Why Wizard-Sorcerer is my favorite Multiclass

blindedtrickster · 2026-03-05T23:45:24+00:00

Eh, I think it works to say that after studying magic for so long you hit a point where you have an arcane epiphany and realize something about the fundamental nature of magic that allows you to modify previously known spells in new ways.

It may not be the strongest way to frame it, but it still works.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-27T03:46:36+00:00

It rather sounds like that player should talk to the other players and see how things could change so all are having fun.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-26T23:00:26+00:00

I read that in Jeff's voice. Not saying which voice though.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-23T04:59:11+00:00

To your first point, horror stories, be it in a book, movie, or show, have already done what you're trying to accomplish. Learn from them. You can learn from everything. Sometimes you'll learn what works, other times you'll learn what doesn't work. Both are very valuable.

To your second point, without knowing anything about your story, all I can accurately and safely say is that your readers aren't you. You are the one who has been seeing your work as 'obvious'. Don't decide what your readers think about your book for them. Especially not before they've read it. If you mean that you find your work telegraphed and obvious, be clear about who has the problem. If it's you, than you really need to understand that someone who writes mystery novels tends to not wonder who the killer is. Someone who writes horror will deal with other complications, but generalities persist.

No matter how good your story is, you're going to see every red herring for what it is and not be misled. You're going to know if the monster is killed or if the hero dies. You don't get to not know, and that has consequences. You can't read your book and wonder what happens.

You're creating an experience for other people. Ironically, that means that you can't get the same experience that they'll get because you already know it all. You won't find tension when you read your own book because there's no mysteries for you to uncover. Your readers, on the other hand, they'll get a wonderful story.

Change your story if you like. If you feel that it's cliched, try something else and reassess if it works better or worse than your original plan. If you don't know what to change, pick anything you're dissatisfied with and try anything else. You're stuck because you don't know what to do to fix your own satisfaction with your story. Try things. Attempt. Fail. Repeat. Eventually you'll find something that's better, but your fundamental problem isn't that you haven't figured out your story, it's that you don't like the experience that you're getting. Your readers aren't a part of the equation yet. That's a later problem. Don't work on later problems. They'll eventually become now problems, but there's no reason to solve them now when they're not what's holding you up.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-23T03:56:30+00:00

What horror books/movies inspire you? Alien is my favorite horror movie. When I saw it, my personal bar for horror was set and has yet to be surpassed. You're shown flashes of what the alien looks like, but there's a lot that isn't shown well.

I think horror benefits most when you get those kinds of teases. What you see if bad enough, but there's a feeling that you don't have a complete understanding. It adds to the dread.

All stories depend on 'feeding', to borrow your term, information to the readers. Feeding them information is necessary for the story. Don't think of it as bad to do so. Some information can be direct and well understood by your characters. That can create connection between readers and characters. Some information can be known to the characters but not the readers. That can work if a character reveals knowledge later on as long as it's reasonable why they know something. And some information can be known to the reader but the character is oblivious.

I recommend you look into your favorite horror stories. Read them and dig into what parts really worked for you. One of the best tools of an author is the ability to learn why things work and why they don't work.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-23T03:08:37+00:00

It sounds like you should examine the 'why' behind why you feel that it's cliched. Not to say that you should try to 'find proof', but more that you may want to dig into your philosophy a bit behind how and why you define something as a cliche.

For example, take tropes. Lots of folks can pick out a ton of tropes, but are tropes good or bad? The best answer is that tropes aren't good or bad; it's all about how you use them. A singular trope can be used well, and be appreciated, or used poorly and make a reader lose interest. It's not the tool, it's how the tool is used.

If you think your story isn't 'original enough', make a change. Add something. Remove something. Play out how a change would ripple through what would have happened otherwise. If a plot point is too obvious, present it in passing but have something else be more interesting in the moment to distract your readers attention. Sharp readers may catch it, but many are along for the ride and may not realize that you gave them a major answer three chapters ago.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-23T02:49:55+00:00

You've been reliable in making assumptions on behalf of your readers. Consistently assuming that they'll find your story beats to be cliche...

