The Sorcerer class in fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons has been plagued with disappointment since the version’s first release in 2014. Stronger official subclasses and Unearthed Arcana have tried to repair the shortcomings of the Sorcerer. Still, most players are left with a build that feels either like a less effective Wizard or an underpowered Warlock multiclass.
I made the mistake of trying out a Sorcerer for the first time, utilizing the Divine Soul subclass. A Sorcerer whose powers stem from the divine, with access to Cleric spells and plenty of story reasons to choose the Aasimar race. But with the Sorcerer’s measly d6 hit point die and an unforgiving dungeon crawl, my conclusion is I really should have just played a Cleric.
It took me a while before I played the class again, and even longer before I built a Sorcerer adventurer. This post is a walkthrough of the Sorcerer I built and have been playing for a Drakkenheim D&D campaign.
A Point of Inspiration
Our gamemaster passionately described what we were getting into with a campaign, playing through Ghostfire Gaming’s Dungeons of Drakkenheim adventure book. She started following the world’s creators, Monty and Kelly, through their live-stream of their own actual playthrough. This would be an unforgiving adventure, packed with political intrigue and elements of eldritch horror, as our characters ventured deeper and deeper into the plagued city.
As we perused the map and discussed types of characters we wanted to play, our styles and preferences, our GM explained that a lot of the world-building was inspired by Germanic and European culture. We had been playing together as a group for a couple of months, testing out different character builds through a series of oneshots. I had arrived at wanting to redeem the Sorcerer class. Especially now that we would be playing with the new 2024 rules. But other than that, I was trying this new thing out where I leave the character’s backstory lore as something secondary to the game we would be actively playing in.
So, without wanting to think too hard about who this Sorcerer was, I started with an easy trope:
A young commoner, unspectacular in every way, one day manifests powers in a time of dire need.
From there, I spiralled into what ‘common-folk’ jobs looked like in Germany and other parts of Central Europe before the 20th Century. This gave me some inspiration on what this character’s life might look like before her adventuring career began.
Next, our GM gave us a list of Quests. We were to choose a quest from the list, tying our character to the world and giving them a reason for venturing into the dark and dangerous city.
Party Composition
Before starting an adventure, I usually have two or three classes or subclasses in mind that I’d like to play. I take this into our table’s Session 0 or earlier discussions. Based on what everyone else wants to play, I land on my final choice. This time, the four of us players decided we would care less about specific party composition. Instead, we urged each other to just play what we wanted to.
My first choice was a Sorcerer, and my second choice was a Paladin. One player chose a Cleric, and another was between a Sorcerer and a Warlock. So I “won out” and claimed the Sorcerer. Our final player was eager to explore the new and improved Ranger. Had 2024 rules finally “fixed” it to make the Ranger a class on par mechanically with the others? We would see.
Yes, we were well aware that the party composition going into this ‘deadly’ campaign was “suboptimal.” But we chose to prioritize a fun story instead of mechanics this time. What could go wrong?
Mechanical and Story Choices
Starting at level 1, Sigrid Baumgartner finds herself headed towards Drakkenheim. Why? Well, enter one of the GM’s plot devices: Sigrid is looking for someone, and she has reason to believe they are in Drakkenheim and the surrounding area.
Who was Sigrid Baumgartner?
Sigrid Baumgartner grew up in Westemar to a lower-middle-class family serving a lesser lord. She and her sister are a year apart, Sigrid the younger, and Irma the elder. But Sigrid was always the favourite of the two. Better liked by parents, teachers, and friends alike. The sisters had a complicated relationship, but they always had each other’s backs and were always each other’s best friends growing up. Irma would get Sigrid out of trouble, and Sigrid would make sure Irma was invited to the best social outings. One fateful day, on the edge of adulthood, the sisters were playing a game on the outskirts of town. Dangerously close to the forest, one of them accused the other of cheating, and an argument began.
