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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next A Small Selection of Spell-list Swapping Sorcerous Subclasses (PEACH)



Ilorin Lorati
2015-09-14, 11:57 AM
The reason is simple: I wanted to play with sorcerer toys alongside the spell lists of other classes. Now that I've made these monstrosities, I wish to make them balanced.

http://i.imgur.com/Mf2RaVN.jpg

Classic.
Favored Soul
Yes, there's an "Official" version of this in Unearthed Arcana. Yes, this is heavily based on it. While I didn’t want to give any given class’s “unique thing” to the sorcerer, I don’t consider the spell list to be that for this purpose (for obvious reasons); instead, for the Favored Soul I’m avoiding giving access to Channel Divinity.
Your innate magic comes from a connection to the divine that comes with an ease far surpassing even the most talented of Clerics. You may be able to trace your lineage back to the immortal servants of gods (or perhaps even the gods themselves), or maybe you were chosen by a god for a great purpose. No matter what, however, Favored Souls never lead mundane lives.

Chosen of the Gods
You learn and cast sorcerer spells and cantrips using the cleric list, instead of the sorcerer list; as such spells on the cleric list are considered to be sorcerer spells for you. You can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for your sorcerer spells.

Choose a Divine Domain available to clerics: spells on that Divine Domain’s spell list count as sorcerer spells for you, if they did not already. You add one spell off this list to your list of spells known; this spell does not count against the number of spells you can know, but may be traded out as normal when you level up, with the exception that the replacement spell must also be off this list. When you reach 6th level, you gain another additional spell known with these same limitations.

Bonus Proficiencies
At 1st level, you gain proficiency with light armor, medium armor, shields, and simple weapons.

Divine Right
At 6th level you gain the 1st level features, except the Domain spells, of the Divine Domain you chose. If these features would use your Wisdom score for any reason, you instead use your Charisma score.

Also at 6th level, choose any single damage type; you gain resistance to that damage type. You may change this resistance when you complete a long rest; however, you must spend 5 sorcery points when you do so.

The first part of the ability is simple: grant access to the “enabler” abilities of the Divine Domain that the character chooses.

Sorcerer has a d6 HD size, the smallest size available to PCs, meaning that if he ends up being in melee he’s going to need a little bit of oomph to offset this. Flexible resistance not only matches the flavor of the original favored soul (who got both DR and multiple Energy Resistances as they leveled), but it rewards good preparation by heavily offsetting the sorcerer’s lack of tankiness without giving them a second Draconic ability wholesale. The sorcery point cost is specifically prohibitive at lower levels and requires a long rest, letting them change it if they absolutely have to, but I don't want it to be a common thing.

Divine Right of Kings
At 14th level, you gain your Divine Domain’s 8th level feature. If this feature improves as you level, that improvement only applies once you reach 18th level, and if this feature would use your Wisdom score for any reason, you instead use your Charisma score.

This is just keeping kind of up with the math of the Divine Domain damage for builds that want to use it. Intentionally skipped over Channel Divinity levels.

Wings of the Ascended
Also at 14th level, you gain the ability to sprout a pair of wings from your back (the appearance is your choice, but should be thematic to your Divine Domain), gaining a flying speed equal to your current walking speed. You can create these wings as a bonus action on your turn. They last until you dismiss them as a bonus action on your turn.

You can’t manifest your wings while wearing armor unless the armor is made to accommodate them, and clothing not made to accommodate your wings might be destroyed when you manifest them.

Apotheosis
At 18th level, the divine nature of your power transforms your body, toughening it further and granting you a modicum of divine insight. You may choose a second damage type to gain resistance to from Divine Right and may change both of these when you complete a long rest without spending additional sorcery points.

Also beginning at 18th level, you may spend 5 sorcery points as a bonus action. If you do, for one minute you negate any disadvantage you may have, any advantage that a target may have on saving throws against spells you cast, and any resistance a target may have against damage you deal.

Damage Reduction was the capstone for the original Favored Soul, so it seemed right to make the Origin capstone for this Favored Soul into an improvement to the resistances that it gains.

The second portion is meant less to give the Favored Soul any real buffs so much as it is to negate any debuffs or other disadvantages they have.


http://i.imgur.com/7bpbmqY.jpg?1

I make no claim that this isn't still a perfect image for this subclass.
Maestro
Similar to Favored Soul, I don’t want to give the Maestro the “unique things” of the Bard class. Thus, no Bardic Inspiration or Song of Rest for the Maestro. However, they’re still bardic, so skills are a big part of their kit. This subclass is designed, in part, by taking inspiration from the eponymous Maestro sorcerer bloodline from Pathfinder and the Sublime Chord PrC from 3.5.

Your innate magic comes from the power of art and song that runs through your blood. This may be the result of being descended from a Celestial or Fiend that had a strong connection to music, or from the lingering effects of a gibbering creature from the Far Realms. However it came to be, this artistic bent shows itself strongly in your magic.

