Alternate Bards and Sorcerers

Book of Eldritch Might II: Songs and Souls of Power offers a variant bard and sorcerer class. Both these alternatives are presented more for flavor than as replacements for some perceived mechanical inadequacy in the standard classes.

The variant bard, for example, is much more music-based than the original. I didn't necessarily think that the standard bard was underpowered. I did know, however, that a lot of bard fans weren't happy with the class as presented. It had no unique flavor to it. The bard was sort of a second-string... everything. While I understood the whole "jack of all trades" concept, where the bard could do a little of everything, I didn't think the idea mandated that the bard sort of feel like all the other classes. "Magic as music" is an idea that's been around for a long time, and I think it's quite cool.

The class has access to spellsongs rather than spells in three levels of power -- spellnotes, spellchords, and spellmelodies. While the bard does not know a lot of spellsongs, the class offers a good deal of flexibility: Characters can use multiple spellnotes to cast an additional spellchord, for example, or multiple spellchords to make a more potent spellchord.

The spellsongs were tricky to balance. Having only three "levels" to work with was both difficult and at the same time refreshing, let me tell you. (Refreshing because it's easier to wrap your mind around a continuum of three points rather than nine.) Most, but not all, of the magical effects I wanted bards to have -- attack, defense, increased movement, healing, charm, and so on -- have an aspect on each of the three "levels."

Spellnotes are weird in the game because they are only a move-equivalent action to use. So most of them fall between cantrips and 1st-level spells in power. A few are as good as 1st level spells. Spellchords are balanced with 3rd level spells, approximately, although they err on the weaker side. Spellmelodies (which were originally going to be called spellharmonies, but I was convinced that the progression worked better with "melody") are about 5th or so. In areas where bards should really excel, the effects rise above those basic level equivalents.

The alternate sorcerer came along late in the design, but the concepts had been brewing for a long time. It's my contention that by taking a list of what had been 2nd Edition spells (and actually, many have been around far longer than that) balanced for a wizard's mechanics, the process ended up throwing the sorcerer all out of whack. Haste might be an okay spell at 3rd level for a wizard -- and that's debatable -- but it's all wrong for a sorcerer. Because if that's one of her few precious 3rd-level spells (or the only one), then the system forces her to cast it all the time. Every encounter, she's hasted. In fact, she and probably some of the other party members are hasted. Spells like fly, invisibility, and others present similar problems.

People talk about sorcerers constantly casting magic missile or fireball. But I can tell you that the class was actually balanced with those spells in mind. It's the other spells that throw a wrench into things. The "machine-gun" sorcerer is not a balance problem.

But that's not all. The sorcerer's limited flexibility can make the character not only less useful to the group at large (unless they are in a fight), but it can make her dull to play. Something horribly overpowering (a huge number of castings available) matched with something horribly underpowering (small spell selection) is a way to achieve balance, but not a great way.

Ultimately, I don't want to lambaste the standard sorcerer too much. I mean, the class was originally partially my work as one of the 3rd Edition designers. What the alternate sorcerer does is show that there's a different way to go about it.

Don't use the changes I made to the class (greater skill points, skill selection, Hit Die, etc.) without also using the new spell list. I know it's sort of a hassle to have separate wizard and sorcerer spell lists -- that's why I spent precious page space on the complete sorcerer spell list in my book. It's all there, so you don't have to refer to multiple books to choose your spells. If you want to add spells to that list, the DM should simply examine each one and ask, "Would I mind if the sorcerer cast that every single encounter?" If the answer is no, like it might be with something like burning hands or suggestion, just put it on the list with no modifications. If the answer is yes, then consider bumping it up a level, or maybe not including it at all.

My other consideration in making the sorcerer spell list was one of flavor and feel. In my mind, the bookish wizard is the one in the magical lab poring over old books, doing strange experiments, and learning things. So "intellectual" spells like identify or legend lore got cut for the sorcerer to enhance the distinction between the classes. I also didn't see sorcerers necessarily making things, so I also cut spells like arcane mark and Leomund's tiny hut. A lot of spells that might require study or finesse, rather than just raw power, got the axe. Ultimately, I wanted to cut the list down a fair bit for balance reasons, to make the sorcerers and wizards that much more different, and because it just didn't need to be so darned big. Having so many choices as a sorcerer, when you only get to select a handful, makes the class actually less fun to play at times.

Adding these new classes to your campaign doesn't have to be painful or difficult. Forcing a player to transform an existing player character may not be the best idea (although if the player's willing, there's no reason not to). But as for the rest of the campaign, these new classes can represent alternate "schools" of bardic or sorcerous training. Or, you can change over all the NPCs as needed -- the PCs won't necessarily notice the difference, at least right away.

Why weren't these variants in the Player's Handbook? Many reasons. They're weird. They take up a lot of space. I hadn't thought of them yet. And even if I had, I suspect the other designers wouldn't have gone along with me -- not because of balance necessarily (you'd have to ask them that), but because they are a little too offbeat. Mostly, however, these alternate versions are just that -- alternate versions. They are another way of looking at things, with plenty of hindsight. Even if I could go back in time, I wouldn't necessarily try to get them (or my alternate ranger) into the original book. But they're fun to have around now, especially after a couple years more experience with the system.

That said, I have absolutely no plans to do more alternate versions of core classes. Never say never, but for now, I'm turning my attentions elsewhere.