in which case the Longsword and Rapier seem like good weapon choices (but again, if you want, you could wield a Greatsword).

[Shining Wrath]

The way I've always played a Sorcerer is that while Wizards can do magic, Sorcerers ARE magic. My sorcerers tend to mock spell books as crutches for the weak.

I think that in 5e charisma is more useful than intelligence.

As for your idea, you probably do want Elemental Evil. Look up the various guides around here for spell and metamagic selection. Talk to your DM about the campaign; for example, Subtle Spell is pretty sweet if you're in a throne room and you want to make an illusion appear without anyone knowing that's what's happening; not so useful in a knock-down drag out battle (unless you're immobilized).

[Rhedyn]

I don't have a cold one set up:

Sorc Ideas Red Dragon Blood, Spy, Half elf
10 str 14 dex 16 con 10 int 10 wis 16 cha
Skills: Deception, Stealth, Thieves’ tools, Cards, Intimidation, Persuasion, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand
ASI: +2 cha, +2 cha, +2 con, +2 con, +2 dex
Languages: Common, Elvish, Draconic, Dwarf
Meta: Quicken, Twin, Heighten, Extend
0th: Firebolt, Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Chill Touch, Blade Ward
1st: Disguise Self, Burning Hands, Shield
2nd: Invisibility, Enhance Ability
3rd: Fireball, Major Image
4th: Polymorph, Banishment
5th: Telekinesis, Animate Objects
6th: Globe of Invulnerability
7th: Teleport
8th: Earthquake
9th: Wish

Enhanced Ability plus your skills allows you to be a decent skill monkey. Constitution being a proficient saving throw is HYYGE.

I grab chill touch to diversify damage options. If they are immune or resistant to your main damage, you will want a back-up one.

Twin Polymorph on allies is very dangerous. Heighten on those later level save or lose is very nice. Extend and sorcery points lets you do things like stay invisible all day.

What I think the main draw of the dragon sorcerer is being able to twin/quicken cantrips. You start off with a big spell that you won't lose concentration on, then with a mere 1-3 sorcery points you stay competitive damage-wise with a Fighter.

I think wizards and sorcerers are equal, but the DM is more likely to notice sorcerer power. The wizards constant stream of rituals and vast array of spells may get looked over compared to you turning the fighter and rogue into giant gorillas at level 7 while you pass concentration saves 85% of the time.

[Cwest1230]

I don't often play Sorcerers, but I can give it a shot.

I'd look into my background and race a bit more. If you're a Dragonborn, WHY do you have pure (or mostly pure) dragon blood running through your veins? Did a White/other color Dragon "bless you at birth?" Were you hatched from a defective White/other color Dragon egg? Are you still in contact with the dragon, or do you not even know who he/she is?

If you're an Elf, why the heck do you have Draconic blood? Perhaps your parents were dragonslayers, and bathed you in the blood of a recent kill? Since Elves are so longlived, were/are your mother/father mated with the dragon? Or maybe you ran into a White/other color Dragon as a toddler, who inexplicably decided NOT to eat you.

If you're a Halfling, the same question applies. Obviously. Were you treated differently because of your draconic origin? Did anything happen in your childhood that alienated you from other children, or maybe your powers gained you friends and popularity?

... and so on. I'm not going to list every option and whatnot, but I'd really suggest looking at the "why" you're like this. I'd also suggest being of White Dragon blood, obviously. Since you want to play as a Cold Based guy, I'd also reccomend using and subverting tropes attributed to Cold magic users.

What I mean by that, is things like the idea that elementalists that use Cold magic are typically, well, cold! They're hard, like ice, uncaring. Calm, collected, and cool. Maybe your character IS all of, or some of, those things- but maybe they're the exact opposite.

You might be warm and friendly, always willing to lend a hand- the exact opposite of what people might expect. Or you might be hotheaded and rash- not calm or cool.

You should also think about WHY you went adventuring. Perhaps you're on a search to find your dragon ancestor? If you are the direct desendant of a dragon, (perhaps your great, great, great grandfather, or even just your grandfather!) that dragon might be alive. That would give you cause to try to meet him/her!

Or perhaps you're searching for a way to unlock your full potentional. You have the power of a ancient race running through you- and you want to unlock it!

Or maybe you feel like its a burden; you never asked for this power, and you want to get rid of it.

Creating background for your character, and personality, is half the fun! I'm afraid I can't help you much with spells and mechanics, except for really recomending that you use Ray of Frost and your metamagic a lot.

[Specter]

Just remembered: look at the Arctic Druid's extra spells, and there you'll have an awesome frame of reference.
With Hold Person, take Quickened Spell and an attack cantrip. If the target fails the save, you attack him on a crit for massive damage.