On par with the fighter in the "here, you've never played before? use this" department

Feel free to tear it apart, it's literally the fruits of about 3 seconds idle thought and 3 minutes typing/referencing the 1e PHB

Sorcerer -

The sorcerer is a magical class that focuses on hurting enemies and overcoming challenges with powerful magic.

Hit die - 1d8
Primary attribute: INT
Ability requirement: INT 9+
Saves as fighter
Attacks as fighter
Armor allowed: None.
Weapons allowed: Staff and dagger

Magical Attack: The Sorcerer has a powerful magical attack at his disposal. At first level the sorcerer can hurl a bolt of magically energy at foes. As the Sorcerer gains levels the damage done and frequency of attacks increases.  

Level   /   Attacks per round   /     Damage
               

1                1/1              1d8
2                1/1              1d8+1
3                1/1              1d8+1
4                1/1              1d8+2
5                3/2              1d10
6                3/2              1d10+1
7                3/2              1d10+1
8                3/2              1d10+2
9                2/1              1d12
10              2/1              1d12+1

Magical armor: The Sorcerer is able to use his magic to defend himself as well by encasing himself in magical armor.

Level         "Natural" AC
1                6
2                6
3                5
4                5
5                4
6                4
7                3
8                3
9                2
10              2


I think it also needs some type of magical doohicky to up damage and attacks like magical swords for fighters.

Seems kind of dull in that he can't do anything but fight with his magic. We already have the fighter for kicking as that way.

Quote from: zarathustra;628961Seems kind of dull in that he can't do anything but fight with his magic. We already have the fighter for kicking as that way.

I tend to agree, I'm just having a little thought experiment about a class that just blasts people with magic ala the wizard in Golden Axe and the like.

Something as mechanically simple as the fighter... but with magic.

Quote from: zarathustra;628961Seems kind of dull in that he can't do anything but fight with his magic. We already have the fighter for kicking as that way.

Agreed. I basically adapted the 3e sorcerer to my ASSH campaign, which is essentially 1e based, and it worked well enough. It's not rocket science: compare sorcerer to the wizard class in 3e. Then start from MU class in AD&D and reverse-engineer the sorcerer from that paradigm. Easy as pie.

I was thinking about doing something like this based on Jedi/Sith (I've been playing SWTOR).

Basically they would have a main attack of shooting force lighting (or "mystic lighting" I was going to call it, and was going to call the class either the mystic or mystic knight). But what else? In the game they have light sabers, but the ranged Jedi/Sith class, mostly it's just zapping people (well, the Jedi use telekinesis instead)

Quote from: Benoist;628964Agreed. I basically adapted the 3e sorcerer to my ASSH campaign, which is essentially 1e based, and it worked well enough. It's not rocket science: compare sorcerer to the wizard class in 3e. Then start from MU class in AD&D and reverse-engineer the sorcerer from that paradigm. Easy as pie.

Yeah, but that kind of sorcerer is really no different than a wizard. A little, but not much. I think the idea is to make something more like the 3e Warlock, which could constantly (I think) attack with magic, but had no traditional spells.

Quote from: Piestrio;628963I tend to agree, I'm just having a little thought experiment about a class that just blasts people with magic ala the wizard in Golden Axe and the like.

Something as mechanically simple as the fighter... but with magic.

Ok, I get it.

Anyway, I'd jazz it up a tiny bit.

Going witht the jedi theme I'd add Mind Trick (suggestion, only non combat and reasonable, c'mon we all know how the mind trick works. Anything over 1 HD gets a save), Telekenisis and Detect Magic to the arsenal.

Choose 1 at first level, gain another at 3, 5, 7. But each costs 1 HP to use (prevents abuse).

More complex but not near as much as usual wizards with spell lists, memorising etc.

Quote from: JeremyR;628965Yeah, but that kind of sorcerer is really no different than a wizard. A little, but not much. I think the idea is to make something more like the 3e Warlock, which could constantly (I think) attack with magic, but had no traditional spells.

I see that, and I'm kind of thinking like Zarathustra about this. You've basically got the fighter for it. I think it makes sense to have a magic user being a little more advanced from a rules standpoint. It fits with the idea that you enter the game using an alter ego akin to the protagonist in Three hearts and three lions or John Carter and other dimension travelers being "fighting men" of all things, and later upgrading once you know what you are dealing with, with playing a harder character class to survive, with more resource management and the like, aka the magic user. The 3e sorcerer in this regard is the response to people who "almost" don't grok Vancian casting and "could" if only it was more instinctive with the ability to cast whatever you have when you need it... and it works in an AD&D paradigm as well, IMO.

Looks okay for a quick and dirty Golden Axe type caster. I would drop the HD to 1d6, and start the damage at 1d6 too. Maybe even 1d4. I'd also make it like a missile attack, but use INT for the to-hit bonus, and include ranges.

Wasn't there a big spell in Golden Axe for taking out groups? I'd perhaps throw something like that in with either a simple once per adventure limit or you have to have x number of consecutive hits with the bolt to acess it.

Quote from: Piestrio;628948On par with the fighter in the "here, you've never played before? use this" department

Feel free to tear it apart, it's literally the fruits of about 3 seconds idle thought and 3 minutes typing/referencing the 1e PHB

Sorcerer -



Magical Attack: The Sorcerer has a powerful magical attack at his disposal. At first level the sorcerer can hurl a bolt of magically energy at foes. As the Sorcerer gains levels the damage done and frequency of attacks increases.  

Level   /   Attacks per round   /     Damage



Magical armor: The Sorcerer is able to use his magic to defend himself as well by encasing himself in magical armor.

Level         "Natural" AC


I think it also needs some type of magical doohicky to up damage and attacks like magical swords for fighters.

I'd approach this similar but a little more different, taking a concept page from 4e. Rather than giving the Sorcerer an inherent AC, I would leave him as a low-AC class (at least a first) and instead give him a magical attack which can be used to push or immobilise enemies. So the niche would be attacking at range, keeping enemies at range and pushing them back to range. It would be pretty much as simple as a fighter from a rules perspective, but have a different feel in play. The push and immobilise effects could be ramped up as they level, and become selective at higher levels so you could paralyse all your enemies in a blast whilst leaving allies untouched.

The simplest way to add some more magic flavour into the class would be to allow them to cast M-U spells from scrolls and use M-U magic items.

You could just use the 1e monk as your template.

RPGPundit

This seems like a possible start... but it's definitely not quite where it needs to be yet. I definitely approve of the thought process though.

Quote from: RPGPundit;629604You could just use the 1e monk as your template.

RPGPundit

Ya, as Pundit mentions, one could change the source and effect of the monk features, which would help set-up this class scheme.  Pundit might be voicing a little sarcasm here too along with the suggestion, but it is a completely valid way to have a guideline to write it.

Quote from: Kuroth;629771Ya, as Pundit mentions, one could change the source and effect of the monk features, which would help set-up this class scheme.  Pundit might be voicing a little sarcasm here too along with the suggestion, but it is a completely valid way to have a guideline to write it.

I wasn't being sarcastic, I really thought it was the easiest way to set up this kind of thing.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;630103I wasn't being sarcastic, I really thought it was the easiest way to set up this kind of thing.

RPGPundit

Cool.  Ya, we are in agreement.  For Original D&D and the Holmes/Moldvay/Cook/Mentzer editing of the D&D, AD&D 1 provides lots of handy guidelines and ideas. Edit: It has ideas for any game really, if one is familiar with it.

I think this is a pretty cool idea. You do need ranges, and I'd add an area-of-effect spell. Other than that, this class is something I'd play.