Editing Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons) (section)

==Meanwhile, in 5th Edition...==
In 5th Edition, opinions on sorcerers is... decidedly mixed. Some argue that they're just as useful and viable as they were in 4e, others argue they've gone right back to being the redheaded bastard children of the family.

See, someone finally realized that sorcerers should get something unique: [[metamagic]], torn screaming from [[wizard|the hands of the most pampered brats of 3rd edition]]. They now have (almost outside of a feat) exclusive access to metamagics, of which they can eventually get four, and can alter ''any'' of their spells on the fly using a resource pool called Sorcery Points (which is basically a stupider name for a mana system). They get more as they level up, and can also use them to regain spells. These mechanics are important, because with the reworks to prepared spellcasting, the complaint that sorcerers prepare their spells once and can't easily swap them out is more true than ever.

Sorcerers get to choose their bloodline power at first level: [[Dragon]]s or something vague and chaotic. The dragon bloodline gives them natural armor (which doesn't stack with actual armor, naturally) and one more hit point per level. Eventually they get dragon wings, resistance to, and affinity for, their chosen dragon's element, and the ability to use SP to activate an aura that either scares people or inspires them, depending on which the sorcerer wants it to do. 

The second bloodline option is that the sorcerer has "[[Wild Mage|Wild Magic]]." This means that whenever they cast a spell, the DM can ask them to roll a D20, and on a 1, random magical effects happen. However, given their probable frequency, they are now less devastating (none that instantly kill you, the worst it gets is turning you into a plant for one round or casting ''grease'' on your location, though we can't forget the chance to drop a fireball on yourself). In fact, many are helpful, and later the wild mage actually uses this to their advantage (whenever they have a surge, they can roll twice on the chart). Oh, and they have a D6 hit die now, like in [[Pathfinder]]. I guess WotC got sick of spellcasters whining about not having enough HP to do anything.

Finally, their class skills include lots of Charisma-based choices, like in 4e, which is just one more sweet, sweet improvement.

Their four major weaknesses (and they are all, admittedly, doozies) are thus:  
* That the heavily-reworked magic system took a lot of the punch out of their spontaneous casting, and made the wizard's tremendous versatility even more of an advantage, since now every caster has access to all memorized spells of a given level whenever they cast for a slot.  
* That they are the ''only'' full-caster in the game ''without'' access to ritual casting, further preventing them from being good "utility" people.
* That they gain access to about as many spells as the goddamn ''quarter casters'', and, unlike the [[paladin]] and [[ranger]], neither of whom is at the pinnacle of this edition's tier list, they <s>don't have ''any'' unique spells</s> have ONE unique spell, with their list being, essentially, a gimped-as-fuck version of the wizard's.
* That they don't gain ''any'' short rest benefits until their fucking ''capstone'', meaning that for most of his career the sorcerer is going to lag behind the wizard in terms of spells per day ''as well as'' spells known.  And the only way to avoid that involves eating into the same resource pool that feeds metamagic.

The metamagic still helps make them unique, and ''definitively'' gives them access to a number of things the wizard simply ''cannot'' do, but they really could stand to have access to greater access to more total spells and/or some sort of short-rest recovery mechanic if you're the sort that likes to homebrew fixes.  Perhaps in the form of a set of additional "bloodline" spells attached to each archetype choice?  Fuck's sake, [[Mike Mearls|Mike]], even ''[[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game|Paizo]]'' figured that one out, and they couldn't even be bothered to fix their skill list!  I know you thought about it because it's attached to ''both'' the "playtest" bloodlines!

The sorcerer has been arguably the slowest-growing arcane class in 5th edition; [[Unearthed Arcana]] has done what it can to give sorcerers more options, but WoTC's repeated bungling has kept the development of ''good'' Sorcerer subclasses slow. As of ''Tasha's Cauldron of Everything'', there are 5 sorcerer subclasses outside the PHB:

'''Aberrant Mind''' is the psionic subclass, printed in TCE. At first level, they get Telepathic Speech, which allows them to forge a telepathic connection with one other creature, and extra Psionic Spells, which they can exchange for Divination and Enchantment spells from the Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard lists. At 6th level, they get Psionic Sorcery, which allows them to cast spells using sorcery points instead of spell slots, plus Psychic Defenses, which gives them resistance to Psychic damage and Advantage on saves against being charmed or frightened. At 14th level, they can use Sorcery Points to mutate their body, so they can see invisible creatures, fly, swim and breathe underwater, or slip through tiny spaces for 10 minutes. Finally, they get Warping Implosion at level 18, which allows them to teleport up to 120 feet away, and pull nearby creatures towards the space you left, which also makes them take force damage.

