Sorcerer: Quality of Life
Inspired by the Unearthed
With the latest Unearthed Arcana, Sorcerer got a number of big boosts to their toolkit; new options for Font of Magic, new Metamagics, some new spells, and the ability to swap out a known spell over a long rest. These are some great improvements at first glance, but there is a problem introduced and a few other problems not addressed. With that, I present some of my own ideas for class features and enhancements!
Spell Versatility
As a being composed of the very essence of the weave, you are able to control the types of spells you have access to through long, intense meditation. When you take a long rest, you can replace one spell of 1st level from this Spellcasting feature with another one from the Sorcerer spell list. The new spell must also be a 1st level spell. To replace a spell of 2nd level or higher, you must take a number of long rests equal to the spell's level (ex. replacing stoneskin with ice storm would take four long rests)
The Method
As you may know, the implementation of a spontaneous caster being able to freely change their spells known has caught a bit of criticism, particularly from those who play wizards, where learning a new spell outside a level up costs them both gold and time. With this variant of spell versatility, the Sorcerer has to, arguably, spend more time to replace one of their spells, when a wizard would spend less time but with a material cost. Also, I would recommend making this spell versatility specific to the Sorcerer; warlocks get their pacts and invocations to make up for spells known, while bards are... bards.
Innate Magic
When a Sorcerer gains their magical powers, they also gain a knowledge of spells native to their Sorcerous Origin.
Each sorcerous origin has a list of spells that you gain at the Sorcerer levels noted in the origin description. Once you gain an origin spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can know. If you have an origin spell that doesn't appear on the Sorcerer spell list, the spell is nonetheless a Sorcerer spell for you.
Draconic Bloodline
| Sorceror Class Level | Spells Known |
|---|---|
| 1st | absorb elements, cause fear |
| 3rd | dragon's breath, enthrall |
| 5th | elemental weapon, fear |
| 7th | elemental bane, polymorph |
| 9th | dominate person, immolation |
Wild Magic
| Sorceror Class Level | Spells Known |
|---|---|
| 1st | bane, chaos bolt |
| 3rd | crown of madness, magic aura |
| 5th | bestow curse, enemies abound |
| 7th | confusion, hallucinatory terrain |
| 9th | geas, mislead |
Storm Sorcery
| Sorceror Class Level | Spells Known |
|---|---|
| 1st | create or destroy water, thunderwave |
| 3rd | shatter, skywrite |
| 5th | lightning bolt, wind wall |
| 7th | conjure minor elementals, storm sphere |
| 9th | destructive wave, maelstrom |
Shadow Magic
| Sorceror Class Level | Spells Known |
|---|---|
| 1st | false life, inflict wounds |
| 3rd | aid (darkness already known) |
| 5th | animate dead, vampiric touch |
| 7th | blight, death ward |
| 9th | danse macabre, enervation |
The Method
Considering the, now kind of distant, UA with the Aberrant Mind giving the archetype additional spells known, like a cleric or paladin, I decided to go with my own list. This is not a new concept for sorcerer, I know. I tried to make the spell lists uniform in that each spell level has one sorcerer spell and one non-sorcerer spell, to kind of keep them consistent. As to my spell choices;
Draconic was a bit tough at points. I decided to focus as much as I could on the multi-elemental side of it, to give it the variance of the dragons, while also throwing in some fear and awe based enchantments. Feeling daring? Go whack the arcanoloth with your elementally charged staff. You got a natural AC and maximum health bonus, right?
Wild Magic, I'd argue, was even tougher. I tried as much as possible to bring the chaos and chance theme of the class together with its spell list, primarily composed of enchantments and illusions. I think it turned out fine enough, but I was limiting myself to the sorc/nonsorc structure. Warp reality to your will, or make others think they live in it.
Storm was the one I had the most trouble with. A lot of lightning and disaster based spells are already on the sorcerer's spell list, so there were points I really had to stretch it. However, sorcerers get to enjoy the colossal power of the destructive wave spell, to make up for the lackluster (in my opinion) archetype.
Shadow was the easiest of the bunch for me, but that's just 'cause I like my edgy death archetypes. The spell list is all dark and grim, focusing on necrotic damage, survivability, and even some undead creation. The reason I don't count vampiric touch as non-sorc is because it appears in the UA on its expanded spell list. The power of the Shadowfell is yours!
Refill Font
At 6th level, your increasing mastery over your own will has bestowed upon you a secondary reserve for your Font of Magic that you can access when you are nearly spent. When you finish a short rest, you can choose to regain a number of sorcery points equal to half your Sorcerer level. You cannot use this feature again until you complete a long rest.
The Method
A super simple, but effective, way of boosting the sorcerer's power. Personally, I believe the Sorcerer should have a back up reserve for sorcery points, when they don't have enough spell slots to convert, or they simply want to be able to cast and modify their spells more. While archetypes would be getting a feature at this level, I figured it would be okay for this power to be put here; Cleric's get a second channel divinity, as an example.
Sorcerous Restoration
At 20th level, you have truly become one with magic, and can take from it as you please. When you use the Refill Font feature, you instead regain all of your spent sorcery points. In addition, when you roll initiative and have no sorcery points remaining, you regain 2 sorcery points.
The Method
With Refill Font as a feature, I decided to make something truly powerful to be used in place of the original sorcerer capstone. Giving them all of there sorcery points back on a short rest per long rest may be enough, but going into any battle with two sorcery points, I believe, makes this a much more powerful capstone.
