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Alternate Sorcerer Class v4.0
🕑 Added 2024-09-24 13:48:31 +0000 UTCHey all!
Here today with what ended up being a rather large update for my Alternate Sorcerer class! For those unfamiliar with the project, the goal of the Alternate Sorcerer was always to bring the Mechanics of the class in-line with the Fantasy of playing a living battery of arcane power.
The main way this is done it through a (heavily) modified version of the Spell Point Variant from the Dungeon Master’s Guide, combined with limited spell slots of 6th+ level. Combined with updated Sorcerous Origins, the Alternate Sorcerer allows your players to actually feel like an innately magical being (and not a knock-off Wizard).
As always, let me know what you think in the comments below!
~laserllama
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ALTERNATE SORCERER v4.0
A few small, but high-impact changes to the Alternate Sorcerer this time around:
Sorcerous Origins:
Renamed to “_____ Sorcery” to fit a theme, the Sorcerous Origins included here have been overhauled, along with fully fleshed-out versions of all official Sorcerous Origins.
Subclass spells are now “locked-in” (no more swapping them out like the Tasha’s Sorcerous Origins). Ultimately, I think that was a band-aid to make up for the sub-par base class, and with the improvements I’ve made to the base class, its no longer necessary in my opinion.
Sorcery:
Some big changes to the Sorcerer’s unique style of spellcasting as well! The total number of Sorcery Points you have at any one time has been reduced (to prevent supernova Sorcerers), but Sorcerous Regeneration is no longer limited to 1/long rest. If you get the DMG recommended two short rests per long rest you wind up with almost the same number of Sorcery Points at every level.
Your Spell Limit now explicitly applies any time you expend Sorcery Points, so it limits your spellcasting potential, subclass abilities, and some Metamagics.
The Sorcerer also now has some important Spellcasting Restrictions - you can no longer cast Sorcerer spells while wearing armor. Gotta throw the martial classes a bone. I plan to adjust some subclasses going forward to allow exceptions to this.
Metamagic:
See the specific Metamagic page for all the changes, but every option included with the base class now explicitly only affect your spells. Other wonky Metamagics will be moved to the Alternate Sorcerer: Expanded.
Sorcerous Regeneration:
Now no longer limited to once per long rest! Recharge like the innately arcane being that you truly are (eat your heart out Wizards).
Magical Flux:
To relieve some of the Sorcerers painful inflexibility, this NEW 5th level feature allows you to swap out one Sorcerer Spell or Metamagic each long rest.
Magic Incarnate:
I’ve removed the “minimum of 1” cost to Metamagic. Hopefully this truly makes you feel like an awakened arcane powerhouse!
Flame Sorcery:
Now the go-to blaster option for the Sorcerer. Spread the flames until the whole world (including yourself with Consumptive Flame) burns!
Oceanic Sorcery:
Got rid of all the random mechanics centered around ice magic and instead went with forced movement and all water spells.
Stone Sorcery:
Reworked this to be much more of a tank for both yourself and your allies with Aegis of Stone coming online earlier. Rock Solid!
Storm Sorcery:
A few small adjustments to make the mechanics mesh better.
New Origins: Now included with the Alternate Sorcerer are FULL Alternate Versions of six official subclasses: Draconic, Wild, Aberrant, Divine, Prime, and Shadow Sorcery! Hopefully you like the updates to all these - I think they’re solid.
Frost Sorcery:
The newest Patreon-exclusive subclass. Become a master of ice magic. Stop your foes in their tracks and protect yourself with glacial shields and frigid winds!
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ALTERNATE SORCERER v4.0 CHANGE LOG
Alternate Sorcerer v4.0.0
Major art, formatting, and clarity updates!
Sorcerous Origins // Changed Naming style to “____ Sorcery”.
Sorcery // Sorcery Points // Scaled back the number of Sorcery Points per level to reduce the Sorcerer’s ability to “nova” on shorter adventuring days.
Sorcery // Spell Limit // This now applies to any time you expend Sorcery Points.
Sorcery // Origin Spells // These can no longer be swapped out.
Sorcery // Spellcasting Restrictions // NEW restrictions for spellcasters.
Metamagic // Metamagic choices are locked in (until 5th level).
Sorcerous Regeneration // Renamed (Arcane Regeneration). No longer limited to once per long rest. If you follow the DMG adventuring day guidelines and get two short rests, your Sorcery Points from this feature bring you back to the same amount of Sorcery Points as the previous version of this class.
Magical Flux // NEW 5th level Sorcerer feature!
Font of Magic // Clarified how this is supposed to work.
Magic Incarnate // Renamed (Metamagic Mastery). Removed “minimum of 1” Sorcery Point cost, effectively making 1 Sorcery Point Metamagics free!
Spells
Added link to the laserllama spell compendium.
Moved spell list up to the end of the Sorcerer class description.
Reworked Cantrips: beckon air, control flame, mold earth, and shape water.
Draconic Sorcery
Renamed (Draconic Bloodline) and “promoted” to a core Sorcerer subclass.
Gem Dragon Ancestries are now an optional choice you need DM approval since they are must stronger than the default Ancestry choices.
Elemental Affinity // Renamed (Elemental Sorcery). Now includes the CHA mod damage bonus and free Prismatic Spell Metamagic.
