Editing Favored Soul (section)

==5e==
5th edition decided to stick its oar in by trying to bring back the Favored Soul as a new Sorcerous Origin, a subclass for [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]]. In fact, this [[Mystic Theurge]]-theme underwent the ''most'' revisions of any single subclass in the game so far!

The first version of the 5e Favored Soul appeared in an [[Unearthed Arcana]] article on class designing. Gets one Cleric Domain's special spells as bonus spells to their list, free proficiency with basic arms & armor, attacking twice per Attack Action, flight at-will by sprouting and dismissing wings, and the ability to heal themselves by casting any Domain spell. Do remember that you only get access to your Domain's bonus spells, though, not to the Cleric spells as a whole, so only Favored Souls of Life can fill the healbot role. It's not a bad idea, but it's often held up as problematic because so many of these traits are supposed to make it more like the cleric (aka, a healer [[gish]]) without addressing the critical error in that - namely, with a mere d6 hitdie, sorcerers are ''not'' the kinds of casters you really want to get into melee.

An alternate take on the Sorcerer-as-Favored-Soul appeared in the February 7 Unearthed Arcana article on Sorcerers. This one is a lot less "spontaneous caster cleric" in nature, possibly due to the Theurge tradition for [[Wizard]]s. Instead, it's perhaps closer in nature to the 4e [[Invoker]]. Its ''Divine Magic'' class trait lets it learn Cleric spells as well as Sorcerer spells, although still kind of hindered by the low number of spells that Sorcerers get. At 1st level, it gets ''Supernatural Resilience'' (+1 to max HP per level) and ''Favored By The Gods'' (1/encounter, add +2d4 to the result of a failed saving throw or missed attack roll), which makes it beefier than the typical Sorcerer, but without expecting them to actually get into the fray, which they aren't really suited for. At 6th level, it picks up the ambiguously as fuck worded feature ''Blessed Countenance'', which basically doubles Proficiency bonus on Charisma checks. The 14th level ''Divine Purity'' feature grants immunity to poison damage, the poisoned condition and disease, and at level 18, they finish up with ''Unearthly Recovery'' where they can heal half of their missing max hit points when below 50% health 1/day.

And a third Favored Soul Sorcerer appeared on May 1st, 2017; this one goes for more of a heal-bot approach. ''Divine Magic'', acquired at 1st level, means it can learn Cleric spells and Sorcerer spells at will, and gets a "free" Cure Wounds spell - an automatically learned spell that doesn't use up its limited supply of spells known. It also retains ''Favored By The Gods'', as per the last version. At level 6, it gains ''Empowered Healing'', allowing it to spend sorcery dice to reroll the dice results for healing spells it casts. Level 14 gives it access to ''Angelic Form'', where it can summon or dismiss ethereal wings that grant it a Fly speed of 30 feet. Finally, at level 18, it gains ''Unearthly Recovery'', which lets it regain 50% of its hit points after dropping to half or less of its HP once per long rest.

It was this third version that WoTC decided was the best option. With a few tweaks - specifically, that "free Cure Wounds spell" was changed into the player's choice of Cure Wounds, Inflict Wounds, Bless, Bane or Protection from Evil & Good, "Angelic Form" was renamed "Otherworldly Wings", and "Empowered Healing" can be used to boost the healing spells of allies within 5 feet as well as the sorcerer's own - the [[angel]]-blooded sorcerer became an official option in "Xanathar's Guide to Everything", where it was given the official name of '''Divine Soul'''.

If the Sorcerer path doesn't suit your 5e tastes, you could always try the Celestial Pact [[Warlock]] instead, who gets a healing touch and a bunch of "kill it with fire/light" spells and abilities.