Academy Sorceror - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Academy Sorceror

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
true_blue
Mar 01, 2005 16:23:11 I was perusing through the Academy Sorceror PrC and had a few questions..

1) Does anyone else find Arcane Resources pretty much useless for a PC? Now half time for an item creation feat is pretty neat, but it almost sounds like you need to be around an Academy to really benefit from this. Which if you are adventuring, I dont foresee that happening a lot. Even if you let a PC use that no matter where they were, isnt the requirement that you half to spend half a year's time training other sorcerors seem kind of steep for a PC PrC? I mean.. does anyone really do this? You couldnt advanture half the year. Seems kind of weird to me if you are traveling with a group. About the only thing I can even come up with, is have the PC take on an apprentice or two. But every PC who takes this PrC do this? I think thats kind of weird. Personally that whole "power" needs to be redone, it adds nothing to a PC.. maybe to an NPC. I realize its an "Academy" Sorceror, but if its meant for a PC, something like half a year away from adventuring seems pretty big.

2) Has anyone had a PC abuse the Arcane Thesis yet? I mean I personally could see a Fire Mage specifically taking Pyromancy over and over again. That would eventually add a +4 DC to your fire spells. Yes someone could have fire resistance, but not every single person you come across.

I remember they changed Spellcasting Prodigy, Spell Focus/Great Spell Focus, and other feats and PrC's so that it wasnt so easy to bump your DC's way too high. And I think something like this could very well do this. Personally this isnt hard to fix, just institute a rule that a player couldnt take a single one more than twice. I dont think twice would be too much, but even a rule of once wouldnt be bad.

Justa few thoughts, was looking for people's opinions
#2
cam_banks
Mar 01, 2005 17:04:11 If the line about multiple theses were removed, it would actually be fine. Competence bonuses don't stack with each other, and in this case taking the thesis multiple times wouldn't actually increase the effective bonus. So, I think you can probably go with that, given the preponderance of PrCs and feats that boost save DCs.

As for the issue of Academy Resources, there are many D&D groups that specifically incorporate downtime into their campaigns for the purposes of training, earning money, studying spells, making items and so forth. the DM simply says, "OK, 6 months go by. What does your character do in the downtime?" and assumes that the heroes went about their mundane lives taking care of business, family matters and so forth.

One of my favorite games is King Arthur Pendragon, which spans many years of time in each campaign. Each year usually has one adventure, and then the winter comes along and the player knights resolve matters of courtly intrigue, maintain their estates, and do other non-adventurous things. That's also when experience checks are made. In a KAP campaign you can eventually end up playing your character's son, retiring your first knight and starting over with a new character who inherites the glory and fame of his father.

So, while it won't mean as much to groups whose PCs continually adventure and never take much of a break, it does reward those campaigns where adventure only occupies some of the year with the rest being spent pursuing other aims.

Cheers,
Cam
#3
true_blue
Mar 01, 2005 20:23:07 I see what you are saying with the Academy Rsources Cam, I guess I just thought that 6 months is a huge time. I mean my players have downtime to make magical items and such, usually. So thats not a huge deal. But 6 months out of a year seems like a huge chunk of time. I mean I could see splitting it up, little by little, but that would mean the PC would have to constantly keep coming back to the Academy. Now I know to some that may seem logical, seeing as its an "Academy" Sorceror, but I dunno, I just almost see that as too much.

Any ideas on what to do if you dont want to take 6 months out of a campaign to do this? As I said, about the only thing I came up with was having to train apprentices every once in awhile. They would get "field experience" by going on adventures with the Academy Sorceror. But I would hate for that to be the only option. Mainly looking for ideas.