'''Clockwork Soul''' is the other TCE subclass, and great for people who hate being screwed over by the dice. The Clockwork Soul's power comes from [[Mechanus]], and it has powers related to equalizing odds and restoring stability. Starting from Level 1, you can Restore Balance, negating either Advantage or Disadvantage on a d20 roll, and you can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. At level 6, you gain the Bastion of Law power, which allows you to shield another creature from damage. At Level 14, you can enter a Trance of Order, which negates any advantage enemies have over you and prevents you from rolling any number lower than 10. At lvl 18, you can summon swarms of intangible [[Modron]]s to heal allies, fix damaged objects, and cancel any spell lower than  6th level.

'''Divine Soul''' is basically a rebrand of the [[Favored Soul]] from 3e; a sorcerer with divine magical affinities. It took WoTC ''four goes'' before they finally posted this in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and gamers ''still'' argue about whether it's any good. At 1st level, they pick up the ''Divine Magic'' and ''Favored By The Gods'' features. Divine Magic allows sorcerers to learn [[Cleric]] spells as they level up, and gives them a bonus clerical spell that doesn't count against their normal list of spells; this is taken from a short list that masquerades as a facade of the Cleric Domain aspect (Good - Cure Wounds, Evil - Inflict Wounds, Law - Bless, Chaos -Bane, Neutrality - Protection from Evil & Good), but you can swap it out for another clerical spell later. Favored By The Gods, in comparison, lets you add a +2d4 roll to the result of a failed saving throw or attack roll once per short rest, which can turn a failure into a success. Level 6 gives Divine Souls the ''Empowered Healing'' trait, which basically lets them spend a sorcery point to reroll any number of dice in a healing spell cast by themselves or an ally within 5 feet, though they can only do this once per turn. Level 14 comes with ''Otherworldly Wings'', which lets them sprout spectral wings that give them Fly speed of 30 feet as a bonus action. Finally, at level 18, they pick up ''Unearthly Recovery'', where they can heal themselves back from half health or lower potentially to full health once per day.

'''Shadow Magic''' is a sort of mix-up of [[Dread Necromancer]] and [[Shadowcaster]]. Its level 1 features are Eyes of the Dark (gain Darkvision 120 feet, gain a Darkness spell that doesn't count against spells known at 3rd level, can cast Darkness with 2 sorcery points and see through it if you do) and Strength of the Grave (1/day, can make a Charisma save against an attack that would drop you to 0 HP to only drop to 1 HP, but this doesn't work on radiant damage and critical hits). Level 6 lets them summon a ghostly Hound of Ill Omen. Level 14 grants them the ability to Shadow Walk, teleporting at will from one patch of dim light or darkness to another that is within 120 feet. Finally, at level 18, ''Umbral Form'' lets them assume a shadow-like ghostly form for up to 1 minute at the cost of 6 sorcery points, during which time they are resistant to all damage types bar force and radiant and have the Incorporeal Movement trait (can pass through creatures & objects as if they were difficult terrain, but ending your turn inside one inflicts 5 Force damage on you). This showed up in Xanathar's Guide.

'''Storm Sorcery''' is a kind of [[elementalism]] based on affinity for storms, and a nod back to their 4e options. It's got two fluff-only features (level 1's ''Wind Speaker'' lets you speak Primordial, the [[elemental]] language, whilst level 6's ''Storm Guide'' lets you manipulate the path of wind blowing around you and keep yourself from getting wet in the rain), but the rest of it is solid crunch. ''Tempestuous Magic'' (level 1) lets you ride a gout of wind whenever you cast a level 1 or higher spell, which lets you fly 10 feet without provoking an opportunity attack. ''Heart of the Storm'' (level 6) grants you resistance to lightning & thunder damage, and lets you inflict lightning or thunder damage equal to half your sorcerer level on any enemy within 10 feet whenever you cast a 1st level or higher spell dealing lightning/thunder damage. ''Storm's Fury'' (level 14) lets you use a reaction to inflict lightning damage equal to your sorcerer level on anyone who hits you with a melee attack, as well as potentially knocking them up to 20 feet away from you if they fail a Strength save. Finally, ''Wind Soul'' bumps your lightning/thunder resistance to full-blown immunity and gives you a fly speed of 60 feet, which you can choose to drop down to 30 feet for a hour once per short rest in order to give (3 + Cha modifier) allies a fly speed of 30 feet for an hour. This first appeared in Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, but was then reprinted completely for Xanathar's Guide.

