Making a Sorcerer

Qualifying for the sorcerer class means doing very well on your Magical Rarity roll. Sorcerers are nearly as rare as favored souls, but in a sense they're even more special, because in a sorcerer, the spontaneous spellcasting power comes not from a conscious decision by a being (a favored soul's deity), but from the character's very blood. For this reason, sorcerer is best considered as a starting class; it can be difficult to justify your character's failure to realize her sorcerous potential until after her adventuring career has begun.

Sorcerers are nearly as simple as warlocks to play, but more adaptable and powerful (and much simpler than wizards, though less powerful). Beyond their spells, sorcerers can be highly effective in interpersonal encounters, thanks to their high Charisma scores and good Will saves. Additionally, sorcerers have access to slightly more diverse weapon choices than some other spellcasters—but this only gives them a slight edge, and only sometimes; sorcerers have bad physical saves, a bad base attack bonus, and generally are ill-suited to melee combat. Nevertheless, when it comes to their magical and bloodline abilities, building a sorcerer PC allows a sufficient breadth of options that you are in a sense building your own class.

Class Background

House Rules: Subject to the "Random Magic Capability" rule; sorcerers must have a minimum MRR of VI. This is a significantly altered and expanded version of the D&D core class of the same name, incorporating aspects of the sorcerer class from Pathfinder. The information in the Class Features section below lists the full class rules and replaces those found in the Player's Handbook.

Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a spell a sorcerer can cast, how many spells he can cast per day, and how hard those spells are to resist. Like a wizard, a sorcerer benefits from high Dexterity and Constitution scores.

Ideal Races: A sorcerous bloodline can manifest in any person. Elves, half-elves, hengeyokai, centaurs, and gnomes are among the races that are marginally more likely to give rise to sorcerers.

Inappropriate Races: None, though dwarf sorcerers are uncommon due to dwarves' tendency not to be iconoclasts. Even a dwarf born with a sorcerous bloodline may never actually awaken it (i.e. take levels in sorcerer) due to social circumstances.

Origins: Sorcerers usually develop rudimentary powers at puberty. Their first spells are incomplete, spontaneous, uncontrolled, and sometimes dangerous. A household with a budding sorcerer in it may be troubled by strange sounds or lights, which can create the impression that the place is haunted. Eventually, the young sorcerer can come to understand the power that he has been wielding unintentionally. From that point on, he can begin practicing and improving his powers. (Less common is the sorcerer who somehow sublimates his arcane potential while young, embarks upon some other profession as an adult, and through trauma or epiphany awakens his magical blood.)

Sometimes a sorcerer is fortunate enough to come under the care of an older, more experienced sorcerer, someone who can help him understand and use his new powers. More often, however, sorcerers are on their own, feared by erstwhile friends and misunderstood by family.

Alignment: Any. For a sorcerer, magic is an intuitive art, not a science. Sorcery favors the free, chaotic, creative spirit over the disciplined mind, so sorcerers tend slightly toward chaos over law.

Starting Gold: 3d4 x 10 gp.

Starting Age: Adult - 2d6% + 1d20%.

Class Features

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spells per Day
						0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Bloodline power, sorcerer somatics	5	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Arcane intuition	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Bloodline power, bloodline spell	6	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4		6	6	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Bloodline spell	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5		6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Bloodline feat, bloodline spell	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+5	+2	+2	+6		6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+5	+3	+3	+6	Bloodline power, bloodline spell	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—
10th	+6/+1	+3	+3	+7		6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—
11th	+6/+1	+3	+3	+7	Bloodline spell	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—
12th	+7/+2	+4	+4	+8		6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—
13th	+8/+3	+4	+4	+8	Bloodline feat, bloodline spell	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—
14th	+8/+3	+4	+4	+9		6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—
15th	+9/+4	+5	+5	+9	Bloodline power, bloodline spell	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—
16th	+10/+5	+5	+5	+10		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—
17th	+10/+5	+5	+5	+10	Bloodline spell	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—
18th	+11/+6/+1	+6	+6	+11		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3
19th	+11/+6/+1	+6	+6	+11	Bloodline feat, bloodline spell	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4
20th	+12/+7/+2	+6	+6	+12	Bloodline power	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6

Hit Die: d4.

Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) X 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Sorcerers are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with a sorcerer's gestures, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail (see the wizard page for more details).

Spells: A sorcerer casts arcane spells which are drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list (but see arcane intuition, below). She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time, the way a wizard or a cleric must (see below).

To learn or cast a spell, a sorcerer must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a sorcerer's spell is 10 + the spell level + the sorcerer's Charisma modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a sorcerer can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day, per the table above. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score.

