Class Theory: Sorcerer Concepts
Choosing a class typically is more about its capabilities: what will it allow the character to do? What role can it help you fill such as damage dealer, healer, controller, protector, etc. Is it martial or spell-based? And so on. But when building your character, theorycrafting on why the character, versus the player, followed that path can play a large role in creating an interesting back story. Their Background and Species selections can help towards this, and having an idea of the subclass path they will follow can give you the most clarity, but there still can be different reasons for different characters. Some classes are more straightforward, like a Fighter or Cleric, while some are more open-ended like a Paladin or Warlock. In these Class Theory features we will explore and present concepts to help illustrate the reason a character follows a class path.
In this feature we will explore where Sorcerers inherit their innate magical powers.
There are only a few classes left to cover, and moving on from Monks who call upon power within themselves, we continue with Sorcerers who likewise have innate power.
Sorcerers “harness and channel the raw, roiling power of innate magic that is stamped into their very being.” To be honest, I could have skipped this one, as the Sorcerer class as a rule by their Sublcass at 3rd level defines this, but maybe if you take one or two levels you may be trying to think of a different source than those that truly manifest when the subclass is selected. Or maybe you want a new way to think of how the existing subclasses might have manifested in your character.
“Let me see ya Sorc”
A famous bunny once said those words to a spellcaster… If you asked a Sorcerer to, well, sorc, what would their spells look like? Unlike wizard and Bard magic which comes from study or formulaic magic, or Warlocks who get it from some powerful being, a Sorcerer’s magic is more primal than arcane, more akin in may ways to the elemental forces called upon by druids. A Sorcerer needs to determine what the source of their innate power is. Though it is called innate meaning, internal or personal, it actually comes from somewhere else, often inherited but it could be granted. So let’s start with those options first.
So Original…
There are really two paths for a sorcerer to get their power, two origins:
Inherited - Some sorcerers, like the Draconic ones, may come from a line of people with the source in their blood. The sorcerer inherits the power at birth.
Granted - At times, a powerful being may bestow magic directly to an individual, allowing them to wield magic attuned to the source. Unlike Warlocks who are tied to their patron through pacts, a Sorcerer is simply gifted this power to use of their own free will.
Absorbed - Exposure to another dimension, a powerful source of magic, or other phenomena may cause the Sorcerer to absorb some of this power. This could be extensive time in a dimension like the Shadowfell, or being caught in a cosmic or elemental storm.
Primal Sorc
In the PHB and the subclasses these sources are powerful, primal beings like dragons or aberrant abominations, or just the chaotic wildness of pure magic.
Elemental - a powerful elemental being may have granted the Sorcerer some power: an elemental Myrmidon, a Genie, a leviathan or phoenix, or other creature tied to the base elements. Possibly even a powerful giant.
Monstrosity - some powerful monster, others equal to or nearly equal to dragons, but of different sorts may have given them power including a tarrasque or kraken.
Extra-dimensional - a sorcerer’s power can come from a dimension or realm like the Shadowfell or Feywild, or Mechanus as with Clockwork sorcerers. The astral plane is filled with powerful beings that can grant power to a Sorcerer. This may be from a creature from that dimension, but it could come from simply being exposed to and absorbing the energies of a different dimension.