Whilst unofficial, there's a Fire [[Elementalism]] Sorcerous Origin, the Pyromancer, in the [[Magic the Gathering|Plane Shift: Kaladesh]] article. This one, unlike the Phoenix Soul, is all about the burninating of shit in your way. Its first feature means all fire spells you cast technically become area spells, as any enemies within 10 feet of you take some fire damage when you cast a fire spell. Then it grants you both Fire Resistance and the ability to negate Fire Resistance in others when you're flinging flames everywhere. It can retaliate against melee attacks by inflicting fire damage on them if they successfully hit the Pyromancer, and finally, they upgrade Fire Resistance to Fire Immunity and can now sling flames so hot that Fire Immune targets only count as being Fire Resistant, in addition to burning normally Fire Resistant foes for full damage. It's considered to be a lot better than the Phoenix Soul Sorcerous Origin from [[Unearthed Arcana]].

Yes, Sorcerers do get some subclasses in [[Unearthed Arcana]] - the Storm, Shadow and Divine magics all began there and were later promoted to official status. Other UA Sorcerer branches that haven't had that luck yet consist of:
* [[Phoenix]] Soul: A strange mixture of fire [[elementalist]] and tanky sorcerer, with its abilities revolving around a 1/day "phoenix form" the player can assume.
* Sea Soul: A water [[elementalist]]. Surprisingly good, makes for a viable melee sorcerer.
* Stone Soul: Actually, no, not an earth [[elementalist]] but a weird-ass homage to the [[Swordmage]].
* [[Giant]] Soul: Some bonus spells based on the different giant breeds, combined with the ability to make yourself grow into a giant at the highest levels.

=== Class Feature Variants ===
Having languished as a fairly ineffectual full caster for its entire run of 5e, the Sorcerer recently got a massive windfall from November 2019's Class Feature Variant Unearthed Arcana, which gave them a slew of new options and an expanded spell list. The most contentious of these is an Enhancement that allows a Sorcerer to swap out any Sorcerer spell for another one, effectively giving them a very restrictive version of what all the other prepared casters get. [[skub |Critics were quick to point out that this doesn't fit in with the flavor of the class]], but proponents say that it is a sacrifice that needs to be made to make the Sorcerer less awful to play as.

[https://youtu.be/v7A6-yOZC_s An interview] with [[Jeremy Crawford]] specifically addresses this concern with regards to Sorcerers. In it, he explains that yes, Sorcerers can switch out one spell per level, since they didn't want people to be married to a bad spell. However, they cannot possibly control how long a level lasts from group to group, so the ability to swap out one spell per long rest is there to help add some versatility. To the people who say this encroaches upon the Wizard and other prepared casters, he reassures that there is a mountain of a difference between the versatility of one spell per long rest and an entire spell list per long rest, thus maintaining class identity. A Sorcerer is no better at versatility compared to a Wizard, so why not give them just one spell? 

WoTC also finally gave the Sorcerer more things to do with their store of Sorcery Points, which they haven't done since the game was launched. In addition to new Metamagic that allows you to take another shot at a missed spell attack and swapping out elemental types, they also got new options for Font of Magic. In theory, this helps justify getting Sorcery Points before actually getting Metamagic, and enables the Sorcerer to skill monkey, tank, and wade into melee combat. In practice, the pitiful dribble of points at that level still leave it underwhelming at the level you get it, and no class features were added to ease the incredible pinch of getting few points and no way to replenish them before level 20.  And while the new metamagic was nice, [[troll| they went ahead and gave wizards literally the only good spell sorcerers got but they didn't]].