Noob in need of help

[Ser Bones]

Ok, so I am getting ready to join a game. Been reading through the books and all that. But I have a few questions.

Is it better to go Sorcerer and then into Bard for a more versatile caster with more spells known, and have the cool metamagic stuff
Or
Go something like Divine Soul Sorcerer and do your best not to sh*t the bed when selecting spells?

Are there anyways to increase the number of spells known now that I might have missed?

[CTurbo]

Yes the biggest drawback of Sorcerer is the amount of spells known, and yes, multiclassing into Bard is a great way to increase that. Dipping Bard opens up Ritual Casting for Bard rituals. You could take Ritual Caster feat and select a different class like Wizard or Druid and be able to learn way way more rituals.

[Danielqueue1]

For The Bard sorcerer multi-class, are you doing it for flavor or power? One of the big weaknesses of sorcerer is the limited number of spells known. Doubly so for the Divine Soul sorcerer. The class is quite effective in the right hands. but as you expressed earlier, picking poor Spell choices early on can reduce your flexibility.

I personally recommend going single class if you are new, however far be it from me to tell someone how to play a character.

I guess before I could give a better answer, what are you trying to make of this character?

[dragoeniex]

Are you starting at lv 1?

I prefer single-classing for at least a while to get some strength up before dipping into another class, personally. Spreading yourself out makes you less punchy. It can be worth it, but especially if you're new to the game, I'd lean heavily toward single-classing to keep things simpler.

Whichever way you go, remember you can swap one spell for another each time you level! This is going to give you some built-in grace to decide you hate a spell and need to clean that bed.

Feats- if allowed- like Ritual Caster and Magic Initiate are fan favorites for an extra splash of magic. Ritual Casting opens up more utility (cast a handful of spells for free by adding 10 min to cast time), while Magic Initiate will let you pick two cantrips and a one-use-per-day additional first level spell. If either sound interesting, check out their entries! Variant Human gets a free feat.

[ImproperJustice]

*Appears in an office in best documentary format:

So your a new player to D&D and after reviewing the classes have decided that Sorceror is the class for you!

The following is some simple advice to help you get started.

1. Make peace that you will not know as many spells as other classes. Instead, recognize that you will be maximizing the most out of what you do know, and you have the flexibility to restore spell slots in an emergency.

2. Decide what kind of Sorceror you want to be now. Do you want to blast, buff, or control. Pick one and then choose metamagics which complement that style.

3. Don’t be a slave to that theme. It’s ok to make one or two picks outside your main theme for versatility but no more than that.

4. This part is controversial, but if starting at a low level, avoid high cost metamagics like twin, quicken, and heighten. In the early game, 1 point metamagics can really make a bigger impact over the course of an adventuring day.

My personal opinion: avoid multi classing to start. It can create some real power dips at some levels and adds more moving parts to an already complicated class engine.
Additionally, Divine Soul can be tricky for a starting player, but if you absorb enough guide info (and there are some great guides on this site) you will probably do fine.

If you mess up spell picks, you do get to change a spell at each level up, and this can go a long way to help.
Also, 5 cantrips is nothing to sneeze at. Grab like two damagers of differing elements and then snag some good utility cantrips for stuff of combat like mold earth, shape water, minor illusion, and/ or mage hand.

[Anymage]

Going to second the idea of going single classed if you're new. You'll want a better grounding in the basics before trying to mess about with more complex builds.

In fact, if you can find a patrol you like, I might even suggest going tomelock. Your spells known and some of your invocations might be tricky to get down optimally. But you'll have a reliable regular attack action for simplicity, and then you can have a ritual book for all the utility effects you feel like picking up.

[Ser Bones]

Now see I was talking with the group I am joining and its going to be 5th level. So I have more to unpack but more room to move parts around.
They also mentioned Magic Initiate and I am told that if I am going Sorcerer I can pick Sorcerer to give me two more Sorcerer cantrips and access to a single spell known of 1st level. But I am not sure why I would pick the same class? They said with Divine Soul that would net me a 17 spells known by level 20 so 2 more than normal.

I am liking the idea of a character who is magically capable without education. That this magic pours freely from them without the need for tutelage. Bard was going to be for something akin to their personal goals prior to just learning that grandma was a dragon or your grandpappy made a deal with a demon, or an angel anointed you on your birthday or whatever. Because he likes telling stories, he loves learning new stories and that is why he travels.

Think Gabrielle from Xena, but magical. A scribe who loves to learn not just the stories, but how to do stuff from the stories.

[ImproperJustice]

If you want more spells and want to fill a scribe theme, work ritual caster into your build.

I took it at level 4 for my blaster Sorceror, and it provided a lot of out of combat utility.


But I will be frank. If you make it to level 17, most combats are decided in 1-4 rounds. You won’t notice a difference between 15 or 17 spells known.

What you will notice is the spells you chose of 4-9th level and what level you gained access to them.

[Man_Over_Game]

If you want more spells and want to fill a scribe theme, work ritual caster into your build.

I took it at level 4 for my blaster Sorceror, and it provided a lot of out of combat utility.


But I will be frank. If you make it to level 17, most combats are decided in 1-4 rounds. You won’t notice a difference between 15 or 17 spells known.

What you will notice is the spells you chose of 4-9th level and what level you gained access to them.

I was going to recommend exactly this.

Use Ritual Caster to afford all of the non-combat spells you want. Want to talk to animals? Got it. Want Find Familiar? Got it. Want to bless kids on their Bar Mitzvahs? There's a ritual for that.

Ritual Caster's effectiveness varies based on the spell list you choose, but you're looking about adding 20 spells to your campaign's repertoire, and you start with 2. It also means that you can afford to devote your Sorcerer Spell slots for strictly combat use, so you can feel comfortable converting your spells into Sorcery Points to fuel other spells that take precedence.

Dipping into Bard is a solution, but only one I'd recommend if your party lacks a rogue, as Bards do quite well using stealth or other skills.