3.5 Sorcerer: Native Spellcasting

I've decided that the 3.5 sorcerer in my games are going to be worth playing.



My first modification: All sorcerers will have an ability called Native Spellcasting:

"Complex spell recipes are for wizards, who merely study ways to emulate the power you were born with. You grew up finding your own way to evoke the magic in your blood, and your spellcasting traditions are unorthodox in nature. The Difficulty Class for someone to discern a spell you are casting increases by 4."

Also: I'm considering stripping away the familiar, adding eschew materials as abonus feat, adding bloodline abilities, and adding metamagic and pseudo-spell abilities.

Thoughts?

Custom Minis

Let's take a moment to honor Patrick Keith (http://www.patrickkeith.com/), in my top ten list of coolest people ever.

Why? He just sculpted this bomb mini for me.



This is Kaal, my brother's aspiring dragonslayer, complete with dragonlance. Maybe one day I'll post the story of Kaal, and the artwork that accompanies him. I sketched the design for this lance back when he was starting this character out, then I had AvatarArt do a sketch with him and the lance, and now this!

As far as the process of getting a mini sculpted, it's actually quite easy. I contacted Reaper and asked if they'd do it. They informed me that they cast minis, but don't sculpt them. So they recommended some sculptors (of which Patrick was one).

Now that it's sculpted, I can have Reaper cast the mini and I keep the rights to sell them. How cool is that?

Retooling the 3.5 Sorcerer

I think most people agree that the 3.5 sorcerer needs retooling in order to keep up with the wizard. I want to make it a class people want to play.

I like the bloodlines introduced by Unearthed Arcana and championed by Pathfinder. I think these and their powers should be standard and not require feats or class feature substitutions (but perhaps feats to enhance the bloodlines would work).

One thing I think a sorcerer should have in her repertoire is the ability to produce quasi-spell effects. Variations on traditional spells should come as a standard power for sorcerors.

Example: a sorcerer with burning hands should be able to light a fire similar to the effect of a match without expending a spell slot.

I need to think about this more.

Estraeus

I recently whipped up a 6th level paladin (Kallen Highshield) for a short-notice game, and I wanted to give him some flare. For me, a paladin's flare usually comes in the form of his sword. Long ago I read a list of cheesy paladin quotes, and one stuck with me: [to sword] "Here's the goblin I promised you."

So I had Estraeus forged for my pally. It was a +1 keen longsword (17-20 threat range!). I stacked that with the Great Cleave feat progression, and waded into ranks of orcs with quite the swagger. Haha!

Then we ended our three session adventure, and I had some time to think some more about this hasty character. As I reviewed the deity I selected, I realized that the greatsword (not the longsword) was the god's favored weapon. But Kallen (and I) was already so attached to Estraeus!

Solution: have Estraeus reforged!

So the story goes: the church's weaponsmiths split Estraeus down the fuller, widened the blade, but maintained the magically sharp edges. Then they extended the pommel, and added plenty of heft to the whole weapon.

Result: Estraeus 2.0, +1 Keen Greatsword. Behold!