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  • How to Build: Sorcerers

    December 29, 2019 3 min read

    Magic Out of Thin Air

    by: B.J. Guest 

     

    Raising your hands up towards the charging minotaur, you begin to mumble the semantic components of the spell.  You cast your spell striking the raging creature, you feel a surge of magic course through your body.  Suddenly, a unicorn appears next to you.  Where did that come from?  The magic that you call upon is still a mystery to you. 


    Sorcerers are an interesting type of spell caster since they gain their magic not from a deity or studying but from their heritage or D&D’s version of “The Force”.  In this How to Build, we will discuss features of the sorcerer class as well as races that can make great sorcerers!

     

    Key Features

    Sorcerers’ defining trait is how they receive their magic.  This is the Sorcerous Origin feature.  In the Player’s Handbook there are two origins but, in later expansions there are more.  The two origins we will discuss in this article are Wild Magic and Draconic Bloodline.

    Wild Magic is, in my opinion, the more interesting of the two choices.  Once per turn in battle, the DM can ask the sorcerer to roll a d20, if the player rolls a one the DM then rolls a d100 on the wild magic surges chart.  This is the mechanic for the wild magic that surges in a sorcerer giving them their power. Unexpected effects that can come from this are unicorns appearing 5 feet from the sorcerer, a beard of feathers grow from the sorcerer’s face and more!

    Draconic Bloodline is a Sorcerous Origin that explains your powers coming from your heritage of dragons.  With this origin, your sorcerer does get some cool perks such as growing dragon wings.

    The next class feature that makes sorcerers unique is the Font of Magic feature. Similar to Ki Points from the monk class, sorcerers are given sorcery points at level two which can be used to regain spent spell slots or other fun and interesting things at later levels. 

     

    Character Creation

    When building your sorcerer, charisma is the most important stat since it is the sorcerer’s spellcasting ability.  After you placed your highest stat in charisma, set your second highest as constitution to help beef up your sorcerer who usually cannot wear armor.  The following race suggestions are great starting points for creating a sorcerer!

     

    Half-Elf

    With a +2 to charisma and a +1 to two other ability scores, a half-elf sorcerer can be a formidable foe.  Personally, I would place the two additional +1s into constitution and dexterity to assist with pumping up hit points and armor class so my sorcerer can hopefully dodge blows and take one if hit.  Having a large selection of subraces for the elf-part of a half-elf’s heritage can make for some interesting character creation if paired with the draconic bloodline. Imagine the family tree of a drow half-elf draconic bloodline sorcerer!

    Aasimar

    The opposites of the devilish tieflings, aasimars are descendants of humans imbued with celestial powers.  Sporting a +2 charisma, and if you choose the scourge aasimar subrace you gain a +1 to constitution.  Aasimars have the natural ability to heal themselves a small amount as well as different abilities based on which subrace you choose.  Aasimar also have an angelic guide that talks to them via dreams which can be a fun role-play aspect of the character as well as a homebrew explanation of the sorcerer’s powers. 

     

    As always the biggest piece of advice I can give is to have fun and roll with the dice!

    *Dungeons and Dragons and their content is the property of Wizards of the Coast. Norse Foundry makes no claim to ownership to any of the things discussed in this article, this article is a helpful opinion guide on to how to play the game.