Sorcerer
What Is a Sorcerer?
Sorcerers are innate spellcasters whose magic is part of who they are, not something they learned through study or prayer. Their power flows from a mysterious origin—draconic blood, wild chaos, a planar influence, or some other supernatural legacy woven into their very soul.
Unlike wizards who master magic through discipline and scholarship, Sorcerers shape spells by instinct and force of personality. Their magic responds to emotion, willpower, and intuition, often surging forth in spectacular and unpredictable ways. This natural connection allows them to bend spells to their needs, twisting familiar magic into unique and powerful expressions.
Some Sorcerers embrace their gift as a blessing, reveling in the freedom and raw potential it provides. Others see it as a burden they struggle to control, fearing the consequences if their power slips free. Whatever their outlook, Sorcerers are defined by intensity—when their magic is unleashed, it is unmistakable, personal, and often overwhelming.
Driven by destiny, curiosity, or the need to understand their own origins, Sorcerers become adventurers to test their limits and shape the world with the power that burns within them.
Becoming a Sorcerer
As a Level 1 Character
- Gain all the traits in the Core Sorcerer Traits table.
- Gain the Sorcerer’s level 1 features, which are listed in the Sorcerer Features table.
As a Multiclass Character
- Gain the Hit Point Die from the Core Sorcerer Traits table.
- Gain the Sorcerer’s level 1 features, which are listed in the Sorcerer Features table. See the multiclassing rules to determine your available spell slots.
Sorcerer Progression
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Class Features | Sorcery Points | Cantrips | Prepared Spells | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +2 | Spellcasting, Innate Sorcery | — | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | +2 | Font of Magic, Metamagic | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | +2 | Sorcerer Subclass | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | +3 | Sorcerous Restoration | 5 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | +3 | Subclass feature | 6 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | +3 | Sorcery Incarnate | 7 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 8 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | +4 | — | 9 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | +4 | Metamagic | 10 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | +4 | — | 11 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 12 | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 12 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 13 | +5 | — | 13 | 6 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 14 | +5 | Subclass feature | 14 | 6 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 15 | +5 | — | 15 | 6 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 16 | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 16 | 6 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 17 | +6 | Metamagic | 17 | 6 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | +6 | Subclass feature | 18 | 6 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | +6 | Epic Boon | 19 | 6 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | +6 | Arcane Apotheosis | 20 | 6 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Sorcerer Class Features
As a Sorcerer, you gain the following class features when you reach the specified Sorcerer levels. These features are listed in the Sorcerer Features table.
Level 1: Spellcasting
Drawing from your innate magic, you can cast spells.
Cantrips. You know four Sorcerer cantrips of your choice. Whenever you gain a Sorcerer level, you can replace one of your cantrips from this feature with another Sorcerer cantrip of your choice.
When you reach Sorcerer levels 4 and 10, you learn another Sorcerer cantrip of your choice, as shown in the Cantrips column of the Sorcerer Features table.
Spell Slots. The Sorcerer Features table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your level 1+ spells. You regain all expended slots when you finish a Long Rest.
Prepared Spells of Level 1+. You prepare the list of level 1+ spells that are available for you to cast with this feature. To start, choose two level 1 Sorcerer spells.
The number of spells on your list increases as you gain Sorcerer levels, as shown in the Prepared Spells column of the Sorcerer Features table. Whenever that number increases, choose additional Sorcerer spells until the number of spells on your list matches the number in the Sorcerer Features table. The chosen spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, if you’re a level 3 Sorcerer, your list of prepared spells can include six Sorcerer spells of level 1 or 2 in any combination.
If another Sorcerer feature gives you spells that you always have prepared, those spells don’t count against the number of spells you can prepare with this feature, but those spells otherwise count as Sorcerer spells for you.
Changing Your Prepared Spells. Whenever you gain a Sorcerer level, you can replace one spell on your list with another Sorcerer spell for which you have spell slots.
Spellcasting Ability. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your Sorcerer spells.
Spellcasting Focus. You can use an Arcane Focus as a Spellcasting Focus for your Sorcerer spells.
Level 1: Innate Sorcery
An event in your past left an indelible mark on you, infusing you with simmering magic. As a Bonus Action, you can unleash that magic for 1 minute, during which you gain the following benefits:
- The spell save DC of your Sorcerer spells increases by 1.
- You have Advantage on the attack rolls of Sorcerer spells you cast.
You can use this feature twice, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a Long Rest.
Level 2: Font of Magic
You can tap into the wellspring of magic within yourself. This wellspring is represented by Sorcery Points, which allow you to create a variety of magical effects.