A sorcerer's selection of spells is extremely limited. A sorcerer begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of your choice. At each new sorcerer level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on the Spells Known table at right. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a sorcerer knows is not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on the Spells Known table are fixed.) These new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of by study (see Arcane Intuition, below). At certain levels, a sorcerer gains an additional spell beyond the Spells Known limit from her bloodline (see Bloodline, below).

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered sorcerer level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), a sorcerer can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. In effect, the sorcerer "loses" the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level sorcerer spell the sorcerer can cast. A sorcerer may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the level. This is in addition to any retraining (see House Rules) of spells that the sorcerer might undertake at the same level-up.

Unlike a wizard or a cleric, a sorcerer need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level. She does not have to decide ahead of time which spells she'll cast.

Sorcerer Somatics: Because their magical talent is inborn, sorcerers often require a mere gesture to cast spells. A sorcerer gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at 1st level. Additionally, a sorcerer gains Silent Spell as a bonus feat at 1st level, but a sorcerer's silent spell does not use up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level. The sorcerer may only apply these feats to her sorcerer spells.

Familiar / Arcane Bond: Sorcerers do not automatically gain a familiar. Instead, sorcerers of the arcane bloodline only (see Bloodline, below) gain Arcane Bond as their 1st-level bloodline power. Sorcerers may not gain an imbued staff (as with the wizard's power investiture class feature).

Arcane Intuition: Beginning at 2nd level, a sorcerer has a limited ability to acquire spells not on the sorcerer/wizard spell list. The sorcerer casts spells acquired in this manner as arcane spells. The limitations are as follows:
     • A sorcerer may acquire a maximum of one spell per level-up using arcane intuition. This spell counts as one of the normal total of new spells known; the sorcerer can't use this method of spell acquisition to learn spells at a faster rate.
     • A sorcerer must have directly gained some understanding of any spell to be added through arcane intuition. For example, the sorcerer may have acquired and successfully comprehended magical writings concerning a wu jen spell, or she may have watched a druid ally cast a druid-only spell and discussed the spell with the druid. Merely succeeding at a Spellcraft check, being struck by an offensive spell of an obvious nature, or hearing a rumor that a particular spell exists, is not sufficient.
     • Arcane intuition does not permit access to paladin-only spells, corrupt spells (BoVD), and certain other spells per DM adjudication (for example, commune and consecrate). Sanctified spells fail when cast by sorcerers of a nonexalted alignment.
     • Arcane intuition does not permit a sorcerer to invent her own custom spells.
     • A sorcerer cannot apply her Silent Spell feat to any bard-only spells with a duration of Concentration; these spells involve vocalization of some sort by their very nature.

Bloodline: Each sorcerer has a source of magic somewhere in her heritage that grants her spells, bonus feats, an additional class skill, and other special abilities. This source can represent a blood relation, a magical influence upon the character's parents (or upon the character before being born), or an extreme event involving a creature somewhere in the family's past. For example, a sorcerer might have a dragon as a distant relative or her grandfather might have signed a terrible contract with a devil. Regardless of the source, this influence manifests in a number of ways as the sorcerer gains levels. A player must select one bloodline upon taking her first level of sorcerer. Once made, this choice cannot be changed; a player may not "multiclass" into sorcerer twice with two different bloodlines (but see the crossblooded/wildblooded options below).

At 3rd level, and every two levels thereafter, a sorcerer learns an additional spell, derived from her bloodline. These spells are in addition to the number of spells known on the table above. These spells cannot be exchanged for different spells at higher levels, nor can they be retrained.

At 7th level, and every six levels thereafter, a sorcerer receives one bonus feat, chosen from a list specific to each bloodline. The sorcerer must meet the prerequisites for these bonus feats, and they may be retrained, but only for other bloodline feats.

The available bloodlines are as follows, grouped by source. Bloodlines listed here with an asterisk ( * ) have VGS rules updates listed below.

• Aberrant, Abyssal, Arcane, Celestial, Destined, Draconic*, Elemental, Fey, Infernal, and Undead (Pathfinder Core Rulebook)
• Aquatic, Boreal, Dreamspun, Protean, Shadow, Starsoul, Stormborn, and Verdant (Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide)
• Accursed, Dao (Pathfinder name "Shaitan"), Div, Djinni, Efreeti, Maestro, Marid, and the Crossblooded and Wildblooded variants (Ultimate Magic)
• Solar* (adapted from the Grand OGL Wiki)

