Fey-Mage (subclass), an alternate Sorcerer

[SmootRK]

Anyone have any suggestions for spells to fill out the spell lists? I would like some ideas that bring to mind Faerie/Fey/Sidhe ideas.

Ideas that I might work with:
Banshee Scream (death, stun, fear - depending on level or save effects)
Slumber (improved sleep) - essentially sleep spell affecting more/higher HD
Luck - across the board save bonus, amount varies with caster level, perhaps something like reroll a failed save in there.
Faerie Familiar - summons a fey sidekick. because of limited usefulness of such a spell in the repertoire, needs a secondary function such as heals damage to familiar with successive castings.

More ideas?

[SmootRK]

OK, I think I have a worthy playtest version of Fey-Mage developed. It could still use some unique spells to fill out the spell lists but is otherwise very playable at this point.

Solo, you could make this a Release 1 Supplement if you like.

Anyhow, comments and critiques still welcome.

[Sir Bedivere]

I like the idea for this. Opening up the Faerie Realm is pretty cool. Do you plan to do a campaign supplement for it, or even just a more detailed world description with denizens, campaign ideas, etc.? I also like your ideas in "Other Origins."

Using spells / level instead of spell points is an interesting way to handle spontaneous casting. I'll have to think about that.

The fey-mage does seem pretty powerful compared to other magic-users.

For example, at third level:
The fey-mage can cast 3 first level and 2 second level spells. (= 7 spell points)
The magic-user can cast 2 first and 1 second. (= 4 spell points)
The sorcerer can cast 3 spell points worth.
So, the fey-mage is clearly much more powerful than the sorcerer and is more powerful than the regular MU. This continues up the levels.

A bit of an errata on page 2:

Unlike other Magic-Users, a first level Fey-Mage begins play knowing only two first level spells.

MUs also start knowing two first level spells, Read Magic and one other, and sorcerers only start with one spell.

Looks good, and looks like it would be fun to play. I've been toying with different ways to introduce the Faerie Realm into a campaign and this might be a good way to go.

[SmootRK]

The basic idea is 'pure spell points is too much (for instance being able to cast 15 or more magic missile spells in a day at a medium level), so I wanted something a tad less than that, and Spells/Spell Level seems to still give flexibility of choosing.

The overall spell comparisons is correct. The basis I uses was 'same as MU plus 1 spell at each spell level' which was essentially the same as the Specialist Mages from 2ed... it worked there, so it seemed fairly balanced for use here. The BIG balancer for this (in my mind) is the overall severely limited spell repertoire that Fey-Mage has... being limited to just a couple spells of each spell level. A standard MU has the ability to cater spell choices and is free to 'learn' as many spells as he can accumulate - very versatile. The original Sorcerer Supplement also has a very liberal 'learning mechanism' so the limited spell points (less than standard MU) actually makes good sense for that version.

As far as the errata, I will reword that part. I often write this stuff while mirroring the standard MU or the other supplements to ensure I cover all the same points... I add stuff like "unlike", "similar to", or other little bits to differentiate from that original material. That is a case where I could have simply stated "Fey-Mages begin play knowing two spells" and left it as that.

As far as drafting up what exactly the "Faerie Realms" are, I suppose that is a possibility, but then again each gamer has their own ideas of what it might be, and it might be better to leave it all very vague (much like the other planar material or cosmology considerations). The other origins are simply idea-starters for those who might not like taking things down the Fey/Faerie direction.

I hope to playtest this a little this week as an NPC.

[Sir Bedivere]

The basic idea is 'pure spell points is too much (for instance being able to cast 15 or more magic missile spells in a day at a medium level), so I wanted something a tad less than that, and Spells/Spell Level seems to still give flexibility of choosing.

I don't have a problem w/ a mid-level magician casting magic missile 15 times a day. If he's doing that it means he needs to (e.g., he's being assaulted by hordes and hordes of low-HD monsters), or it means his mid-level spells are seriously lacking something. Besides, fighters swing their swords tens or hundreds or thousands of times a day and no one complains.

The BIG balancer for this (in my mind) is the overall severely limited spell repertoire that Fey-Mage has... being limited to just a couple spells of each spell level. A standard MU has the ability to cater spell choices and is free to 'learn' as many spells as he can accumulate - very versatile. The original Sorcerer Supplement also has a very liberal 'learning mechanism' so the limited spell points (less than standard MU) actually makes good sense for that version.

Interesting. At first, I saw it pretty much the opposite. The MU has a wider range of spells to choose from, but he has very little versatility in action, while the sorcerer and fey-mage are much more versatile in action. However, since you're limiting them to 2 per level + charisma bonus, maybe it works out.

That said, I've never had sorcerers in any of my campaigns so I have no idea which kind of versatility really has the advantage.

Did you get any playtesting done?

[SmootRK]

Alas, no playtest yet. My little group of youth playtesters were not very interested in splitting up treasure with others outside the group (npc characters), which was surprising. I will have to teach them a lesson about utilizing and hiring help to ensure survival. Our latest session was a little frustrating anyhow, dealing with attention spans and otherwise sharing of nonsense at the table (over excitement). They do love the game so, but don't always play well as a group.

Anyhow soon. I would love to hear from anyone else's playtest results.

[Maliki]

Has this been taken down? I don't see it in the downloads section.

[Solomoriah]

Hmm. It may have gone missing, indeed. I'll try to find it and repost it.

[SmootRK]

I don't think it ever made it to the status of a real supplement... only something shared via this thread (and on Dragonsfoot). It needs some review for fonts & layout, because I don't currently have access to all the fonts used.

[Solomoriah]

Ah. I assumed I'd mislaid it.

Tell me what you need, and I'll get it to you.