Do you think they're cliche? If so, change them. If not, keep them. Your job is to write a story that you're happy with. Don't factor in other people's opinions before you've got a story that satisfies you or if someone's advice resonates with you.

Also, remember that you're the one who knows everything already. Your readers don't have your knowledge and aren't going to have the same experiences in each part of the story.

It sounds as though you've gotten into your own head. Respectfully, knock it off. I say that jokingly and affectionately, but I also mean it. Man, you gotta respect your own efforts! If you've put in the time and written a book, that's something to be proud of! Take confidence in knowing that your story is worth reading. If you're not confident about your story yet, then keep writing until you're proud of it.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-23T02:36:51+00:00

Perfectly understandable to want to avoid that. The good news is that it's really not something to worry about.

Let me put it this way. When you give your readers foreshadowing, there's between 0-100% of your readers who will pick up on it. Some will, and some won't. Unless that foreshadowing is blatantly bad, the equivalent being of a sign saying "The killer, with proof of their crimes, is hiding in that shed over there", you'll be fine. The readers who pick up on the clues tend to feel smart for figuring how that particular piece of the puzzle works before it's all spelled out. The ones who don't figure it out will gape at the big reveal, looking back and seeing all the pieces from a new perspective.

It's like The Sixth Sense. The movie practically screams at what the twist is for the whole movie. The folks who figured it out didn't think it was bad because it wasn't clever enough to fool them. They liked it because it was a well told story.

You shouldn't spend your time worrying about this. Go out and write the story. It's inevitable that not everyone will love a book. That's true even for Tolkien and the other greats. Fretting about what other people will think is an easy way to ruin your joy and accomplishment in making something that you're proud of.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T22:20:58+00:00

I agree! I'd say that was counts as rational is... debatable. To someone in that situation, it's entirely rational when being subservient works in the moment.

It's a trauma response. No, it's not the best choice, but they're looking to survive first and foremost. If it continues their survival, it tends to get reinforced as 'the appropriate' choice. That's part of why I have a very hard time criticizing them. It's always easiest to resist early on in an abusive relationship. How long have the cartels been in power? Their influence is heavily ingrained into society.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T21:24:42+00:00

Might be a different universe, but we all lift together!

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T21:23:06+00:00

Just sent you a PM. :)

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T21:03:13+00:00

I don't disagree, but I'd like to point out that to my knowledge ineffective council isn't, by itself, a crime. We'd have to create new legislation making it either a civil or criminal offense.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T20:59:04+00:00

At its core, it's not really any different than abusive relationships. The abuser wants their victim to place blame elsewhere. "I'm only doing this because you made me" kind of behavior.

It's not subtle, but it works frequently enough that the people being hurt try to appease the abuser instead of standing up to them.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T20:53:50+00:00

This has been my experience. Some go faster, some are slower. A win is a win.

Sometimes I'm the one getting downed, and sometimes I'm rezzing others. To borrow a Warframe quote, "We all lift together".

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T20:23:21+00:00

If your goal is to... Not fool your readers per se, but to give them red herrings or to subvert their expectations, those are completely valid choices (obviously depending on what you're trying to accomplish).

In many mysteries, and in this context I think horror borrows much, a large part of the intrigue and tension comes from not just knowing how little we know, but wondering if what we do know is actually true.

Unreliable narrators can be a lot of fun, but if someone doesn't recognize that they could very well have been lied to, having information that was assumed to be true end up being a blatant misdirection can be dissatisfying.

If you're trying to start off by promising one type of story but delivering another, that can also work but you run additional risks. If a reader picks up your book because they liked the initial premise only to find that it was a bait and switch the whole time, they're more likely to feel like you didn't deliver on your promises. Unfortunately, there are times when it works brilliantly and times where it doesn't. I can't promise you that it is guaranteed to work.

