BR:Sorcerer

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A Breton sorcerer conjures a Daedric portal.
Sorcerer
Willpower | Endurance
Sorcerer class symbol
Difficulty
Offense
Defense
Support
3 stars
3 stars
3 stars
2 stars
Delvebound Class | Full Spellcaster

Class Overview. The Sorcerer is a spellcasting class specializing in absorbtion of magicka to increase their spellcasting prowess.
Capacitor. Replenishes your magicka reservoir from saving throws against spells.
Stunted Magicka. You can draw from a larger pool of magicka points, but you only regain half of your expended magicka points after finishing a long rest.

Golden eyes flashing, an Altmer stretches out her hand and unleashes the fire that burns in her veins. As an inferno rages around her foes, her eyes turn black from the daedric influence powering her magic.

Long hair whipped by a conjured wind, a Breton spreads his arms wide and throws his head back. Lifting him momentarily off the ground, a wave of magic surges up in him, through him, and out from him in a mighty blast of lightning.

Crouching behind a stalagmite, an Argonian points a finger at a charging Falmer. A blast of fire springs from her finger to strike the creature. She ducks back behind the rock formation with a grin.

Sorcerers carry a magical birthright conferred upon them by an exotic bloodline, some otherworldly influence, or exposure to unknown cosmic forces. One can’t study sorcery as one learns a language, any more than one can learn to live a legendary life. No one chooses sorcery; the power chooses the sorcerer.

Raw Magic

Magic is a part of every sorcerer, suffusing body, mind, and spirit with a latent power that waits to be tapped. Some sorcerers wield magic that springs from an ancient bloodline, while others have made a dangerous pact with powerful beings to grant them unimaginable power.

The appearance of sorcerous powers is wildly unpredictable. Some ancestries produce exactly one sorcerer in every generation, but in other lines of descent every individual is a sorcerer. Most of the time, the talents of sorcery appear from the alignment of the stars. Some sorcerers can’t name the origin of their power, while others trace it to strange events in their own lives. The touch of a daedra or a taste of the water from a mysterious spring might spark the gift of sorcery. So too might the gift of a deity, exposure to the elemental forces of the Mundus or the maddening chaos of Oblivion.

Sorcerers don't rely on spellbooks and ancient tomes of magic lore the way that mages do. By learning to harness and channel their own inborn magic, they can discover new and staggering ways to unleash that power.

Unexplained Powers

Sorcerers are rare in the world, and it’s unusual to find a sorcerer who is not involved in the adventuring life in some way. People with magical power seething in their veins soon discover that the power doesn’t like to stay quiet. A sorcerer’s magic wants to be wielded.

Sorcerers often have obscure or quixotic motivations driving them to adventure. Some seek a greater understanding of the magical force that infuses them, or the answer to the mystery of its origin. Others hope to find a way to get rid of it, or to unleash its full potential. Whatever their goals, sorcerers are every bit as useful to an adventuring party as mages, making up for a comparative lack of breadth in their magical knowledge with enormous capacity and power in using the spells they know.

Creating a Sorcerer

The most important question to consider when creating your sorcerer is the focus of your power. As a starting character, you'll choose a focus that ties to either your ancestry, your birthright, an unexpected event, or to daedric influence, but the exact source of your power is up to you to decide. Is it a family curse, passed down to you from distant ancestors? Or did some extraordinary event leave you blessed with inherent magic but perhaps scarred as well?

How do you feel about the magical power coursing through you? Do you embrace it, try to master it, or revel in its nature? Is it a blessing or a curse? Did you seek it out, or did it find you? Did you have the option to refuse it, and do you wish you had? What do you intend to do with it? Perhaps you feel like you’ve been given this power for some lofty purpose. Or you might decide that the power gives you the right to do what you want, to take what you want from those who lack such power. Perhaps your power links you to a powerful individual in the world – the deity that blessed you at birth or the daedra who chose you to carry this power.

