Blit_Wizbok
2022-11-02, 10:14 AM
I'm running a campaign and want to remove the DM dependency from the Wild Magic sorcerer subclass (https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/sorcerer:wild-magic). My rationales are listed after the changes, which I've listed in bold, following the originals for reference.
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1st-level Wild Magic feature:
- You know the Chaos Bolt (https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:chaos-bolt) spell. It doesn't count against the number of spells you know.
- You can cast Chaos Bolt, at the 1st level, without expending a spell slot. You can do so a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. These castings can be affected by Metamagic.
The level in which you cast this spell increases as your Sorcerer level increases. At Sorcerer level 5 you cast it at the 2nd level, level 11 at the 3rd level, and level 17 at the 4th level.
- When you cast Chaos Bolt at the first 1st level or higher (upcasting), you can cast it by expending a spell slot as normal, or by spending a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level (you can't cast above the highest level Sorcerer spell slot you know).
If you cast the spell using sorcery points, for each attack roll the damage dice as normal, and you may choose the attack's damage type from the types listed by the spell. These castings can be affected by Metamagic.
Wild Magic Surge:
Starting when you choose this origin at 1st level, your spellcasting can unleash surges of untamed magic. Immediately after you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, the DM can have you roll a d20 roll a d20. If you roll a 1 equal to or below the spell's level, roll on the Wild Magic Surge table to create a random magical effect. A Wild Magic Surge can happen once per turn.
If a Wild Magic effect is a spell, it's too wild to be affected by Metamagic. If it normally requires concentration, it doesn't require concentration in this case; the spell lasts for its full duration.
Wild Magic Surge table (https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/sorcerer:wild-magic#:~:text=once%20per%20turn.-,Wild%20Magic%20Surge,-d100)
Tides of Chaos:
Starting at 1st level, you can manipulate the forces of chance and chaos to gain advantage on one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. Once you do so, you must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.
Any time you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table, you gain one extra use of this feature. All extra uses gained this way are lost at the end of a long rest.
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.
Chaotic Restraint:
Starting at the 3rd level, when you roll on the Wild Magic Table you can use your reaction, and spend a number of sorcery points equal to the level of the spell that triggered the surge, to prevent the magical effect from happening. You do not gain any extra uses of Tides of Chaos.
You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
CTurbo brought to my attention how bad the lvl 18 feature Spell Bombardment is:
I'm curious why your changes didn't address Spell Bombardment...
...
Beginning at 18th level, the harmful energy of your spells intensifies. When you roll damage for a spell and roll the highest number possible on any of the dice, choose one of those dice, roll it again and add that roll to the damage. You can use the feature only once per turn.
So, although I don't plan on anyone reaching this level, I replaced it with this:
Strands of Chaos:
When you finish a long rest, roll on the Wild Magic Surge table a number of times equal to twice your Charisma modifier (minimum of two). Choose half of the rolls and record their magical effects. The effects aren't triggered, instead they are stored as strands of chaos. You don't get any extra uses of Tides of Chaos for these rolls.
When you or a creature you can see casts a spell of the 1st level or higher, you can use your reaction to release the energy of a strand of your choosing. When you do so, the creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure the creature produces the magical effect stored within the chosen strand. A creature can willingly fail this save. Additionally, any time you are forced to roll on the Wild Magic Surge table, you can replace the magical effect you roll with one of the effects stored within a strand.
Each time a strand of chaos is expended, you gain one extra use of Tides of Chaos, regardless if the magical effect happened or not.
Each magical effect can be used only once. When you finish a long rest, you lose any unused magical effects.
------------
Those are all the changes. Simple changes that will hopefully have a large impact on the feel of the subclass.
Here are the rationales for my reworks:
First off, Chaos Bolt is learned by default. CB is so thematically perfect to a WM sorcerer that I want to incentivize it's use as often as possible. I took inspiration from Circle of the Stars druid and Aberrant Mind sorcerer. The player can cast it proficiency times per long rest (PPLR), they can spend sorcery points directly to cast the spell along-with being able to choose the damage type when they do. More incentives to use CB!
Next, Wild Magic Surge. I want to give more rolls on the WM table, to take the place of what would normally be DM intervention. The chances of a surge also go up based on the level of the spell cast so there's some scaling there. I argue that a player will want to surge as they get higher level, both for the extra Tides of Chaos uses, and because 14 onward gives you a better chance of creating an effect that's beneficial. Not to mention just because it feels good when you get to see your subclass features in use.
After that, Tides of Chaos. Rather than a surge recharging the one use of ToC, it gives an extra use. There's no limit to the number of extra "charges" a player can obtain, so coffee and cocainelock could be a problem if you run this in your own game. Personally, I'd just slap down a big 'ol "**** you, no" to that playstyle, but the extra ToC uses can be limited to proficiency bonus times per long rest or something if it's really a problem.
Finally, Chaotic Restraint. Gameplay "disruptions" caused by a WM surge are normally not an issue when the DM controls when a surge happens, but since that's been removed, there's a definite concern that a player would simply not participate in events (magically) for fear of disrupting or ruining things. I think that giving a way for the player to negate a surge would allow them greater freedom during more serious or important story events.
To that end, I came up with Chaotic Restraint. I think of this kind of like a reactionary Metamagic (hence its placement at 3rd level). If metamagics can twist a spell in all the ways that they can, why not have a "metamagic" that can twist a surge and stop it from happening? (except for the fact it explicitly states that they can't, shhhhh ignore this) I would have actually made it a unique Metamagic in its own right that's granted to the player, but, again, the rules explicitly state that metamagics can't affect a WM surge; so instead it's just its own feature that's granted out of the normal order of things. I also tied its uses to the Charisma modifier, rather than proficiency, because I wanted it to reflect the player's mastery over their own magic, so the more they focus on their spellcasting (charisma) the more often they're able to control surges.