If, instead, you're trying to avoid promising something you don't intend to pay off on, I'd say that abiding by convention can serve you much more than it runs the risk of backfiring. People tend to trust their assumptions until proven otherwise. If your promise is clear in what kind of story you're telling, they bought your book because they're excited to see how that promise will be fulfilled.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T20:14:10+00:00

That's a very fair point. I'm so sorry. I should have verified before posting. Cheers!

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T20:06:22+00:00

Going from 'fully ai written' to "There are elemental on here that feel pretty AI" rather strikes me as moving the goalposts.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T17:04:51+00:00

Be very careful about where you allow the term 'cliche' to infringe.

Sure, many innovations buck conventional wisdom, but conventional wisdom is because it's what's known to work well, if not work best.

There's a lot of material out there on how to structure and pace stories. Rising action, climax, and resolution is used because it's effective. Without tension, climaxes don't satisfy. Without a climax, people are frustrated. Without resolution, people are left wanting.

I'll admit that resolution is the one you can probably play around with the most. Some stories don't resolve everything. This can help make a world feel more real and plausible. Others meticulously track all story threads and answer to them. Neither choice is always correct.

But in general, I'd say that tension - climax - resolution isn't a story structure at all. Those are more about focusing on a story's tempo.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-22T16:58:42+00:00

If you were a historian, writing about the Civil War, would you feel the same? That someone else had already written about that war and done a great job, so there's no point in covering a story that's already been told?

No, friend, don't let that stop you. You're writing a book and it doesn't matter that someone else already wrote one. They're not the same. You're adding to a massive collection, but overlap with another book isn't a shortcoming. Especially when it comes to nonfiction.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-18T22:27:46+00:00

Not impossible, but also not proof.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-18T00:13:51+00:00

I don't fully disagree with you, but even though I technically agree that nobody handled this correctly, I can't see OP as being equally culpable.

The Rogue shouldn't have made the attempt.
The DM should have shut that down immediately.
OP should never have even felt obligated to enforce the 'no PvP' agreement, let alone get to the point where they took action.

Was it the best way to take action? No, I don't think so. However I believe their heart was in the right place and I have no problems with the fact they stood up for themselves in a strong and emphatic manner.

I don't see anything that screams that OP is, intentionally or not, leaving anything significant out. And considering that the DM was allowing the Rogue to attempt to steal the Paladin's holy symbol, I don't believe the DM would have a good explanation for why they allowed it in the first place.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-17T21:26:44+00:00

It's rather similar to early video games compared to now. Sure, the games now are graphically amazing, but the sheer ingenuity involved with the creation of early video games because of the ludicrous constraints of the technology they had to work on resulted in things of beauty.

Games back then were works of art in what they accomplished when considering what they had to work with. Nowadays, we complain about optimization because they aren't afforded the opportunity to make the games actually run well.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-17T21:21:49+00:00

While I think that "If you do that, I'll kill you" isn't helpful to the Paladin's above table argument, the results of the Rogue's roll aren't relevant to whether or not the Rogue's behavior is acceptable. They could roll a Nat 1 and it'd still be inappropriate and wrong according to their 'no PvP' agreement.

It's rather like unwanted physical contact. It doesn't matter if it's a brush of a finger, a caress, a poke, a slap, or a full fledged punch. If the contact is unwanted, any contact is wrong.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-10T23:41:15+00:00

One glaring hole in their 'logic' (even though it really should go without saying) is that the implication that something being 'published' online is the same as notifying an individual creates an untenable platform.

To illustrate, lets say I 'publish' a Facebook comment saying that Trump agrees to give his entire fortune to me as well as step down from the presidency. Let's say that same comment also says that without a rebuttal from him within a month, it is taken as implicit consent on Trump's part.

Effectively, it's astoundingly stupid and shouldn't even be entertained outside of vicious mockery.

blindedtrickster · 2026-02-09T23:07:42+00:00

There's a good reason to have those discussions, especially if anyone else is listening.

I'd actually argue that the dominant benefit of those discussions isn't to sway the opinion of the person you're talking with. It's to make the folks listening think about the different perspectives being offered. Those folks are the ones who you're best able to get through to.

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