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M Placeholder
2016-01-20, 02:06 PM
Sorcerous Origin – Spirit.

For many sorcerers, magic is in the blood, a gift that was bestowed on them from a bloodline that may have ran for years. A select few, however, have been gifted by the raw power of nature itself. Through the power that holds the leaves onto the trees, a spirit sorcerer confluences the power of nature into spellcraft – be it the spirits of nature or the primal force of the natural elements.

Your spellcasting ability came from a spirit that bestowed upon you the gift of magic, be it a fey creature, an elemental or an ancestral spirit. You choose your spells not from the Sorcerer spell list, but from the Druid spell list, and at 1st level, you know four cantrips of your choice from the Druid spell list. You learn additional Druid cantrips of your choice at higher levels.

Creating a Spirit Sorcerer

When you create a spirit sorcerer, consider the origin of your powers. Where you approached by the totem spirit animal of your tribe and given the gift of nature? Where you bestowed the ability to cast these powers by one of your ancestors, who wanted to help you to survive in this world? Are you from a society in which arcane magic that is learned is far more respected than the abilities that you have been given? And how do you want to harness the power of the land around you? Will you protect your tribe, or go out to other lands and see what is beyond the horizon?

Animal Empathy

When the spirit chooses you at 1st level, you have an insight into the animal spirits and can use body language, vocalisations and demeanour to understand and improve the attitude of an animal (beast type). You have proficiency in Animal Handling, and can choose Survival as one of your proficiencies. You can also speak either Sylvan or Primordial.

Nature Traversal

Your spirit gives you an ability to traverse the wilds more efficiency. You gain either a climb, swim or a burrow speed of 30ft.

Circle Spells

Your spirit grants you the ability to cast certain spells. You have access to one of the druid circle spells, and at 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th level, you gain the spells of that level of the circle you choose. The spells do not count against the number of spells that you can know.

Elemental Affinity

At 6th level, you gain resistance to one of the following types of damage – Thunder, Lightning, Fire, Acid or Cold. In addition, when you spend 3 sorcery points, you can strip away a creature’s resistance to that damage type, or if it is immune, turn that immunity to resistance. You are able to do strip away resistance after a successful survival check (for all Elementals, Fey or Beasts) or a knowledge check (all other creatures)

Spirit Guide

At 14th level, your senses heighten thanks to your spirit. You can add your charisma modifier to perception checks and your passive perception.

Spirit Alliances

At 18th level, when you cast a spell conjuring creatures of the fey, elemental or beast type, you have advantage on concentration checks, and the casting time of the spell is reduced to 1 action. In addition, you are considered a spirit creature.

Spirit Features

As you progress along the journey of the spirit sorcerer, you may start to take on features like that of a spirit. Your eyes may become swirling globes of flame or water, your skin may take on an otherworldly pallor, and your hair may become more like bark off a tree among other effects. Your voice also changes, perhaps becoming dry and crackly like a fire, full of reverb like the deepest ocean, or sounding like it comes from another plane of existence.
As an option, for every 2nd level you progress as a spirit sorcerer, you can roll a D20. You take on the feature described in the table.



D20

Spirit Feature



1

Voice changes –
1 – Gains reverb, sounds like it comes from underwater
2 – Dry and crackly, like leaves in the fall breeze
3 – Raspy and crackly, like a fire
4 – Echoes Slightly
5 – Becomes staccato, like birdsong
6 – Becomes smooth and flowing like honey, even when speaking Dwarven or Draconic



2

Skin takes on different shade in moonlight, such as gold or silver taint



3

Downy feathers appear alongside hair



4

Eyes appear catlike, with vertical pupils



5

Blood takes on a sap like quality



6

Feathers appear in places on body



7

Patches of skin on body resemble bamboo wood



8

Gain the smell of a particular herb or incense



9

Fingernails and toenails resemble bark from a tree



10

Eyebrows resemble blades of grass



11

Feet become padded and covered in fine fur like a cat



12

Pupils of eyes roll with –
1 – dancing flames
2 – molten copper/silver/gold/other metal
3 – swirling leaves
4 – cresting waves
5 – flickering lights
6 – swirling void



13

Flesh takes on appearance of birch tree bark.



14

Very light breeze flows around you.



15

Your sweat smells like -
1 - Freshly cut grass
2 – Spring Water
3 – Cinnamon
4 – Earth
5 – The sea
6 – Cut wood
7 – Burning incense
8 – Fresh rain



16

Grass blades grow amongst hair.



17

Smooth scales like that of a skink appear on body



18

Tail feathers appear



19

Tips of ears become pointed, or points grow by 1d6 centimetres



20

Eyelids resemble sea shells

M Placeholder
2016-01-20, 02:09 PM
Here is the Spirit Sorcerer, which is a sorcerer that uses the Druid spell list. It was an idea that I was toying with for a while, but never got down on paper. Now that I have, please critique on the balance, and any ideas as such.

Ninja_Prawn
2016-01-20, 02:17 PM
Might it be possible to fit in the land druid's circle spells, like how the favoured soul gets domain spells? There's a lot of situational utility in the druid list, so the sorcerer's low number of known spells could really hurt if there's no mitigation.

Also, in the Spirit Alliances feature, it says you gain the fey or elemental type. What's the advantage to that? To me, that looks like you're adding in another weakness. *cough* Protection from Evil and Good *cough*

M Placeholder
2016-01-20, 02:42 PM
Might it be possible to fit in the land druid's circle spells, like how the favoured soul gets domain spells? There's a lot of situational utility in the druid list, so the sorcerer's low number of known spells could really hurt if there's no mitigation.


But where to fit in? Should I change the Animal Affinity to just proficiency to fit the spells in? Would an extra ribbon be a better feature?


Also, in the Spirit Alliances feature, it says you gain the fey or elemental type. What's the advantage to that? To me, that looks like you're adding in another weakness. *cough* Protection from Evil and Good *cough*

Rule of Cool was the thought process behind that. I'll change that to becoming a spirit creature.

Ninja_Prawn
2016-01-20, 02:51 PM
But where to fit in? Should I change the Animal Affinity to just proficiency to fit the spells in? Would an extra ribbon be a better feature?

Yeah, the rogues can keep their expertise. Always-on talk to animals is still a good feature, and it leaves enough room for circle spells.

Besides, the more I look at this origin, the more underpowered it looks. The basic sorcerer chassis is fairly lightweight, and a good origin needs to add a lot of punch. Even after adding the circle spells, there might still be room for natural armour or a burrow speed. Maybe even Cha+1 times/day Tree Stride in the capstone?!

M Placeholder
2016-01-20, 03:27 PM
Yeah, the rogues can keep their expertise. Always-on talk to animals is still a good feature, and it leaves enough room for circle spells.

Besides, the more I look at this origin, the more underpowered it looks. The basic sorcerer chassis is fairly lightweight, and a good origin needs to add a lot of punch. Even after adding the circle spells, there might still be room for natural armour or a burrow speed. Maybe even Cha+1 times/day Tree Stride in the capstone?!

Added the Circle Spells, and a choice of either a burrow, climb or a swim speed.

M Placeholder
2016-01-23, 04:59 AM
Added a table that you can roll on for spirit features, as things are always more fun with those.