sorcery systems

From: manderson_at_andyne.com
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 10:57:46 -0500


regarding the disparity in power of starting vs. experienced sorcerors;
  1. it's relatively typical of early fantasy games (e.g., AD&D sorcerors stank up until about 5th level). this may be of little relevance, but it may be of some small consolation to PC sorcerors; players of other game systems feel your pain.
  2. it works very nicely within the western cultural context. sorcerors are the religious functionaries of western cultures. just as a young medieval monk had access to the treasures of his religion (such as hand illuminated books, which were the work of months or years of careful craftsmanship), a relatively inexperienced gloranthan sorceror may have access to premanipulated spell matrices, which could crank up his manipulation capabilities nicely. even a mediocre sorceror is highly effective when working within his religious organization; highly competent sorcerors can be real terrors (this doesn't bother me, but I guess it irritates some folks.) this doesn't help PC sorcerors much; presumably they'll be functioning outside of their 'natural' cultural role. your best shot as a PC sorceror is to try to score a magic item or two, and to keep your free int as high as possible. train your enchant and ceremony skills so that you can build your own magic items, and scheme for the day that your long term plans will come to fruition.

Mark Anderson


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