Sublime Chord
You learn and cast sorcerer spells and cantrips using the bard list, instead of the sorcerer list; as such spells on the bard list are considered to be sorcerer spells for you. You can use a musical instrument as a spellcasting focus for your sorcerer spells.

Bonus Proficiencies
You gain proficiency with light armor, any one additional skill, and with one musical instrument of your choice.

Note of Inspiration
Beginning at 1st level, you can spend an action in order to grant yourself and nearby allies the ability to add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any single attack roll, saving throw, or ability check they make during this time. This ability lasts for one minute or until you lose concentration (as if it were a spell), and once used you may not use this feature again until you have completed a long rest.

Beginning at 6th level, you may use this feature again when you have completed a short or long rest.


This ability and its follow-ups are all largely intended to change the way skills are looked at in party; this is the only one that will straight out increase the numbers for the. It’s vastly weaker per-roll and more limited in terms of how often you can use it than Bardic Inspiration, but the AoE effect I think will more than make up for it.

Phrase and Ballad, below, will allow your allies more safety in trying challenging or otherwise impossible tasks for them (as long as you have training), they won’t be making anything more possible than it would otherwise be for you.

Minor Expertise
At 6th level, choose one of your skill proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses that proficiency.

At 14th level, you can choose another proficiency to gain this benefit.

Crescendo of Arcane Power
At 6th level, you gain the ability to spend 2 sorcery points when you cast a 1st level sorcerer spell, or 3 sorcery points when you cast a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th level spell, to increase its effective level by 1. The modified level must still be of a level you can cast, but it doesn’t use a higher level spell slot.


This isn’t as strong as it looks! Mathematically speaking, it’s of equal sorcery point efficiency (you effectively need the same number of total spell levels worth of slots + sorcery points either way), but it uses fewer bonus actions (you don’t need to spend a bonus action to convert your sorcery points to a spell slot) granting improved in combat action flexibility at the cost of lower spell choice flexibility when used.

Measure of Inspiration
Beginning at 14th level, while under the effects of your Note of Inspiration feature, you and your allies may use your Charisma modifier instead of the normal ability modifier for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw they make.

You and your allies may each only gain the effect of this feature once each time you use Note of Inspiration .

Ballad of Inspiration
Beginning at 18th level, while under the effects of your Note of Inspiration feature, if any of your allies roll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw and the final result is lower than 10 + your total modifier for that same type of roll, they may replace their result with that value. Your Measure of Inspiration feature may be applied to this value.

You and your allies may each only gain the effect of this feature once each time you use Note of Insight.

Duet of the Grand Maestro
At 18th level, you may use your reaction whenever an ally begins to cast a spell to apply one of your known Metamagic options to that spell by spending 3 sorcery points plus the normal cost of that Metamagic option.


Basically everyone in the party gains something from this level: Ballad of Insight helps everyone to varying degrees, and Duet of the Grand Maestro helps other casters in the party. Believe it or not, I'm not terribly concerned about Duet: it's very expensive, for the effect of applying your metamagic options to a single spell cast by someone else. Worst case scenario I think I could get away with turning it to a per-rest ability.



http://i.imgur.com/A5Re2nw.jpg

It never ceases to amaze me just how bad WotC's artists were back in the day.
Spirit Shaman
The “unique” thing for Druid is their Wildshape, so that’ll be easy to avoid since I wanted to go with the flavor of the Spirit Shaman from 3.5 more so than anything else. This is kind of a conversion, but there’s as much here that is original as there is converted.
Your innate powers come from a connection to the spirit world. Spirits may have chose you or one of your ancestors for something great, leaving them wont to grant their power to you, or perhaps the power of a dryad or other nature-connected fey flows through your veins.

Shamanic Rites
You learn and cast sorcerer spells and cantrips using the druid list, instead of the sorcerer list; as such spells on the druid list are considered to be sorcerer spells for you. You can use a Druidic Focus as a spellcasting focus for your sorcerer spells, and can cast a sorcerer spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have an Herbalism Kit.

Bonus Proficiencies
You gain proficiency with light armor, shields, and Herbalism Kits.

Spirit Guide
At 1st level you learn the spell Find Familiar; this spell does not count against your number of spells known and is considered to be a sorcerer spell for you. Find Familiar can only be cast by you in a natural environment, but the creature it calls is your Spirit Guide: either an elemental or fey that takes the shape of an animal native to the land you cast it in.

At 3rd level, while you have a spirit guide, you add one of the Druid of the Land circle spells, of the land your spirit guide is native to, to your list of spells known. This spell does not count against your number of spells known and counts as sorcerer spell for you while you know it. You may swap this spell out as normal when you level, with the exception that the replacement spell must also be off this same list. If your spirit guide's land changes, you re-choose these spells based on your spirit guide's land.

When you reach 6th level, you add another additional spell known off this list, with these same limitations.