My player who is a Sorceror/Blood Magus is looking at the Academy Sorceror and I actually like the fact she likes the class. Shes already come to me and said she will be looking at shifting her alignment towards Good. One of my other players has talked about the same thing a little, so its nice to see a little variety. Will she exactly make to good? Who knows, but even Neutral is a little bit better than all evil heh =)
#4
zombiegleemax
Mar 01, 2005 21:30:52 Perhaps your player interested in the Prestige Class could take the Leadership feat. The cohort could then become an apprentice sorcerer. It's the best of both worlds, you get to adventure and tutor at the same time!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 true_blue Mar 01, 2005 16:23:11	I was perusing through the Academy Sorceror PrC and had a few questions.. 1) Does anyone else find Arcane Resources pretty much useless for a PC? Now half time for an item creation feat is pretty neat, but it almost sounds like you need to be around an Academy to really benefit from this. Which if you are adventuring, I dont foresee that happening a lot. Even if you let a PC use that no matter where they were, isnt the requirement that you half to spend half a year's time training other sorcerors seem kind of steep for a PC PrC? I mean.. does anyone really do this? You couldnt advanture half the year. Seems kind of weird to me if you are traveling with a group. About the only thing I can even come up with, is have the PC take on an apprentice or two. But every PC who takes this PrC do this? I think thats kind of weird. Personally that whole "power" needs to be redone, it adds nothing to a PC.. maybe to an NPC. I realize its an "Academy" Sorceror, but if its meant for a PC, something like half a year away from adventuring seems pretty big. 2) Has anyone had a PC abuse the Arcane Thesis yet? I mean I personally could see a Fire Mage specifically taking Pyromancy over and over again. That would eventually add a +4 DC to your fire spells. Yes someone could have fire resistance, but not every single person you come across. I remember they changed Spellcasting Prodigy, Spell Focus/Great Spell Focus, and other feats and PrC's so that it wasnt so easy to bump your DC's way too high. And I think something like this could very well do this. Personally this isnt hard to fix, just institute a rule that a player couldnt take a single one more than twice. I dont think twice would be too much, but even a rule of once wouldnt be bad. Justa few thoughts, was looking for people's opinions
#2 cam_banks Mar 01, 2005 17:04:11	If the line about multiple theses were removed, it would actually be fine. Competence bonuses don't stack with each other, and in this case taking the thesis multiple times wouldn't actually increase the effective bonus. So, I think you can probably go with that, given the preponderance of PrCs and feats that boost save DCs. As for the issue of Academy Resources, there are many D&D groups that specifically incorporate downtime into their campaigns for the purposes of training, earning money, studying spells, making items and so forth. the DM simply says, "OK, 6 months go by. What does your character do in the downtime?" and assumes that the heroes went about their mundane lives taking care of business, family matters and so forth. One of my favorite games is King Arthur Pendragon, which spans many years of time in each campaign. Each year usually has one adventure, and then the winter comes along and the player knights resolve matters of courtly intrigue, maintain their estates, and do other non-adventurous things. That's also when experience checks are made. In a KAP campaign you can eventually end up playing your character's son, retiring your first knight and starting over with a new character who inherites the glory and fame of his father. So, while it won't mean as much to groups whose PCs continually adventure and never take much of a break, it does reward those campaigns where adventure only occupies some of the year with the rest being spent pursuing other aims. Cheers, Cam
#3 true_blue Mar 01, 2005 20:23:07	I see what you are saying with the Academy Rsources Cam, I guess I just thought that 6 months is a huge time. I mean my players have downtime to make magical items and such, usually. So thats not a huge deal. But 6 months out of a year seems like a huge chunk of time. I mean I could see splitting it up, little by little, but that would mean the PC would have to constantly keep coming back to the Academy. Now I know to some that may seem logical, seeing as its an "Academy" Sorceror, but I dunno, I just almost see that as too much. Any ideas on what to do if you dont want to take 6 months out of a campaign to do this? As I said, about the only thing I came up with was having to train apprentices every once in awhile. They would get "field experience" by going on adventures with the Academy Sorceror. But I would hate for that to be the only option. Mainly looking for ideas. My player who is a Sorceror/Blood Magus is looking at the Academy Sorceror and I actually like the fact she likes the class. Shes already come to me and said she will be looking at shifting her alignment towards Good. One of my other players has talked about the same thing a little, so its nice to see a little variety. Will she exactly make to good? Who knows, but even Neutral is a little bit better than all evil heh =)
#4 zombiegleemax Mar 01, 2005 21:30:52	Perhaps your player interested in the Prestige Class could take the Leadership feat. The cohort could then become an apprentice sorcerer. It's the best of both worlds, you get to adventure and tutor at the same time!