Draconic sorcerer character concept

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I have used this one as a NPC in a campaign and am considering if the character would be fun if used in a campaign with the right other players. What kind of pitfalls and troubles would you see role play wise or with a build?

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Backstory:
Oleava Emeralda Garnet was largely raised by her mother who rose the ranks in some local or far off military of the DM's choosing as her father she barely knew traveled the world. Unknown to her Oleava's parents were magically touched, could tell she had some abilities and pulled strings and bribed the right folks to get her into the military's wizard prep academy. Oops while being ridiculously popular at school, Oleava turned out to be a Blue Draconic Sorcerer not a wizard or the least bit scholarly.

Obviously this went wrong and Oleava was kicked out of school. The D&D world punished her mother appropriately for the DM's kingdom. If the DM likes Mom might of become an angry powerful woman herself and made a pact with a demon lord and secretly become a warlock! Dad might of been the source of the sorcerer part DM dependent as long as he can be a conniving businessman when in human form.

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Build, CHA and Dex based maybe a bit sneaky electricity damage focused sorcerer. I figure subtle spell might be fun.

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If this character isn't trying to find her father or something what could she be trying to do though? Is becoming rich with the only skill she has (magic) enough? I guess being a CHA based character would almost fit with looking for followers to become a D&D era cultural influencer....what would that look like? Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's?

[KorvinStarmast]

If the DM likes Mom might of become an angry powerful woman herself and made a pact with a demon lord and secretly become a warlock! Dad might of been the source of the sorcerer part DM dependent as long as he can be a conniving businessman when in human form.

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Might Have, not might of. (might've) :smallfurious: {sorry, that is a pet peeve}

Build, CHA and Dex based maybe a bit sneaky electricity damage focused sorcerer. I figure subtle spell might be fun.
If this character isn't trying to find her father or something what could she be trying to do though? Is becoming rich with the only skill she has (magic) enough? I guess being a CHA based character would almost fit with looking for followers to become a D&D era cultural influencer.
What would that look like?
Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's?
No, she's her own self.

I suggest the following approach, given your Audry Hepburn inspiration. Point Buy.
S 8 D 15 C 12 I 11, W 10 Ch 15. vHuman.
S 8 D 16 C 12 I 11 W 10 Ch 16.
Feat: elemental adept. (Lightning)
Cantrips: Shocking Grasp, Mage Hand, ray of frost, mind sliver
Spells: Chaos bolt, shield.

Go forth, and do great things.

Blue Dragon origin. (yeah, silver is all upper crust, go there if you must)

[MarkVIIIMarc]

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Might Have, not might of. (might've) :smallfurious: {sorry, that is a pet peeve}

No, she's her own self.

I suggest the following approach, given your Audry Hepburn inspiration. Point Buy.
S 8 D 15 C 12 I 11, W 10 Ch 15. vHuman.
S 8 D 16 C 12 I 11 W 10 Ch 16.
Feat: elemental adept. (Lightning)
Cantrips: Shocking Grasp, Mage Hand, ray of frost, mind sliver
Spells: Chaos bolt, shield.

Go forth, and do great things.

Blue Dragon origin. (yeah, silver is all upper crust, go there if you must)

Thank you for the suggestions.

Oleava will be her own self now that you mention it though I did get inspired by out of game news my wife was watching some time back.


Mind sliver IS a good one. I was thinking Lightning Lure but this character should never want to be in melee.

Does this character have any hope of interesting use of her Reaction or Bonus Action w/o getting Quickened Spell?

[RogueJK]

Does this character have any hope of interesting use of her Reaction or Bonus Action w/o getting Quickened Spell?

Shield/Absorb Elements are the go-to Reaction options for Sorcerer. The Strixhaven book recently added Silvery Barbs as another good Reaction spell option. If you want additional Reaction uses, you could go with a Halfling race and take the Second Chance feat at Level 4 for +1 CHA and another useful Reaction ability each combat.


