Specialist Sorcerers

[NerdHut]

Has anyone tried implementing wizard-style specialization for sorcerers? How did it work out for you/your group?

I've been considering adding it to my homebrew, but I'm on the fence. I've also thought about the variants for specialists in UA being available, though obviously there would need to be a different trade-off for the features that replace bonus feats.

[Mike Miller]

I believe there are sorcerers by that name in a dragon magazine, but I can't recall what their crunch was.

Edit: issue 330, pg 94
Sorcerers Are Special...ists, Too

[Zaq]

Is it too cheeky to suggest the Beguiler/Warmage/Dread Necro trio? They kind of do the same thing (fewer schools, more spells) but by leaning into "more spells known" rather than "more spell slots."

[tadkins]

I really like the Pathfinder approach with all of their bloodlines. So much flavor, and in a sense is a good way to specialize and determine what you want your sorcerer to do.

[Quarian Rex]

This is something that I'm working into my new 3.P homebrew campaign. Hasn't been playtested yet, but the theory is that all Sorcerers will have specialization added as an extra on top of bloodlines and such. Extra spell per level (that can only be spent on the specialist school, cementing their spell-stamina), an extra spell known from their specialist school per spell level (alleviating some of pain of such a limited spell selection), and two opposition schools that are no longer considered to be on his spell list (providing a tighter focus). Sorcerers will also have the unique bonus of being able to add a spell from any full casting spell list with the Extra Spells Known feat so long as it is from an allowed school of magic.

Since Sorcerers are considered the Ur-spellcasters in my world it makes sense for the schools to have a relevant basis in the most primitive of practitioners and something for the more studied branches of the arcane to build on. This also in a world where I'm integrating Spheres of Power and a bunch of other things as well. I think that it will add a little mechanical consistency to the world and a little love to the Sorcerer overall.

Needs playtesting but I think that it will be a pretty solid change.

[ericgrau]

+1 spell known and per day for specialization is a strong buff overall. I might even just give +1 spell known, which is still strong. Either way it's not a huge power buff, especially including the minor drawback. It's still a significant buff. I mean, I think even in core-only low op, specialists wizards are usually stronger than generalists and I think that's intentional.

This is hard to say. For casual play I see this causing some minor problems. For most forum users I don't think this is that big of a buff. Especially in high OP where wizards get much larger benefits from optimizing. But you still need to consider non-caster players and players who don't play casters super optimally. So... probably go for it since you're here in these forums, and maybe even if you're all semi-casual, but depending on your group maybe not.

[Particle_Man]

I did this the hard way in pathfinder. A gnome sorcerer with the arcane bloodline that took as many illusion spells as possible as well as spell focus and greater spell focus. He got killed by a phantasmal killer reflected back on him. Lots of fun though.

[Endless Rain]

I've done something similar in that I've converted Wizards (and all other prepared casters) into Sorcerer-style spontaneous casters. I gave them spells known equal to their spells per day*, and gave specialists one extra spell known per spell level that could only be used for their specialist school. I also gave them the normal extra spell per day for each spell level.

*Except 0-level spells, which used the Sorcerer's spells known progression.