You have 2 Sorcery Points, and you gain more as you reach higher levels, as shown in the Sorcery Points column of the Sorcerer Features table. You can’t have more Sorcery Points than the number shown in the table for your level. You regain all expended Sorcery Points when you finish a Long Rest.
You can use your Sorcery Points to fuel the options below, along with other features, such as Metamagic, that use those points.
Converting Spell Slots to Sorcery Points. You can expend a spell slot to gain a number of Sorcery Points equal to the slot’s level (no action required).
Creating Spell Slots. As a Bonus Action, you can transform unexpended Sorcery Points into one spell slot. The Creating Spell Slots table shows the cost of creating a spell slot of a given level, and it lists the minimum Sorcerer level you must be to create a slot. You can create a spell slot no higher than level 5.
Any spell slot you create with this feature vanishes when you finish a Long Rest.
Creating Spell Slots
| Spell Slot Level | Sorcery Point Cost | Min. Sorcerer Level |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 4 | 6 | 7 |
| 5 | 7 | 9 |
Level 2: Metamagic
Because your magic flows from within, you can alter your spells to suit your needs; you gain two Metamagic options of your choice from “Metamagic Options” later in this class’s description. You use the chosen options to temporarily modify spells you cast. To use an option, you must spend the number of Sorcery Points that it costs.
You can use only one Metamagic option on a spell when you cast it unless otherwise noted in one of those options.
Whenever you gain a Sorcerer level, you can replace one of your Metamagic options with one you don’t know. You gain two more options at Sorcerer level 10 and two more at Sorcerer level 17.
Level 3: Sorcerer Subclass
You gain a Sorcerer subclass of your choice. A subclass is a specialization that grants you features at certain Sorcerer levels. For the rest of your career, you gain each of your subclass’s features that are of your Sorcerer level or lower.
Level 4: Ability Score Improvement
You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat or another feat of your choice for which you qualify. You gain this feature again at Sorcerer levels 8, 12, and 16.
Level 5: Sorcerous Restoration
When you finish a Short Rest, you can regain expended Sorcery Points, but no more than a number equal to half your Sorcerer level (round down). Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a Long Rest.
Level 7: Sorcery Incarnate
If you have no uses of Innate Sorcery left, you can use it if you spend 2 Sorcery Points when you take the Bonus Action to activate it.
In addition, while your Innate Sorcery feature is active, you can use up to two of your Metamagic options on each spell you cast.
Level 19: Epic Boon
You gain an Epic Boon feat or another feat of your choice for which you qualify.
Level 20: Arcane Apotheosis
While your Innate Sorcery feature is active, you can use one Metamagic option on each of your turns without spending Sorcery Points on it.
Metamagic Options
The following options are available to your Metamagic feature. The options are presented in alphabetical order.
Careful Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
When you cast a spell that forces other creatures to make a saving throw, you can protect some of those creatures from the spell’s full force. To do so, spend 1 Sorcery Point and choose a number of those creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one creature). A chosen creature automatically succeeds on its saving throw against the spell, and it takes no damage if it would normally take half damage on a successful save.
Distant Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
When you cast a spell that has a range of at least 5 feet, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to double the spell’s range. Or when you cast a spell that has a range of Touch, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to make the spell’s range 30 feet.
Empowered Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
When you roll damage for a spell, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to reroll a number of the damage dice up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one), and you must use the new rolls.
You can use Empowered Spell even if you’ve already used a different Metamagic option during the casting of the spell.
Extended Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
When you cast a spell that has a duration of 1 minute or longer, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to double its duration to a maximum duration of 24 hours.
If the affected spell requires Concentration, you have Advantage on any saving throw you make to maintain that Concentration.
Heightened Spell
Cost: 2 Sorcery Points
When you cast a spell that forces a creature to make a saving throw, you can spend 2 Sorcery Points to give one target of the spell Disadvantage on saves against the spell.
Quickened Spell
Cost: 2 Sorcery Points
When you cast a spell that has a casting time of an action, you can spend 2 Sorcery Points to change the casting time to a Bonus Action for this casting. You can’t modify a spell in this way if you’ve already cast a level 1+ spell on the current turn, nor can you cast a level 1+ spell on this turn after modifying a spell in this way.
Seeking Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
If you make an attack roll for a spell and miss, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to reroll the d20, and you must use the new roll.
You can use Seeking Spell even if you’ve already used a different Metamagic option during the casting of the spell.
Subtle Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
When you cast a spell, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to cast it without any Verbal, Somatic, or Material components, except Material components that are consumed by the spell or that have a cost specified in the spell.