For Bonus Actions, the Telekinetic feat is a solid option for many/most casters, and would be a great choice for a VHuman/CLineage Level 1 feat. It gives them +1 to their casting stat, an additional cantrip (or nice range boost to existing cantrip), and a solid use of their Bonus Action on many turns. With both Telekinetic and Quickened Spell, you would almost always have something useful to do with your Bonus Actions.

Or, the Goblin race often has useful things to do with their Bonus Action, thanks to their Nimble Escape racial ability. (But it may not fit with this particular character concept.)

Alternately, a 1 level dip into Fathomless Warlock gives you essentially a "quasi-Spiritual Weapon" Bonus Action option that scales in daily uses with your proficiency bonus. (Again, a decent option for a Sorcerer in general, but may not fit with this character concept specifically.)

[CTurbo]

I think Aasimar would be a good racial choice for a beautiful sorceress. I love the flavor of the Scourge Aasimar.

Many races could get you 16 Dex and Cha and also 14 Con to start.

Quickened, Twinned, and Subtle are my 3 favorite metamagics.

The issue I see with wanting to go lightning based, but also wanting to avoid melee range is that there are no ranged lightning cantrips that I'm aware of. I'd ask the DM if you can re-flavor Firebolt, Frostbite, or Ray of Frost to deal lightning damage. Until level 5, you're limited to Chromatic Orb which requires a 50gp diamond to cast, and Witch Bolt that is typically considered really weak. It IS best used by Draconic Sorcerer though. Ask your DM if they'll allow you to use your Elemental Affinity with subsequent rounds of auto damage you use with it. I've seen DMs allow it. Plus you can quicken it and even twin it.

As mentioned above, Absorb Elements and Shield make great uses of your reaction, and Silvery Barbs is a great option too.

I think the Metamagic Adept feat is a great for Sorcerers, but I'd want Cha maxed asap before considering any feats, but that's just me.

I think I would pass on Elemental Adept for a lightning based damage dealer. I could be wrong but I don't think lightning is resisted by a whole lot of creatures. Obviously there are some.

[Rashagar]

Just wanted to mention regarding bonus action uses, spells like flaming sphere could be made to do lightning damage with the Transmute Spell metamagic. It might help expand your spell choices a bit as you level up, even if you mightn't want to always have to spend a sorcery point every time you cast a damage spell.

[Rashagar]

I'm not sure if I understood your last paragraph completely, but just spitballing some character motivations off what you said: the motivation that always seems to fit well with sorcerers is to understand themselves and their powers better, playing off the "influencer" idea maybe she's on a journey to "find herself" and is documenting the experience; a desire for gold and riches could be played off as a manifestation of her draconic influence making her want to surround herself with her very own hoard; maybe there's a motivation that was close to her parents' heart that she wants to see realised; if she was kicked out of the magic academy maybe she wants to set up her own academy for the students that don't fit anywhere else.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Good tips for the bonus actions. I started off in 5e playing a Lore Bard with their complicated but great spell and ability list. It made me combat a mental exercise I did not find in a later Warlock character so now I'm trying to be more prepared so to say.


I'm not sure if I understood your last paragraph completely, but just spitballing some character motivations off what you said: the motivation that always seems to fit well with sorcerers is to understand themselves and their powers better, playing off the "influencer" idea maybe she's on a journey to "find herself" and is documenting the experience; a desire for gold and riches could be played off as a manifestation of her draconic influence making her want to surround herself with her very own hoard; maybe there's a motivation that was close to her parents' heart that she wants to see realised; if she was kicked out of the magic academy maybe she wants to set up her own academy for the students that don't fit anywhere else.

I like that. We let her evolve from finding herself to first eventually being a good spokesperson for students or people that don't fit in. My mental image and inspiration is the "Aunt Becky" situation. Its not like that Olivia with some dragon scales like one of the Trill symbionte hosts from DS9 seems likely to be outcast so I'll have to tread lightly.

Speaking of Aunt Becky. I think I'll tell the DM Oleava thinks her mom had the Aunt Becky persona and leave it up to the DM if that is to be a facade.