I've got some questions about the Sorcery rules. I've got one player in my online game running a Sorcerer. There are a couple of areas where I felt the rules were incomplete, and have decided to come up with some house rules. Obviously, there are several areas where the Sorcery rules are incomplete, just two that I've house ruled so far. They both relate to casting a spell. Even though I can find nothing at all about moving while casting a spell, it seems to me that you shouldn't be able to( or at least not very much ). I've also decided that any significant distraction should require a concentration check, not just receiving damage.
My player objects, strongly, to both of these. I'm trying to be reasonable, so I thought I'd see what others have done, if anything.
My justification for not being able to move is the statement in the rules that while casting, the sorcerer is in a semi-trance. That seems to me to preclude moving. The player happens to have a cavalry mount, and also feels like he should be able to ride the animal while casting a spell. I disagree with that as well. I've no problem with him sitting on a motionless mount.
As for a distraction requiring a concentration check, that just seems to make sense to me. The player points out, correctly, that the rules only specify receiving damage as a trigger for a concentration check.
My gut feel is that it seems like an experienced Sorcerer could be a very powerful spell caster. I am concerned about play balance without these house rules.
Another question is regarding to the time it takes to cast a Sorcery spell. This is an area where I'm tempted to house rule to reduce the time, by either eliminating the 1 melee round delay, reducing the SR cost to 1 SR per MP, or maybe both. I'm curious to know what the rationale for those rules is.
My player seems pretty upset about these house rules, and I'm trying to be fair. But I am concerned about play balance in the long term.
Marc