Transmuted Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
When you cast a spell that deals a type of damage from the following list, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to change that damage type to one of the other listed types: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, Thunder.
Twinned Spell
Cost: 1 Sorcery Point
When you cast a spell, such as Charm Person, that can be cast with a higher-level spell slot to target an additional creature, you can spend 1 Sorcery Point to increase the spell’s effective level by 1.
Sorcerer Subclasses
A Sorcerer subclass is a specialization that grants you features at certain Sorcerer levels, as specified in the subclass.
Aberrant Sorcery (PHB 2024)
Sorcerers with Aberrant Sorcery draw their power from alien minds, distant planes, or unknowable cosmic influences. Their magic feels wrong to others—twisting reality, thoughts, and perceptions in unsettling ways.
Often marked by strange visions or whispers, these Sorcerers excel at psychic manipulation and battlefield control. To wield Aberrant Sorcery is to channel power that was never meant to exist in mortal hands.
Clockwork Sorcery (PHB 2024)
Clockwork Sorcerers are infused with the magic of absolute order, often tied to Mechanus or similar realms of perfect structure. Their spells suppress chaos, stabilize reality, and enforce balance where it falters.
These Sorcerers act as living anchors of law and predictability. Whether they embrace this role or rebel against it, their magic reshapes the battlefield into a place where disorder struggles to survive.
Draconic Sorcery (PHB 2024)
Draconic Sorcerers inherit their magic from the blood of dragons, ancient pacts, or draconic ancestry long forgotten. Their spells echo with elemental fury, and their presence carries the weight of draconic majesty.
As they grow in power, their magic becomes tougher, more destructive, and unmistakably draconic. Pride, power, and legacy are inseparable from their spellcasting.
Wild Magic Sorcery (PHB 2024)
Wild Magic Sorcerers are conduits of pure, untamed arcane chaos. Their spells can erupt in unpredictable ways, creating effects both wondrous and dangerous.
To some, this volatility is exhilarating; to others, terrifying. Wild Magic Sorcerers thrive in uncertainty, where every spell cast could reshape the battlefield—or reality itself—in an instant.
Additional Sorcerer Subclasses (Other 5e Sources)
Divine Soul (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)
Divine Soul Sorcerers are touched by celestial power, whether through ancestry, blessing, or fate. Their magic bridges arcane talent and divine grace, granting access to holy energies usually reserved for clerics.
These Sorcerers often feel torn between mortal desires and higher callings. To them, magic is not just power—it is responsibility, faith, and destiny intertwined.
Shadow Magic (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)
Shadow Magic Sorcerers draw strength from the Shadowfell or other realms of darkness. Their spells bend light, sap vitality, and cloak them in living gloom.
Often marked by eerie traits or an unsettling presence, these Sorcerers walk the edge between life and oblivion. Darkness is both their shield and their weapon.
Storm Sorcery (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)
Storm Sorcerers embody the raw power of wind, thunder, and lightning. Their magic surges with momentum, carrying them across the battlefield like a living tempest.
Ever in motion, these Sorcerers strike fast and hard, weaving spellcasting with swift repositioning. To face one is to challenge the fury of the storm itself.
Lunar Sorcery (Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen)
Lunar Sorcerers draw their magic from the shifting phases of the moon, channeling its influence over fate, emotion, and arcane flow.
Their power waxes and wanes, granting versatility and adaptability. Like the moon itself, they are ever-changing—never truly predictable, always influential.
Runechild (Tal’Dorei Reborn)
Runechild Sorcerers channel raw arcane energy into glowing runes etched across their bodies. These sigils store magical power, releasing it in bursts of offense or defense.
Their magic is visceral and visible, a testament to sheer arcane potential barely contained. Runechildren are living spell engines, shaped by power that refuses to remain dormant.
Main info Sorcerer:
Hit Die: d6 per Sorcerer level
Primary Ability: Charisma
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: None
Skills: Choose 2 — Arcana, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion, or Religion
Saves: Constitution, Charisma
Combat Role: Arcane blaster, battlefield controller, magical specialist
Key Mechanic: Spellcasting, Sorcery Points, Metamagic, Innate Sorcery
Starting Equipment: Choose one:
• A: Spear, 2 daggers, arcane focus (crystal), dungeoneer’s pack, and 28 gp
• B: 50 gp
Complexity: High
Best For Players Who: Want a powerful spellcaster whose magic comes from within, enjoy shaping and modifying spells with Metamagic, and prefer explosive magical impact, flexibility, and strong thematic flavor over durability or armor
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