The Sorcerer

Level Proficiency Bonus Class Features Cantrips Known Spells Known Magicka Points Bonus Sorcery Magicka Spell Level
1 +2 Spellcasting, Sorcery Focus 4 4 4 1 1st
2 +2 Capacitor 4 5 6 2 1st
3 +2 Power Overwhelming 4 6 14 3 2nd
4 +2 Attribute Score Improvement 5 7 17 4 2nd
5 +3 - 5 8 27 5 3rd
6 +3 Sorcery Focus Feature 5 9 32 8 3rd
7 +3 - 5 10 38 9 4th
8 +3 Attribute Score Improvement 5 11 44 11 4th
9 +4 - 5 12 57 14 5th
10 +4 Equilibrium 6 13 64 16 5th
11 +4 - 6 14 73 18 6th
12 +4 Attribute Score Improvement 6 14 73 18 6th
13 +5 - 6 15 83 20 7th
14 +5 Sorcery Focus Feature 6 15 83 20 7th
15 +5 - 6 16 94 23 8th
16 +5 Attribute Score Improvement 6 16 94 23 8th
17 +6 - 6 17 107 26 9th
18 +6 Sorcery Focus Feature 6 17 114 28 9th
19 +6 Attribute Score Improvement 6 18 123 30 9th
20 +6 Sorcerous Restoration 6 18 133 33 9th
If your group uses the optional rules on multiclassing in the 5e Core Rules and the Basic Rules, here’s what you need to know if you choose sorcerer as one of your classes.

Attribute Score Minimum. As a multiclass character, you must have at least an Willpower score of 13 to take a level in this class, or to take a level in another class if you are already a sorcerer.

Proficiencies Gained. If sorcerer isn’t your initial class, here are the proficiencies you gain when you take your first level as a sorcerer: shields, blunt, light crossbows, short blades.

Magicka Points. Add all your levels in the sorcerer class to the appropriate levels from other classes to determine your available magicka.

Quick Build

You can make a sorcerer quickly by following these suggestions. First, Willpower should be your highest attribute score, followed by Endurance. Second, choose the hermit background. Third, choose the light, prestidigitation, ray of frost, and shocking grasp cantrips, along with the 1st-level spells burning hands, charm person, detect magic, and shield.

Class Features

Hit Points
Hit Dice 1d6 per Sorcerer level
HP at 1st Level 6 + your Endurance modifier
HP at Higher Levels 1d6 (or 4) + your Endurance modifier per Sorcerer level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor Shield
Weapons Blunt, light crossbows, short blade
Tools None
Saving Throws Endurance, Willpower
Skills Choose two from Arcana, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion, and Religion.
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
  • Two daggers
  • (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any short blade
  • (a) a dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack

As a sorcerer, you gain the following class features.

Spellcasting

1st-level sorcerer feature

You were born with innate magical potential, drawing on a nearly endless font of magicka. This natural gift allows you to cast spells. See chapter 10 of the Basic Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 for the sorcerer spell list.

Cantrips (0-Level Spells)

You know four cantrips of your choice from the sorcerer spell list. You learn additional sorcerer cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Sorcerer table.

Magicka

The Sorcerer table shows how much magicka you have to cast your sorcerer spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend magicka, as noted in the spell's description and the Magicka Cost table found in chapter 10 of the Basic Rules. For example, if you know the 1st-level spell burning hands and have a spell level of 2nd, you can use magicka to cast burning hands at either level.

Stunted Magicka

Sorcerers have access to a large pool of magicka, but their natural gift is stunted by reduced regeneration.

Unlike other spellcasters, sorcerers do not regain all of their magicka at the end of a long rest. Instead, you only regain half of your expended magicka, rounding up (minimum of 1).

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know four 1st-level spells of your choice from the sorcerer spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Sorcerer table shows when you learn more sorcerer spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you can cast, as shown on the table's Spell Level column for your sorcerer level. For instance, when you reach 3rd level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the sorcerer spells you know and replace it with another spell from the sorcerer spell list, which also must be of a level that you can cast.

Whenever you finish a long rest, you can replace one spell you learned from this Spellcasting feature with another spell from the sorcerer spell list. The new spell must be the same level as the spell you replace.

Spellcasting Attribute

Willpower is your spellcasting ability for your sorcerer spells. You use your Willpower whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Willpower modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a sorcerer spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Willpower modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Willpower modifier

Ritual Casting

You can cast any sorcerer spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Sorcery Focus

1st-level sorcerer feature

Choose a sorcery focus which describes the field you've devoted yourself to. Your field grants you features at 1st level and again at 6th, 14th, and 18th level.

