All About Wizard and Sorcerers
Revenge of the Firstborn sports the two main arcane caster classes from the 3.5 SRD – wizards and sorcerers. Below, we’ll discuss the features and differences for the two classes.
Wizards: The Brains of the Party
Wizards are the classic spellcaster in the game; toting around a big spellbook and a collection of scrolls and wands. They must memorize their spells daily in order to be able to use them. They are able to learn spells on level up and from scrolls found during their adventures. Wizards can learn any arcane spell in the game.
Specialist Wizards: Do One Thing and Do It Well
When a character takes his first level of wizard, he has the option to choose a school to specialize in. All of the spells in the game belong to a single school, and specializing in that school gains you an improved ability to identify spells from that school as they’re cast and allows to memorize one extra spell per spell level, as long as it is from that school.
The drawback is that you must choose two spell schools which are forever barred from you. This means that you can never learn spells from that school or use wands and scrolls containing spells from that school.
Sorcerer: Fun and Spontaneous
Like wizards, sorcerers can learn and cast all arcane spells in the game, but that is where the similarities end. While wizards must study to gain their spells every day, a sorcerer is born with the magic coursing through their veins. They can cast a certain number of spells per day, but those spells can be chosen when the sorcerer is ready to cast them.
The drawback is that sorcerers get to learn far fewer spells than their wizard counterpart and they may only choose new spells when they level up. If they grow tired of a spell, their only option is to swap it out for a new one every even level, starting at level 4. Sorcerers cannot learn spells from scrolls, although they can cast spells they don’t know from scrolls.
Metamagic Feats: Customize how your spells work
Metamagic feats are feats that can make your spells harder to resist, more damaging of longer lasting. A wizard must apply metamagic feats to a spell when she memorizes it. Metamagic feats raise the spell level of the spell, the amount the spell level increases varies based on the metamagic feat(s) applied to the spell.
When a sorcerer wants to apply metamagic, he can select it just before he casts the spell. The game’s user interface shows small buttons on top of each spell to select what metamagic feats to apply. A spell with metamagics applied requires a full-round action, even if the spell normally does not require it. The sorcerer must also have the higher-level spell slots available based on what metamagics are applied.
Scrolls and Wands: Always be prepared
The game also includes feats that allow characters to create scrolls and wands (and rods and staves, but that’s another topic) that contain any spell that they know. It costs a bit of experience and gold, but a wand or scroll can be a lifesaver when a spellcaster has used up his allotted spells for the day.
Staffs: Wands on Steroids
One of the more power items an arcane caster can find or craft is a staff. Staffs are similar to wands in that they have a set number of charges, but they differ in two important ways. First, staffs usually contain more than one spell. They also use the wielder’s spellcasting statistics, so a more powerful wizard triggers a more powerful spell from the staff. This is not the case with wands and scrolls.
