Backstory in the foreground of the character.

[KyleG]

My Kobold sorcerer grew up in the forest with her 'father' a dragonborn Ranger.
So outlander background for sure but i dont want to lose the flavour of her upbringing as she journeys thru the sorcerer levels and multiclass doesnt really fit. Certainly she has learnt skills but not sure that crosses over into class.
To that end my question is simply, in what situations would a sorcerer opt to use their crossbow or other weapon over spellcasting. Her father (an axe and bow wielding character) will also be joining us on our adventure.

How else would you recommend i keep the flavour of her upbringing into the everyday of the character.

[Azgeroth]

keep asking/saying when (will) i grow up to be as big and strong as dad! / ?

talk about small forest creatures as tasty snacks.

how does the character feel about their upbringing? and how much do they know about... 'the truth!'

[KyleG]

keep asking/saying when (will) i grow up to be as big and strong as dad! / ?

talk about small forest creatures as tasty snacks.

how does the character feel about their upbringing? and how much do they know about... 'the truth!'

She will be at that teenage'esk age slightly rebellious but at the same time idolizes her dad. Be interesting to know if that idol worship shifts to another PC or NPC as she is exposed to more of the world.

She knows that he has raised her as his daughter and that her biological family are dead. But she also has never met another Kobold. She just wants to be a big strong 'dragon' like dad.

I have images of that character Hanna from the movie of the same name. Raised in the wilderness, but trained to survive. I'm flavoring the cantrip 'message' as a form of telepathy that she and dad use to communicate when hunting and 'bonfire' as her going against her dads wishes to build a fire properly. So there is this tug of war between her dutiful daughter nature (lawful) and her teenage/wild nature almost a nature vs nurture thing going on.

[Man_Over_Game]

For melee combat, it's quite simple. Booming Blade and Greenflame Blade are great choices for using a weapon in combat.

The problem with Sorcerers is that they're supposed to compensate for their lack of known spells by relying heavily on their cantrips. But what you're saying is that you want to rely less on your cantrips. This creates a pretty big conundrum, where all of the Sorcerer's highlights are being shut down.

I'd recommend looking into playing a Bard. It fits rather well with your concept, the stats don't have to change, the Bard has methods of getting the skillset you'd expect from a survivalist, and it has plenty of reasons to be using a mundane weapon over cantrips (especially as a valor/whispers bard).

Even a Druid/Ranger would be a better choice than a straight Sorcerer for this example. You could use mundane weapons as a Sorcerer, but it'd be both expensive (you lack proficiencies and stats), and ineffective, to do so. Or, if there's a valid strategy in using a weapon as a Sorcerer, I can't think of one.

[KyleG]

No its not about wanting to play a specific role, I want to play this character, and she is a sorcerer.
Ill play her as a sorcerer and im not saying as melee specifically just keen for her to be true to her upbringing and the crossbow was how I THOUGHT I could pull that off but it could be a different way.

[Man_Over_Game]

No its not about wanting to play a specific role, I want to play this character, and she is a sorcerer.
Ill play her as a sorcerer and im not saying as melee specifically just keen for her to be true to her upbringing and the crossbow was how I THOUGHT I could pull that off but it could be a different way.

Could go Ritual Caster: Druid.

Would fit a lot of what you're looking to do. She might think that she learned them from her dad (and maybe it helped), but her natural talent in the wilderness is a part of her magical skillset.

[KyleG]

Could go Ritual Caster: Druid.

Would fit a lot of what you're looking to do. She might think that she learned them from her dad (and maybe it helped), but her natural talent in the wilderness is a part of her magical skillset.

You might be on to something. I was going for this surrogate father and daughter idea, partially inspired by the characters from Hanna but id started with the class i wanted. Now im more focussed on the character maybe i should reassess the class (of both), although your earlier bard suggestion is out because she really isnt a bard.