Everything a budding, charisma-based shaman needs! I wanted some flexible spell access as a callback to the 3.5 spirit shaman, but I do have some concern that the flexibility might be too much. I really like the mechanic, though.

Improved Spell List
You choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a sorcerer spell. The following spells are added to the druid spell list for you.



Level
Spells


1st
Detect Evil and Good


2nd
Augury


3rd
Speak with Dead


4th
Banishment


6th
True Seeing


7th
Etherealness


9th
Astral Projection



Druid just doesn’t have all the spells necessary to really capture the feel of a shaman that deals with spirits, and this fills it out nicely. I do understand the power of adding spells to the list of such high level is generally a no-no, but in this case I feel that it’s worth it, and I tried to limit it to just important spells and one spell per level (sorry Spirit Guardians).

Weaken Spirit
Starting at 6th level, as an action you may spend 2 sorcery points and target any celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead, causing the creature to make a Charisma saving throw against your sorcerer spell DC.

On a failed saving throw, you and your allies have advantage on attacks against that creature, and that creature has disadvantage against spells that target it until the end of your next turn.

Whispers of Forgotten Knowledge
Starting at 6th level minor spirits flock to you, whispering long lost secrets into your ear - provided you know how to ask for them. You may apply your Charisma modifier, instead of the normal modifier, to ability checks that use Intelligence or Wisdom.

Once you have used this feature, you may not use it again until you have completed a long rest.

Pretty minor, a once per day replacement to a single ability check. Means to evoke the flavor feeling of the original Spirit Shaman’s MADness without being absolutely terrible. Can go away or be moved if it needs to.

Entreat Spirits
At 14th level, you gain the ability to parlay with spirits that would otherwise seek to harm you. As an action, you may entreat nearby spirits; all nearby celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead that are not charmed cease hostility for one minute. During this time, you may converse normally with them, and them with each other, even if you do not share a language. If you intentionally break line of sight with any of the creatures, or if yourself or any of your allies take any action that could be taken as hostility against them, this effect ends early.

Once you have used this feature, you may not use it again until you have completed a long rest.

Exorcism
Also at 14th level, you gain the ability to exorcise spirits that are possessing a living creature. Weaken Spirit and Entreat Spirits target a creature that has been possessed as if it were the same type as its possessor, and you may spend 1 additional sorcery point when you use Weaken Spirit on it. If the target fails the saving throw against Weaken Spirit, it is forced out of the body and takes the effect of Weaken Spirit in place of the original target.

Two are One
At 18th level, the connection between yourself and your spirit guide strengthens. While you have a spirit guide, you gain the following benefits:

By spending 3 sorcery points as a reaction when you are made unconscious, you may take control of your spirit guide directly. While controlling your spirit guide, you use your proficiency bonus for attack rolls as well as ability checks and saving throws that you would normally add it to, and can cast your sorcerer spells as your spirit guide. As your spirit guide, you may provide verbal and somatic components. This effect ends when you die or are brought back to consciousness.
When you unsummon your spirit guide you bring its soul into yours, allowing you to continue to communicate with it telepathically.
You can use your Whispers of Forgotten Knowledge feature twice, instead of once, before needing to complete a long rest.


While the spirit guide remains useful at all levels, I felt that it was kind of forgotten in the teens, after its primary use (granting spells) stopped becoming a current thing. This fixes that. Three flavorful benefits of varying usage, each involving your spirit guide, one of which is a game changer in certain situations, the second of which is a removal of a standard familiar limitation, and the final of which is a logical expansion on an earlier feature.

Ilorin Lorati
2015-09-16, 04:11 PM
Made some changes:


Reduced the bonus spells known for both the Favored Soul and the Spirit Shaman (slightly making up for it by letting them trade them out more often),
gave a bit of late game damage to the Favored Soul by way of Divine Right of Kings,
Changed the name of Note of Insight to Note of Inspiration (et. al.),
Added in an Expertise feature for the Maestro,
Made each Note of Inspiration feature usable each time Note of Inspiration is used,
increased the sorcery point cost of Weaken Spirit from 1 to 2 and its action cost from a bonus action to an action, but made it last slightly longer so the shaman could continue to get advantage out of it,
Gave the Spirit Shaman an improved spell list to give them a bit more spirit-flavored tool access,
Replaced the Spirit Shaman capstone with something a little more thematic and less redundant now that they have access to Etherealness otherwise,
Removed the extra action cost on Exorcism,
A bunch of other smaller readability and style changes.



Are there any opinions on these changes or the subclasses as a whole?

JBPuffin
2015-09-16, 04:33 PM
At the very least, it's an interesting idea; at best, it not only allows for sorcerers of every spell list currently made, it makes unique classes on the Sorcerer chassis. Haven't played enough 5e to balance, but I've looked over the books enough to know that this is really cool. Thank you for sharing :smallsmile:.