Can I get some tips for my halfling sorcerer?(d&d 3.5)?

Question

Starting a new character for a campaign, at level 1.

Wizards would be great, but not in this campaign... i hardly get a chance to research new spells, so my wizard is stuck with the 2 spells he gains every level.

So i've decided to play a sorcerer instead, never played one before... I get 2 spells at 1st level, plus 4 cantrips. Magic missle was a no brainer, but i'm trying to decide between sleep and charm person for the second one. As for the cantrips... I've got Detect Magic(for wands) and Ray of Frost, and 2 more. Any suggestions?

Also there is his personality, I kinda got him figured out from his backstory, but i wanna fine tune him a bit, maybe some suggestions for a chaotic good halfling sorcerer?

So far: His little brother, 9 years old, displayed potential as a sorcerer, and an older evil sorcerer recognized it. The villain decided to exploit that potential and kidnapped the child. The boy's family used their life savings to hire mercenaries to rescue him.
Against his family's wishes, my character has gone hunting after the kidnapper. He left no note, and currently has no leads beyond what the kidnapper looks like, but he'd rather have his brothers fate in his hands, then in those of complete strangers.
He comes from a family of pig farmers, and him and his brother are the first sorcerers to have been born into his village.

Answer 1

Alright, I'll give it a shot.



Sleep vs. Charm Person: What kind of campaign is the DM running? If you're going to be spending most of your time poking around in ruins and such, then I'd go with Sleep. If it's going to more of a mix between dungeon crawling and urban adventure/social role-playing, I'd pick Charm Person.



As for the Cantrips: I'd say that Mage Hand and Message have the most utility. Mage Hand is handy dandy for grabbing objects that are out of reach or to push questionable buttons or pull suspicious levers from a safe distance (even if you have to do so indirectly, with a Mage Hand-affected stick, say). Message is like having a walkie-talkie and can be especially useful if there is a Rogue in the group.



As to personality, he sounds a head strong and decisive; once he makes up his mind to do something, he's going to do it. Period. And coming from salt-of-the-earth, hard working people, he probably has a strong sense practicality (i.e., he's a realist) and isn't easily given to irrational sentimentality.



So, how about that?



Good luck and good gaming.





"Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." - H.P. Lovecraft

Answer 2

Halfling Sorcerer

Answer 3

Because of your limited selection, choose sorc spells carefully. You don't want to be stuck with one that will become increasingly useless as time passes (altho you can swap out choices periodically.)



Cantrips: Detect Magic is an obvious choice, but if there's another party member who will also typically be using it, probable overkill. One of the 0-level plink spells (Ray of Frost or Acid Splash) is a given since it usually ensures you can contribute something to a battle. I personally prefer Acid Splash merely because it seems fewer things are resistant to acid than cold and helps against critters that regenerate. Mage Hand is almost a must-have. Open/Close, Prestidigitation and Detect Poison are all worth consideration. Disrupt Undead can be handy if they're encountered frequently, especially low-level ones.



1st level: As you say, Magic Missile is pretty much a given...it almost always works, ramps up by level nicely for a goodly while and can be used to either do significant damage to one target or finish off several weak ones. The problem with Sleep is twofold - it takes a full-round action to cast and is only effective against weak foes. Charm Person can be effective against humanoids but is useless against anything else. Some of the utility spells like Obscuring Mist or Endure Elements are possibles for later on to replace a choice that has outlived its usefulness, but certainly not at first level. You might consider Silent Image...its utility is limited only by your imagination (distracting enemies, non-verbal communication, etc...one way a sorc of mine often used it was when she had See Invisible running and spotted a hidden threat...a quick cast of Silent Image and there's a bulls-eye literally painted on Mr. Hidden's chest.).

Answer 4

I pay $25, if your going to the same place and they are charging you different prices all the time, then maybe you should ask, How much is your set price and find out, I would feel a bit cheated if my salon did that to me.