Sorcery Focus Source
Aetherial Herald Legionnaire's Guide to Cyrodiil
Daedric Ancestry Legionnaire's Guide to Cyrodiil
Dunewalker Legionnaire's Guide to Cyrodiil
Storm Caller Basic Rules
Supplicant Basic Rules

Capacitor

2nd-level sorcerer feature

You have the ability to absorb magical energy from harmful spells. Sorcerers are unique to any other magic users in Tamriel. Although they restore magicka at a much slower rate, they have a natural ability to absorb magicka from spells that have been cast at them, essentially becoming a magical battery.

Whenever you are targeted by a spell that requires you to make a saving throw, you have a chance to absorb magicka, replenishing your magicka. On a successful save you also absorb magicka points equal to the level of the spell cast. You cannot increase your magicka points beyond your maximum magicka point total through this feature. On a failed save, you do not absorb any magicka and are affected by the spell as normal.

Power Overwhelming

3rd-level sorcerer feature

You can push beyond your natural boundaries to cast extraordinary magic. When you cast a spell that you know, you can choose to cast it at a spell level one higher than your current maximum, using magicka as normal (maximum of 9th level). Once you cast a spell in this way, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.

When you reach 17th level, you can cast 1 additional 6th level spell, and at 19th level, you can cast 1 additional 7th level spell, using magicka as normal.

Attribute Score Improvement

4th-level sorcerer feature

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one attribute score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two attribute scores by 1. You can't increase an attribute score above 20 using this feature.

Equilibrium

10th-level sorcerer feature

You gain further control over your magically infused bloodline, allowing you to transfer your life force into magicka. You can choose to impose one of the following effects:

  • As a bonus action, you can expend up to half of your available sorcerer Hit Dice. You restore magicka points equal to half of the total rolled on the Hit Dice.
  • During a short rest, you can spend magicka points, as though you were casting a spell, to restore an amount of sorcerer Hit Dice equal to the spell level cast.

Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest before you can do so again.

Sorcerous Restoration

20th-level sorcerer feature

You can draw on your reserve of mystical power to regain expended magicka points. You can spend 1 minute meditating to regain half of your expended magicka, rounding up. Once you regain magicka with this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.

Sorcery Focus

Sorcerers have devoted themselves to the study of powerful magic. Although their devotion is usually highly debated, sorcerers typically find themselves with the following dedications.

Magnus and his followers fled from the creation of the Mundus, their departure left the sky riddled with rifts to Aetherius, the sun and stars. Those who feel an increased connection to the constellations are gifted with increased magical powers as the essence from Aetherius flows within their soul. Aetherial Herald sorcerers draw their arcane powers from the stars and are known for their magical aptitude.
Your innate power comes from Daedric magic that was mingled with your blood or with that of your ancestors. Most often, sorcerers with this focus trace their descent back to a mighty sorcerer of ancient times who made a bargain with a Daedric Prince or who might even have claimed a Daedroth parent. Some of these bloodlines are well established in the world, but most are obscure. Any given sorcerer could be the first of a new bloodline, as a result of a pact or some other exceptional circumstance.
Dunewalkers have faced the true devastating power of sandstorms and have mastered an ancient spell casting tradition that fuses the deadly sands with the power of the wind to blind, overwhelm, and eviscerate their foe.
Storm Callers take pride in their control over shock spells. They see the Mundas as a great tapestry of woven strands of matter and magicka. Their spells channel and manipulate the magicka through the local warp and weft of the tapestry, agitating its fibers. This generates sparking, which coalesces into magical lightning. These sorcerers summon and control weather; hurling lightning-bolts and creating electric fields, and summoning tornadoes and impenetrable fog. They cloak themselves in electric auras and “ride the lightning” as the hurtle around the battlefield.
Through a mastery of an arcane discipline known pejoratively as Dark Magic, the sorcerer can alter events in their favor or create immense suffering on others. Though many Supplicants are viewed as evil, the use of Dark Magic has many practical uses. Those that can access such power can use it as a necessary safeguard to reign in rogue wizards, and while they can replicate the destructive effects of the Daedra, Supplicants can also use it to counter similar effects.

Optional: Community Subclasses

For those that seek to expand upon the available possibilities for this class, there exist several options among the community subclasses. The existing community creations may surprise you and can add a new perspective to your adventures in Tamriel. The community subclasses have yet to be playtested and will require permission to use from your GM.