Opinions? Thoughts?
------------
1st-level Wild Magic feature:
- You know the Chaos Bolt (https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:chaos-bolt) spell. It doesn't count against the number of spells you know.
- You can cast Chaos Bolt, at the 1st level, without expending a spell slot. You can do so a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. These castings can be affected by Metamagic.
The level in which you cast this spell increases as your Sorcerer level increases. At Sorcerer level 5 you cast it at the 2nd level, level 11 at the 3rd level, and level 17 at the 4th level.
- When you cast Chaos Bolt at the first 1st level or higher (upcasting), you can cast it by expending a spell slot as normal, or by spending a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level (you can't cast above the highest level Sorcerer spell slot you know).
If you cast the spell using sorcery points, for each attack roll the damage dice as normal, and you may choose the attack's damage type from the types listed by the spell. These castings can be affected by Metamagic.
Wild Magic Surge:
Starting when you choose this origin at 1st level, your spellcasting can unleash surges of untamed magic. Immediately after you cast a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, the DM can have you roll a d20 roll a d20. If you roll a 1 equal to or below the spell's level, roll on the Wild Magic Surge table to create a random magical effect. A Wild Magic Surge can happen once per turn.
If a Wild Magic effect is a spell, it's too wild to be affected by Metamagic. If it normally requires concentration, it doesn't require concentration in this case; the spell lasts for its full duration.
Wild Magic Surge table (https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/sorcerer:wild-magic#:~:text=once%20per%20turn.-,Wild%20Magic%20Surge,-d100)
Tides of Chaos:
Starting at 1st level, you can manipulate the forces of chance and chaos to gain advantage on one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. Once you do so, you must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.
Any time you roll on the Wild Magic Surge table, you gain one extra use of this feature. All extra uses gained this way are lost at the end of a long rest.
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.
Chaotic Restraint:
Starting at the 3rd level, when you roll on the Wild Magic Table you can use your reaction, and spend a number of sorcery points equal to the level of the spell that triggered the surge, to prevent the magical effect from happening. You do not gain any extra uses of Tides of Chaos.
You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
CTurbo brought to my attention how bad the lvl 18 feature Spell Bombardment is:
I'm curious why your changes didn't address Spell Bombardment...
...
Beginning at 18th level, the harmful energy of your spells intensifies. When you roll damage for a spell and roll the highest number possible on any of the dice, choose one of those dice, roll it again and add that roll to the damage. You can use the feature only once per turn.
So, although I don't plan on anyone reaching this level, I replaced it with this:
Strands of Chaos:
When you finish a long rest, roll on the Wild Magic Surge table a number of times equal to twice your Charisma modifier (minimum of two). Choose half of the rolls and record their magical effects. The effects aren't triggered, instead they are stored as strands of chaos. You don't get any extra uses of Tides of Chaos for these rolls.
When you or a creature you can see casts a spell of the 1st level or higher, you can use your reaction to release the energy of a strand of your choosing. When you do so, the creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure the creature produces the magical effect stored within the chosen strand. A creature can willingly fail this save. Additionally, any time you are forced to roll on the Wild Magic Surge table, you can replace the magical effect you roll with one of the effects stored within a strand.
Each time a strand of chaos is expended, you gain one extra use of Tides of Chaos, regardless if the magical effect happened or not.
Each magical effect can be used only once. When you finish a long rest, you lose any unused magical effects.
------------
Those are all the changes. Simple changes that will hopefully have a large impact on the feel of the subclass.
Here are the rationales for my reworks:
First off, Chaos Bolt is learned by default. CB is so thematically perfect to a WM sorcerer that I want to incentivize it's use as often as possible. I took inspiration from Circle of the Stars druid and Aberrant Mind sorcerer. The player can cast it proficiency times per long rest (PPLR), they can spend sorcery points directly to cast the spell along-with being able to choose the damage type when they do. More incentives to use CB!
Next, Wild Magic Surge. I want to give more rolls on the WM table, to take the place of what would normally be DM intervention. The chances of a surge also go up based on the level of the spell cast so there's some scaling there. I argue that a player will want to surge as they get higher level, both for the extra Tides of Chaos uses, and because 14 onward gives you a better chance of creating an effect that's beneficial. Not to mention just because it feels good when you get to see your subclass features in use.
After that, Tides of Chaos. Rather than a surge recharging the one use of ToC, it gives an extra use. There's no limit to the number of extra "charges" a player can obtain, so coffee and cocainelock could be a problem if you run this in your own game. Personally, I'd just slap down a big 'ol "**** you, no" to that playstyle, but the extra ToC uses can be limited to proficiency bonus times per long rest or something if it's really a problem.
Finally, Chaotic Restraint. Gameplay "disruptions" caused by a WM surge are normally not an issue when the DM controls when a surge happens, but since that's been removed, there's a definite concern that a player would simply not participate in events (magically) for fear of disrupting or ruining things. I think that giving a way for the player to negate a surge would allow them greater freedom during more serious or important story events.
To that end, I came up with Chaotic Restraint. I think of this kind of like a reactionary Metamagic (hence its placement at 3rd level). If metamagics can twist a spell in all the ways that they can, why not have a "metamagic" that can twist a surge and stop it from happening? (except for the fact it explicitly states that they can't, shhhhh ignore this) I would have actually made it a unique Metamagic in its own right that's granted to the player, but, again, the rules explicitly state that metamagics can't affect a WM surge; so instead it's just its own feature that's granted out of the normal order of things. I also tied its uses to the Charisma modifier, rather than proficiency, because I wanted it to reflect the player's mastery over their own magic, so the more they focus on their spellcasting (charisma) the more often they're able to control surges.
Opinions? Thoughts?