Sorcerous Origin Spell Variants
More Magic for Sorcerers
Boasting the fewest spells known and fewest unique spells of any class, Sorcerers are not quite the wellsprings of magic they claim to be. With the release of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything comes the new official way of improving the sorcerer's design: Sorcerous Origin spells. This homebrew aims to expand this concept outside the Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul, bringing more spells to each official Sorcerous Origin.
Divine Soul
Variant Divine Magic
1st level Divine Soul feature (enhances Divine Magic)
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class. Select two affinities from the following list: Good, Evil, Law, Chaos, Neutrality. Your chosen affinities can be different from your alignment, but you may not choose opposite ends of the same axis. You learn the spells from the tables below corresponding to your chosen affinities. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.
Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be a spell from the cleric spell list.
Good Affinity Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | cure wounds |
3rd | prayer of healing |
5th | revivify |
7th | death ward |
9th | greater restoration |
Evil Affinity Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | inflict wounds |
3rd | ray of enfeeblement |
5th | animate dead |
7th | blight |
9th | danse macabre |
Law Affinity Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | bless |
3rd | calm emotions |
5th | remove curse |
7th | banishment |
9th | planar binding |
Chaos Affinity Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | bane |
3rd | crown of madness |
5th | curse |
7th | freedom of movement |
9th | destructive wave |
Neutrality Affinity Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | protection from evil and good |
3rd | zone of truth |
5th | spirit guardians |
7th | divination |
9th | dispel evil and good |
Note: some may feel two spells per level is too much for a sorcerer that gets to choose spells from another spell list. In that case, only select one affinity.
Draconic Bloodline
Draconic Magic
1st level Draconic Bloodline feature
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. You learn the spells from the Draconic Spells table below, as well as those on the table of your draconic ancestry.
Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be an evocation or transmutation spell from the sorcerer or wizard spell list.
Draconic Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | command |
3rd | dragon's breath |
5th | fear |
7th | elemental bane |
9th | dominate person |
Black Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | cause fear |
3rd | acid arrow |
5th | water breathing |
7th | vitriolic sphere |
9th | insect plague |
Blue Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | witchbolt |
3rd | dust devil |
5th | lightning bolt |
7th | storm sphere |
9th | wall of stone |
Brass Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | sleep |
3rd | suggestion |
5th | windwall |
7th | charm monster |
9th | telepathic bond |
Bronze Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | thunderwave |
3rd | gust of wind |
5th | tidal wave |
7th | watery sphere |
9th | control winds |
Copper Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | hideous laughter |
3rd | spike growth |
5th | slow |
7th | confusion |
9th | geas |
Gold Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | shield |
3rd | scorching ray |
5th | counterspell |
7th | polymorph |
9th | dream |
Green Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | ray of sickness |
3rd | invisibility |
5th | stinking cloud |
7th | hallucinatory terrain |
9th | cloudkill |
Red Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | burning hands |
3rd | Aganazzar’s scorcher |
5th | fireball |
7th | wall of fire |
9th | immolation |
Silver Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | identify |
3rd | hold person |
5th | tiny hut |
7th | ice storm |
9th | legend lore |
White Dragon Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | ice knife |
3rd | snowball swarm |
5th | sleet storm |
7th | fireshield (chill shield only) |
9th | cone of cold |
Note: spells for each dragon color were curated in part from the innate spellcasting variant feature of some dragons.
Shadow Magic
Shadowfell Magic
1st level Shadow Magic feature
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Shadowfell Spells table. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.
Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be an illusion or necromancy spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.
Shadowfell Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | inflict wounds, false life |
3rd | pass without trace, shadow blade |
5th | nondetection, summon shadowspawn |
7th | blight, shadow of moil |
9th | antilife shell, creation |
Note: Summon Shadowspawn is a new spell available in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Replace this spell with raise dead if you do not have access to that spell.
The Eyes of the Dark feature includes learning the spell darkness. If you feel three 2nd-level spells is too much for your game, remove one of the 2nd-level spells made available on this list.
Storm Sorcery
Storm Magic
1st level Storm Sorcery feature
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Storm Spells table. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.
Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be a conjuration or evocation spell from the sorcerer or wizard spell list.
Storm Spells
Sorcerer Level | Spells |
---|---|
1st | fog cloud, thunderwave |
3rd | shatter, skywrite |
5th | call lightning, fly |
7th | ice storm, storm sphere |
9th | control winds, destructive wave |
Note: the spell change upon level up could also include weather-based spells from the druid spell list, but as written in the above feature, this would allow for too many off-flavor spells. Talk to your GM to see if other weather-based spell are right for you. This could also include the selection of higher level spells, such as tsunami, control weather, and storm of vengeance which would normally not be available to a Storm Sorcerer.
Wild Magic
Wilder Magic
1st level Wild Magic feature
As an action, you can expend a spell slot of 5th level or lower to attempt to cast a Sorcerer spell you do not know of equal to or lower level than the spell slot you expended. Before you resolve the spell, you must make a Charisma saving throw. The DC is 10 + twice the level of the spell slot you expended.
On a successful save, you cast the spell as normal. On a failed save, you cast a different spell, randomly determined on the tables below. In addition, you trigger a Wild Magic Surge.
Starting at 14th level, any time you roll on the tables below you can roll twice and use either number.
1st-Level Spells
d6 | spell |
---|---|
1 | burning hands |
2 | chaos bolt |
3 | color spray |
4 | faerie fire |
5 | fog cloud |
6 | thunderwave |
2nd-Level Spells
d6 | spell |
---|---|
1 | blur |
2 | gust of wind |
3 | heat metal |
4 | acid arrow |
5 | scorching ray |
6 | shatter |
3rd-Level Spells
d6 | spell |
---|---|
1 | fear |
2 | feign death |
3 | fireball |
4 | gaseous form |
5 | sleet storm |
6 | stinking cloud |
4th-Level Spells
d4 | spell |
---|---|
1 | confusion |
2 | conjure minor elementals |
3 | black tentacles |
4 | ice storm |
5th-Level Spells
d4 | spell |
---|---|
1 | animate objects |
2 | cloudkill |
3 | cone of cold |
4 | flame strike |
Note: this class feature is almost exactly the same as the Mizzium Apparatus from GGR p179. This felt much more thematic than certain set spells and is much less clunky than randomly determining subclass spells every day, which was the original feature. Some might assume this is too strong, but it is only the equivalent of an uncommon magic item.
Another potential issue is that a sufficiently high level wild magic sorcerer might get to the point of effectively knowing every 1st and 2nd level spell. This is not until very high levels, so should not be an issue.
The guaranteed Wild Magic Surge was added to combat the issue that surging relies entirely on the DM.
If the ability to choose is deemed too powerful, the entire feature can be replaced with the ability to roll on the table when the sorcerer chooses to do so. This triggers a Wild Magic Surge as normal. Alternatively, the DC for the save can be increased to 13 + twice spell level to make the casting of any spell a bit trickier.