Suddenly, a monstrosity, alien and terrifying, descended upon them. Irma, a talented skirmisher, kept the monster at bay for a time. Urging her sister to flee and get help. Sigrid started to run but turned back when she heard a bloodcurdling scream. The monster had pierced Irma through the shoulder and had her pinned. Without a second thought, Sigrid sprinted back. Not knowing what to do, she grabbed the nearest object from the ground and hurled it at the creature. The monster dropped Irma from its grasp, who fell to the ground with a sickening thud, and now turned its attention to the younger sister.
One of the monster’s tentacles smacked Sigrid onto her back as it approached with too-long teeth for the kill. Sigrid doesn’t remember the next few seconds, other than the sensation of a foreign surge of power from within herself. The next moment, the creature lay dead on its back, scorch marks on Sigrid’s palms. Panicked, he ran to her sister. Irma was unconscious, but fortunately still breathing.
From that day on, they made a pact. To seek their fortunes slaying evil monstrosities, together, and to never let their petty differences get in the way. They adventured together for years this way, going town to town in an attempt to eradicate threats and reap rewards, no matter how small. Irma, the cunning thief and Sigri,d the charming deceiver, were a formidable pair. They even made a friend or two along the way.
Until one day, Sigrid woke up in a stable loft with Irma nowhere to be seen. All traces of her sister were gone, save for a note written in their secret code. Irma, who didn’t have any magical prowess of her own, needed to up her game. Slaying small-time monsters, stealing supplies, and bartering for nights’ sleeps in dirty barns just wasn’t enough anymore. With no sign of improvement in sight, she had to go. She was leaving for both of their sakes. As the elder sister and the tougher of the two, it was her responsibility to find a better path forward. She was sorry to have to leave Sigrid here, but promised they’d see each other again, soon.
It’s been two years since the day Irma left. Since then, Sigrid has learned to make do without her sister’s skills. Recently, she came across an old cache and a compass that doesn’t point north. It points to Drakkenheim. She hasn’t thought of the place in years. Not since the meteor fell from the sky and she and Irma played a make-believe game about seeking their fortunes amongst the ashes.
Would Irma have gone there without Sigrid? Stories of the dangers of Drakkenheim were enough for them to keep their distance when they were together. But Sigrid wouldn’t put it past her headstrong sister to venture there, not with the promise of riches or glory. Regardless, two years is long enough to wait for someone who may never return. Hell-bent on finding Irma, or at least discovering what happened to her, Sigrid ventures to the city.
Choosing a subclass
Not choosing a subclass until level 3, I wanted to leave the options open to unfold throughout play. Sticking to the default 2024 Sorcerer options, I evaluated the four:
- Aberrant – unnatural psionic powers. Spells like Arms of Hadar and Summon Aberration? The eldritch horror elements of the setting give plenty of story reasons to choose this subclass.
- Clockwork – law and order. Manipulating time and magic to bring balance and to reduce chaos. A neat subclass with access to spells like Lesser Restoration, Dispel Magic, and Freedom of Movement. Definitely handy for a battlefield controller/tactician role.
- Draconic – dragon magic. Powers stemming from some connection or bloodline related to the mystical sky creatures, and accessing spells like Dragon’s Breath and Fly. Sounds like a lot of fun, especially if one enjoys the ‘gambling’ aspects of Chromatic Orb, Sorcerous Burst, and Empowered Spell.
- Wild Magic – the innate magic of chaos. This subclass utilizes the improved Wild Magic Surge table. Effects include defensive boosts like extra hit points or plus 2 bonus to AC, casting a random spell like Fireball or Fog Cloud, or other random effects like teleporting to a random place on the field. This subclass feels like the antithesis of the Clockwork Sorcerer.
I wasn’t keen on the randomness of the Wild Magic Sorcerer, and while I am excited about the Clockwork subclass, I didn’t think it fit the vibe of who I wanted to play this campaign. So I ventured forth from level 1 with Aberrant and Draconic sorcery in mind.
Making an Appearance
Sticking with my original character inspiration and the young commoner theme, I started sketching up who Sigrid is. A friend of ours recently started up a new business (Sigil Foundry) 3D printing miniatures (amongst other similar things). So, I designed Sigrid using Hero Forge and got her as close to my sketch as I could.
We’ll have to wait and see if she survives this dangerous campaign and finds her sister again.