Monday, December 7, 2020

No Comity for Old Sorcerers

One thing that is slightly annoying about the new options in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is that the new sorcerer origins it presents all get bonus spells that supplement the base class's somewhat stingy number of spells known. This is aggravating because WotC had previously downplayed the possibility of sorcerer subclasses having bonus spells; for some reason, this was seen as overpowered even though it was a wildly popular idea. So now we're in a situation where the two newest of the sorcerer's subclasses and other don't, creating an apparent and unfortunate disparity.

Luckily, this is a prefect place for homebrew to step in and shore things up. In my 5e D&D games, the older sorcerer subclasses get the following bonus spells:


Sorcerer: Draconic Bloodline Magic.
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the table below. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be an enchantment or an evocation spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.



Sorcerer Level

Spells

1st

cause fear, command

3rd

dragon’s breath, enthrall

5th

fear, protection from energy

7th

dominate beast, elemental bane

9th

dominate person, skill empowerment




Sorcerer: Wild Magic. You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the table below. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be an illusion or a transmutation spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.


Sorcerer Level

Spells

1st

chaos bolt, color spray

3rd

blur, crown of madness

5th

blink, hypnotic pattern

7th

confusion, polymorph

9th

animate objects, synaptic static



Sorcerer: Storm Magic. You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the table below. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be a transmutation or an evocation spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.


Sorcerer Level

Spells

1st

fog cloud, thunderwave

3rd

skywrite, warding wind

5th

call lightning, fly

7th

ice storm, storm sphere

9th

control winds, destructive wave


Sorcerer: Shadow Magic. You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the table below. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be a necromancy or a conjuration spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.


Sorcerer Level

Spells

1st

false life, ray of sickness

3rd

shadow blade, ray of enfeeblement

5th

Evard’s black tentacles, summon shadowspawn

7th

blight, shadow of moil

9th

enervation, negative energy flood



Sorcerer: Divine Soul. You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the table below. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be an abjuration or evocation spell from the cleric, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.


Sorcerer Level

Spells

1st

guiding bolt, shield of faith

3rd

lesser restoration, spiritual weapon

5th

beacon of hope, revivify

7th

banishment, guardian of faith

9th

raise dead, summon celestial


(Photo by Artem Kniaz at unsplash.com)