Draconic Apotheosis // NEW 18th level feature that lets you become a dragon.
Flame Sorcery
Renamed (Emberheart) and reworked to be more of a pure flame blaster!
Emberheart // Renamed (Heart of Flame). Cut the advantage vs. charm/fear. Free Control Flame Cantrip with +CHA mod damage bonus.
Wild Fire // You can now trigger this whenever you deal fire damage, but you need to spend Sorcery Points to do so.
Kindle the Flame // CUT!
Consumptive Flame // NEW 14th level feature - spend HP to cast fire spells!
Primordial Inferno // Cut the ability to ignore food/drink/sleep. Added resistance to radiant damage and increased Wild Fire radius.
Oceanic Sorcery
Renamed (Waveborn) and reworked to be more water focused (and less ice).
Oceanic Sorcery Spells // CUT // armor of agathys, fog cloud, misty step, sleet storm, cone of cold.
Oceanic Sorcery spells // ADD // create or destroy water, torrent, blur, wall of water, hold monster.
Waveborn // Renamed (Heart of Water). Added resistance to cold damage and the harsh conditions of underwater environments.
Frozen Curse // CUT
Crashing Waves // NEW 1st level feature based on forced movement.
Crushing Tide // NEW 6th level feature that upgrades Crashing Wave.
Watery Form // Now a bonus action instead of being linked to the Dash action.
Primordial Deluge // Cut the ability to ignore food/drink/sleep. Reworked!
Stone Sorcery
Renamed (Stoneblood).
Stoneblood // NEW 1st level feature. Grants bonus hit points and mold earth.
Earthen Form // Reworked temporary hit points and Armor Class calculation.
Crushing Blow // CUT (for more thematic features).
Aegis of Stone // Moved up to 6th level without resistances. Now temp HP.
Extra Attack // Reworked to match my latest “spellcaster” Extra Attack.
Mountain’s Heart // NEW feature that improves Earthen Form/Aegis of Stone.
Primordial Monolith // Cut the ability to ignore food/drink/sleep. Reworked!
Storm Sorcery
Renamed (Stormsoul)
Stormsoul // Renamed (Heart of Winds). Reworked flight to trigger whenever you spend Sorcery Points and scale with points expended. Free beckon air.
Eye of the Storm // Split from Inner Tempest.
Inner Tempest // Renamed (Stormborn). You can ignore your Storm Sorcery spell effects.
Windcaller // flying speed equals you walking speed.
Primordial Storm // Cut the ability to ignore food/drink/sleep. Reworked!
Wild Sorcery
New (Full) Alternate version of Wild Magic!
Metamagic
Metamagics that don’t directly effect spells moved to Alt Sorcerer: Expanded.
Careful Spell // Combined with Shielded Spell.
Illusory Spell // Renamed (Misdirecting Spell). Cost reduced to 1 SP.
Imbued Spell // “promoted” from Alt Sorcerer: Expanded.
Piercing Spell // Renamed (Potent Spell). Brough over from the Sorcerer: Expanded, reworked to be more powerful.
Prismatic Spell // Renamed (Elemental Spell).
Unstable Spell // Rewritten for clarity.
Additional Origins
Added Alternate Sorcerous Origins based on the official Aberrant Mind, Clockwork Soul, Divine Soul, and Shadow Magic Origins!
Comments
PotatoGolem
Looks great! I love the quasi short rest recharge- makes them feel meaningfully different from all other fullcasters.
laserllama
Check out the Spell Limit portion of Sorcery. It limits how many Sorcery Points you can spend at one time on any spell, Metamagic, feature, etc.
laserllama
This is a good point - I'll look at the language to see if I can write it in such a way as to exclude spells like fog cloud.
Pedro
I am liking the design choices for this class; however, I was wondering if there was supposed to be a maximum investment of Sorcery points for the Aegis of Stone feature in the Stone Sorcery subclass. I can understand that the overall risk of someone dumping a large pool of their Sorcery points on one target is a niche circumstance, but the effects of this are exacerbated with the Mountain's Heart subclasses feature
23BLUENINJA
I like the updates! Solid package overall. However - I think there is an unfortunate interaction with the new careful spell and fog cloud - that being it turns into the defacto strongest spell in almost every situation. One of those HAS to give.
laserllama
Refresh your page!
Bradley Webb
Jeff Potato
I kinda like the idea of reducing sorcery points a bit and allowing Sorcerous Regeneration multiple times per day. Also, uh, please tell me that activating a Metamagic counts as a separate expenditure of sorcery points from casting the actual spell? (You said the new Spell Limit wording limits "some" metamagics, so I suppose that must be the case.) Also holy shit I love the new Careful Spell. Like, I might trade in Quickened Spell for this. I am not sure how I feel about the armor restrictions. I didn't think the sorcerer needed those as badly as the wizard. (Fortunately, it doesn't affect my current character because I'm not a filthy one-level-dipper.) As a side note, have you considered any sort of access to ritual spellcasting (or something similar) for sorcerers? I realize that conceptually, ritual spellcasting makes a lot more sense for basically every other spellcaster in the game than it does for sorcerers...but it also feels silly that the living battery of arcane power is the one that always pays full price to cast Detect Magic.