• Draconic Bloodline
  • Class Skill: Perception.
  • Bonus Feats: Blind-Fight, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Power Attack, Quicken Spell, Skill Focus (Knowledge [arcana]), Toughness.
• Solar Bloodline
  Light and warmth emanate from you. While you deny a divine parentage, the powers you demonstrate declare otherwise. Perhaps the circumstances of your birth were somehow bathed in Tana's divine luminescence.
  • Class Skill: Diplomacy.
  • Bonus Spells: burning hands (3rd), continual flame (5th), daylight (7th), wall of fire (9th), flame strike (11th), brilliant blade (Spell Compendium p. 40) (13th), control weather (summer only) (15th), sunburst (17th), heavenly host (Spell Compendium p. 113) (19th).
  • Bloodline Feats: Arcane Disciple (Complete Divine p. 79), Heighten Spell, Iron Will, Leadership, Maximize Spell, Negotiator, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Spell Focus (Good) (Complete Divine p. 84).
  • Bloodline Arcana: When you cast an evocation spell with the fire or light descriptor you add +1 point of damage per die.
  • Bloodline Powers: The sun imbues your flesh with its cleansing heat and purifying rays. You can sear foes with blinding heat or take on the properties of sunlight.
    Solar Ray (Sp): At 1st level you can emit a ray of burning solar light as a ranged touch attack. The ray has a range of 30 ft. and deals 1d4+1 damage for every two sorcerer levels. Against undead and creatures with light-sensitivity, it deals 1d8 points of damage.
    Fiery Flesh (Su): At 3rd level, you gain resist fire 5 and a +2 bonus to saves to resist cold-based spells and effects. Your resistance increases to 10 at 5th level, and the save bonus against cold effects increases to +4.
    Solar Burst (Sp): At 9th level, you can unleash a 30-ft. cone of fire that deals 1d6 points of fire damage per sorcerer level. Those caught in the area of the cone receive a Reflex save for half damage (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier). Undead creatures and creatures with sunlight vulnerability take 1d8 points of fire damage per sorcerer level, and are also shaken for a number of rounds equal to your sorcerer level if they fail their save. At 9th level you can use this ability once per day. At 17th level you can use this ability twice per day, and three times per day at 20th level.
    Pillar of Fire (Su): At 15th level you can turn yourself into a shaft of daylight. You become incorporeal and gain a +30 ft. bonus to your speed. You radiate light as a daylight spell. You can use this ability for a number of rounds equal to your sorcerer level. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.
    Sun Child (Ex): You become one with the sun at 20th level. You are immune to blindness, disease and poison. Once per day when attacked with a fire or light effect, you may forgo your saving throw and absorb the energies of the attack, healing 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage the attack would have otherwise dealt.

Note that crossblooded and wildblooded (Ultimate Magic) are compatible in the VGS. However, a character may not use the crossblooded archetype's ability to select a lower-level bloodline power that was replaced by the wildblooded archetype. For example, a wildblooded brutal (abyssal) sorcerer replaces "strength of the abyss" with "wings of the abyss" at 9th level; the character has "paid" for the wildblooded archetype by giving up "strength of the abyss," and can't use the crossblooded bloodline to select "strength of the abyss" as her 15th-level or 20th-level bloodline power.

Playing a Sorcerer

Religion: Sorcerer religious preferences are unpredictable, though Geleris is favored by some good sorcerers (and Dornula by many evil sorcerers). Many sorcerers venerate deities affiliated with their bloodlines.

Other Classes: Sorcerers find that they have the most in common with members of other largely self-taught classes, such as druids, favored souls, and rogues. They sometimes find themselves at odds with members of the more disciplined classes, such as paladins and monks, though they are always happy to have a knight as an ally. Since they cast the same spells as wizards but do so in a different way, they sometimes find themselves in competition with wizards.

Common Terms Used for Sorcerers: The ignorant will often refer to sorcerers as wizards, witches, or even warlocks. However, commoners who dwell in somewhat cosmopolitan areas know the difference between sorcerers and other arcanists. A sorcerer can often be expected to be called a "mage" by those who don't yet understand the nature of her spellcasting.

Combat: A sorcerer tends to define his role based on his spell selection. A sorcerer who focuses on damage-dealing spells becomes a center of the party's offensive power. Another may rely on more subtle magics, such as charms and illusions, and thus take a quieter role. A party with a sorcerer should strongly consider including a second spellcaster, such as a bard, cleric, druid, or even a wizard, to make up for the sorcerer's lack of versatility. Since a sorcerer often has a powerful presence that gives him a way with people, he may serve as the "face" for an adventuring party, negotiating, bargaining, and speaking for others. The sorcerer's spells often help him sway others or gain information, so he makes an excellent spy or diplomat.

Advancement: Should you choose to multiclass, your high MRR—and the limitations of the sorcerer's spell selection—make you an ideal candidate for a second potent spellcasting class, if the additional record-keeping isn't disagreeable to you.

As a spontaneous spellcaster, you should consider the powerful Versatile Spellcaster feat from Races of the Dragon. If you physical attribute scores are high enough, consider Arcane Lifedrain (VGS Feats) for emergency situations.