Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)

Sorcerers are a standard playable class in Dungeons and Dragons versions 3.0, 3.5, and 4. Prior to version 4 they are really just simpler versions of their Wizard brothers, able to cast spells on the fly without morning preparation or a spellbook. The drawback is that they can only know a few distinct spells per spell level.

Critics claim there are several additional problems with the class:

• fewer Feats than the wizard
• no class skills except Bluff use Charisma, the sorcerer's casting stat
• inferior Prestige Classes compared to the wizard (think Tome and Blood)
• cannot obtain as much benefit from spell scrolls and spellbooks as a wizard can

Advocates argue that:

• some of the prestige classes are pretty good (Exalted Arcanist, Archmage), if you have the right splatbook (Book of Exalted Deeds, Heroes of Horror, Draconomicon)
• sorcerers got a mild buff in 3.5, allowing them to vary some spells between levels to make up for their limited spell selection

In addition, the self-contained nature of the sorcerer is useful to counteract a difficult DM:

• the wizard's spellbook is fair game for the DM to harm; the sorcerer doesn't have one.
• Under some DMs, a wizard's spellbook will not grow easily, or cheaply, or at all; the rules mandate a precise number of new spells a sorcerer learns, taken directly from the rulebook list of spells.
• If the DM disallows lots of those spells up front, the sorcerer can leave the session before it starts and avoid the idiocy to come; the wizard is clueless about the plight of his arsenal until it is too late.
• The sorcerer's arguments against the nullification of a spell by DM fiat are stronger considering the smaller arsenal of the sorcerer.
• If a sorcerer uses spells like Charm Person that are enhanced by his Charisma, he has a strong argument against DM fiat nullification in that his skills are feeble so Charisma and spells are all he has to work with.
• Should a DM nullify a certain spell by fiat, the sorcerer can swap it out once he gains the next even-numbered level, thus tailoring his active spell list to the spells most favorably handled by his DM. The wizard gets what he gets.
• DMs who opt for a severe method of character creation often prevent casters from getting the bonus spells afforded by a high caster stat; in this situation the sorcerer's extra spellcast per day becomes highly valuable.

Schools of Thought

Sorcerers are really just singleminded versions of their Wizard brothers, able to cast spells spontaneously (e.g. without preparation in the morning).

Players of Sorcerers (not to be mistaken with Saucerers) often enjoy the dragon blood fluff, and use it in some vague attempt of roleplaying, but we all know that deep down inside they're just playing a sorcerer because they want to throw more fireballs per day than the wizard. But then again, with the right specialization and PrCs a wizard can have more spells per day than the sorcerer, rendering him useless. This is especially true when you realize that the Wizard gets things like Bonus Feats, further pushing its power well past anything the Sorcerer can accomplish without a prestige class.

It's a well-known fact that Skip Williams, one of the developers of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition, absolutely despised the Sorcerer class and is famous for saying in a now-notorious thread on the Wizards of the Coast forums as saying that Sorcerers weren't worthy of being called spellcasting classes. Much as was the case in Dawn of War with the Eldar, the findings of most of the balance team for 3.5, regarding the Sorcerer were steadfastly ignored by WotC, which is why the Sorcerer doesn't get bonus Feats, skills that actually use its main stat (except for Bluff), or the full benefits of Metamagic - you know - all the things Wizards get and take for granted. About the only buff they got in 3.5 is that they can now vary some spells up between levels to make up for how limited their spell selection is. All of this is painfully obvious if one cracks open a copy of the 3.0 era splatbook Tome and Blood, which is widely-regarded as being for Wizards what the current-edition Space Marine Codex was for Ultramarines. All of the Sorcerer-specific classes in the book were horrifically underpowered, whereas a number of wizard builds offered via T&B were incredibly, gob-smackingly powerful.

Sorcerers are, to put it simply, underpowered: They make sacrifices in the number of spells they can know at any one time in order to be able to cast two more spells of every level per day than wizards (however wizards can very easily surpass a sorcerer's spells per day with specialization and the right builds). If your group is a hack-and-slash, combat-centric group, you're probably gonna want to roll a Sorcerer. If your group actually does anything besides kick in doors and behead goblinoids/innocent dwarves/the Tarrasque (haha, beheading the Tarrasque, it'd just grow a new head before you could blink), then consider the wizard's immense versatility an advantage.

On the other hand a sorcerer represents the chaotic side of magic. Free to face the encounter with all that he knows. Ever ready to adapt and prevail. Wizards represent the methodical, logical, and lawful mechanics of magic. So long as they have planned accordingly the night before and morning of, they can face any situation as it comes. But any one thing unpredictable comes along, and the sorcerer gets to loot the wizard's corpse. Of course the Sorcerer also has to plan ahead, because he prepares his spells once and doesn't get to change them until he gets to the next level so you can't afford to have shitty spells.

...Which isn't to say it's all bad news. The Sorcerer qualifies for a number of Prestige Classes that dramatically improve the power of the class. Exalted Arcanist (from Book of Exalted Deeds) gives the class access to a few clerical spells and gives the class a surprising bit of versatility; Fiend-Blooded (from Heroes of Horror) seems outwardly similar to Dragon Disciple class from Tome and Blood in that you trade levels for what's functionally a template, but unlike the Dragon Disciple, offers full spell progression, access to spells you can't normally get, familiar boosts, and the ability to load up a spell to be even more destructive a few times a day - just for example. The Draconomicon also has a bunch of useful Sorcerer buffs, including Sorcerer-specific feats and PrCs. Additionally, the Sorcerer can also easily latch onto (and take advantage of) a number of Wizard-exclusive Prestige classes; seeing what this class can do with Archmage is nothing short of hilarious.

But as far as a base class goes? Fuck that. It's Fighter bad. Prestige out of this class ASAP, and you'll likely find the result far more effective than a Sorcerer on its lonesome.

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