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M20 Sorcerer $15.99
Average Rating:4.4 / 5
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M20 Sorcerer
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M20 Sorcerer
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Ismael A. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/22/2022 14:15:18

This book is mostly fine but i do have a couple problems: -There's no Avatar/Mana background that gives quintessence despite there being a Quintessence Wheel in the character sheet. And there's an Arete tracker there for some reason? -The explanation for Quintessence Manipulation, which i suppose is the main way to get new Quintessence in this system, is very poorly explained. Am i to assume that you need at least Level 3 just so you can start getting Quintessence? Or can you do it with a Level 1 Ritual? The way rituals work is also poorly explained. -This is more of a personal preference other than anything else, but i would rather that this book had followed the Chronicles of Darkness book, Second Sight, instead of Sorcerer Revised, because i feel that book is closer to the way that real-life mystic practices are done than this system. Some paths are just too flashy for my taste. But that as i said, is just my personal preference rather than a flaw of this book.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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M20 Sorcerer
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Sarah H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/22/2022 03:08:24

My personal advice is to grab Sorcerer Revised instead. I'll elaborate why in bullet points.

  • First up are the lore changes. If this just stuck to the ones in desperate need of revisal I wouldn't have an issue, but that isn't the case. For example Maison Liban went from breaking away from House Tremere due to recognizing how messed up the actions taken were and promptly being hunted by both the Tremere and the Order of Hermes to being complacent in said actions and only fleeing due to the Order of Hermes initiating their purge. There are other examples as well, but if I were to detail every lore based discrepancy this would go on for far too long.

  • Second is the attempted nerfing. No, this isn't a lamentation over how sorcerers aren't as powerful before. Instead my objection is that those who adapted it gave not a care about balance. In an attempt to tone down the quite powerful hedge magic paths they rendered the psychics nigh unplayable. Between the blanket willpower cost across both forms of sorcery and the inability of psychics to use quintessence without homebrew in this edition there is zero reason to play the innate casters. Sure there was a major power difference in earlier editions as well, but this just widened the gap by the metaphorical length of a football field.

But don't fret. There are two other easily obtainable 20th Anniversary Edition adaptions for Sorcerer if you're set on getting an updated version, albeit in homebrew format. The slightly more popular choice is Sorcerer: Paths of Power. The problem with this adaption is that it also has the blanket willpower cost, but hey at least psychics can still use mana and the lore doesn't have unnecessary changes. The second option is Sorcerer's Companion. This one has a ton of example rituals and lacks the blanket willpower cost, but requires you to have a copy of Revised. It also holds your hand far less than Paths of Power does, which is a boon for some and a bane for others.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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M20 Sorcerer
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Adam K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/20/2022 07:53:41

I've only skimmed thru some of it but I had to immediatly read the section on Paths, spells, & rituals. I think the idea of aspects is ingenious. It really makes Hedge Magic easy to use. I'm already taking a few paths from this section and modifying them slightly for use in my CofD Hunters game called, "Dirty Jersey."



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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M20 Sorcerer
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Robert S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/13/2022 23:18:00

issues with this when comparing to other books.

  • experience is at new rating while every other 20th book is at current rating.

  • psychic power is severely weak compared to the hedge mages needing to expend a willpower point to use there powers. Just look at the disparity between Conjuration and Telekenesis to properly understand why the psychics powers where mostly free in the revised edition.

  • the loss of mana means not only are psychics even more powerless but now they have no way to compete against any other splat as very few are going to have the particular path to actually be able to use quint.

  • still using willpower is also a major shot in the knee as it's the hardest resource for a splat to recover without outside help, it would have been much better if they kept mana and had hedge magic cost that, then they wouldn't have less power then a shop owner with a shotgun.


Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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M20 Sorcerer
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Kenneth E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/04/2022 21:29:57

Very solid update to Sorcerer. Mostly focuses on the usual M20 effort of compiling all the aspects of a given thing rather than introducing new parts but it's still a very handy guide with a few updates. It's well organized and very streamlined. The more time I spend poking at it the more I like it and they're already working on the errata to deal with the few major issues it has.

Those of you who have always been vexed at things like Giovanni supposedly coming from mortal necromancers yet the mortal necromancy either being non existent or awful will be happy to find several paths related to it in here that are pretty decent.

This does feel a bit lower power than previous editions of Sorcerer so if you're looking for that you may have to tune things up but the rules clarification and consolidation are definitely worth a look. I'd give it 5 stars but I think they can (and will) do better when they update it so I'll save it for then.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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