LilithsThrall said:
I don't think its really necessary to be so restrictive as to allow only spells which appeared in the REH books. But to limit the game system to -only- what was in the REH books is to suggest that the world had nothing going on off camera/behind the scenes. Such a two dimensional sense doesn't reflect the proper atmosphere.
I think the core book
should take that approach, and additional magic should be in the supplements - or designed by the sorcerers (players) themselves.
LilithsThrall said:
I am curious. You believe the design of the class is on the genius level. Is it fair to say that you believe the class isn't unbalanced?
That would be fair to say.
LilithsThrall said:
If so, would you help me by showing a level-by-level progression of a sorcerer character which isn't either overpowering compared to other characters or underpowered compared to other characters?
Just about any progression should be playable. I have not had any issues with any of the combinations I or my players have tried. Of course, no one tries to be a DnD mage in my group.
LilithsThrall said:
My character has the necro style and the summoning style. He's fourth level. He's going up against a demon. He can wait until he's about to die and cast "Master, Aid Me!" and take over the combat (which is too much power) or he can send a couple of zombies after the demon - such zombies doing practically nothing compared to the Barbarians in the party (which makes him underpowered). How do you balance it?
Well, without knowledge of the GM style, there are a lot of ways that could be balanced. I also don't know what is around the demon. The zombies
could throw straw or oil on or around the demon so it can be set on fire.
Anyway, that is situation specific. To be more generic, I would presume the scholar has access to alchemical weapons. That is the balancing aspect.
The problem, I think, is that too many people want the scholar to be a DnD wizard who can solve all of his problems with spells. Notice that you have not told me your scholar's other weapons: dagger? mace? alchemy? crossbow? It is telling that you neglected to think those things important to an adventuring scholar (or at least not important enough to mention as an option). Not everything needs to be solved with magic, and that is as it should be. If magic were 100% effective in any given scenario, then everyone would use it. Sometimes bashing its head in with a mace is better than using a spell.
The REH scholar saves his spells for the optimum moment - not wasting spell points or anything else. Everything else is smoke and mirrors (one of my players is so slick with alchemical weapons that he has the other players convinced he is casting spells! Sleight-of-hand is useful for this).
Reread "Rogues in the House." Most of the priest's "magic" was smoke & mirrors, not sorcery. Even Thoth-amon relied on a magic ring. Xaltotun felled Conan not with magic, but with an alchemical weapon. Tsotha-lanti also did not fell Conan with magic, but with an alchemical weapon also.
Remember that a scholar is proficient with
all simple weapons. That includes maces (both heavy and light), hunting spears, and hunting bows! If you don't like those choices, give him a level in something else or a martial feat. I once played a sorcerer that shot a crossbow (I either gave him a level of soldier or a martial weapon feat; I don't remember). He was pretty darn effective (and, although I never tried it, I suppose one could put an alchemical weapon on a crossbow bolt at the expense of range).
Anyway, at fourth level, your base attack bonus is only one less than the warriors in the party - you can swing your heavy mace around just about as good as anyone else with a similar strength! If you would rather keep your distance, pick up a hunting bow - or spend a feat to use one of the better bows.
In my campaigns, the spells are actually rarely used - the scholars use Intimidate and Diplomacy (and claim to be using magic to the other players; they see opposed die rolls, but don't always know it is not a spell but a skill check. The player claims he is hypnotizing them to the other players), and they use a lot of alchemy. When fighting a demon, one summoned his demon to learn where a bane-weapon could be found and/or made.
At high levels, sorcerers can do things like the Master of Yimsha can do (rip out people's hearts), but at low levels, they really can only do things like most of the other sorcerers can do.
If you think scholars should be able to cast spells applicable in combat at all levels, then you misunderstand how REH used scholars in the stories. I have not had a player complain about scholars, nor feel like they don't contribute in combat. Then again, they rarely actually cast spells in combat until they get high level. At that point, they begin to feel invincible - it is fun watching the players switch from pretending to use magic to actually using it.
Most of them use things like Raise Dead as distractions, not as a primary means of fighting something.
To sum up:
1. Use alchemical weapons. Mixed with ranged attack feats (throwing) and/or sleight-of-hand, people think you are using magic.
2. Pick a useful weapon. You are allowed any of the simple weapons, and that has quite a range of options to it.
3. Use skills to get out of combat (Intimidate, Diplomacy, etc.) or to affect combat (such as Intimidate) - and call it sorcery.
So, yes. I do think the scholar, as originally written and as improved in 2E, is a work of sheer genius and REH scholarship. I offer a tip of my hat to both Ian Sturrock and Gareth Hanrahan, and to anyone else involved in the development of the
Conan scholar.