Sorcery in 5E

I like the idea of each spellcaster having their own unique method of spellcasting. Though this adds complexity to 5E, I think for players looking for some more narrative-defining crunch, the complexity can be worth it. Lots of people want just the standard 5E mechanics, which is 100% understandable, but I'm all about wanting to do things different.

When things get weird.

So, the Sorcerer is my least favorite spellcaster. I like half of its theme (person with strange ways of manipulating spells through will) but what I don't love is how it ends up playing like a wizard that just trades in spell options for small hi jinks.

This is what I want Sorcery mechanics to represent:

• Spontaneous spell effects.
• Strange manipulations of standard spells.
• Highly thematic, exotic, or aesthetic effects added to spells.
• Spell production should feel both wild west yet controlled--like a ronin spellcaster basically.

I also want Sorcerers to represent strange beliefs. They are, to me, a synthesis of culture and spell, and the result is someone born with one step in a sphere almost no one else occupies. Wizards should see sorcerers with envy for being able to do things they never could. They are artistic savants whose pen is their will and whose ink is the spell dancing in their palms.

So, I would give 5E sorcerers a ribbon at level 1.

Half-Strange

As a sorcerer, you have one foot in a number of strange superstitions that only you have directly interacted with. You have advantage on skill checks dealing with superstitious knowledge and gain one of the following quirks below. This quirk represents something from your beliefs manifesting and heavily effecting your mundane life.

Sorcerer Quirks

1. You put strange things on your food, such as kobold bone or oil from a harpy's liver.
2. You constantly reference how details in your present situation have appeared in your dreams.
3. Nearly half of the words you speak are in another tongue, one that you believe will reveal to you mystical secrets.
4. Daily you add some strange detail to your clothing, believing that it benefits your connection with the magical.
5. You paint or tattoo an exposed part of your body to ward off the dangerous effects of magic.
6. The emotions of animals and plants are whispered in your ear and you find it difficult not to mention them.
7. You move very slowly, as perfecting bodily movement will lead you to perfecting your sorcerery.
8. Whenever you visit someplace new, you perform a small ritual over it, to increase the flow of power in the air.
9. You occasionally speak in alien riddles out of hopes that someone solves them, opening up for you a new path.
10. You make odd woodcarvings, sculptures, and other art so that you can visualize the mystical inside of you.
11. Randomly, you will excitedly do some odd movement, apart of a lifetime-long ritual that will lead to the mastery of your powers.
12. You pay respect to something unusual, knowing that this respect will lead to it aiding your growth.

As for spellcasting, let's see. Some notes I think need to apply before I do a full write-up.

• Will use the spell point variant rule in the DMG. Fits better for sorcerers, I think, who gather up their power before unleashing it.
• Will turn sorcery points to spell points and add them to the total spell points held. This way the sorcerer only has to keep track of 1 resource instead of two.
• Add some "half-metamagic feats" to go with standard metamagic feats. You gain one of these every couple of levels, and can change them out as you level up. These are primarily for small spell additions.
• Make it possible to truly spontaneous cast. Roll d100 under sorcerer levels to cast a spell for free. Maybe have some consequences on failure. Or roll a d100 with every spellcast to see if spell is made free and call this your "Sorcery" dice.
• Get some half-metamagic feats when you learn Sorcerery. Normal metamagics as per normal.

Some pros of this are

• Unique casting style.
• Helf-metamagics add spice to the sorcerer's small spell list.
• Allows sorcerer to pump out a more intense variation of high level and low level spells.
• Reduces the resources tracked to 1.

Some cons of this

• Sorcery point math is off, since now it's like 2 spell points to do this thing, or 5 points to do that, etc.
• Makes metamagics on higher level spells confusing, since the sorcery -> spell point math doesn't exist that high up.
• Is a solution for something that isn't really a problem.
• Half-metamagic feats could be too numerous to keep track, adding more complexity than intended.
• Casting spells becomes a math battle of adding things up then changing your mind and adding different numbers up.

Another possible answer to create more unique sorcerers is simply to create sorcerer's their own spell list. Not in the sense of creating a new spell list from existing spells, but legitimately new spells that only sorcerers can learn that replace their spell list. This is something I've been thinking about for a while--creating a special Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, and Shaman spell list that only these classes draw from. Shamans could learn additional "vanilla" spells through their spirits, clerics through their bonus spells, and bards through their mystical secrets. But Sorcerer spells are the only things the sorcerer can learn.

Going this route, here are some notes I'm thinking about:

• 30 spells. As the Sorcerer can only learn 15 spells, this gives them some descent variation.
• Spells should be strongly themed. Will probably create notes for each spell on how to change its flavor.
• Very interesting effects for upcasting the spell. Maybe effects for using certain metamagics with them too.
• None of these should be named after a person, like the Bigby's Hand spell. Instead they should have highly strange names that sound like a mix of poetry, screamo, and the necronomicon.

Maybe at the end, my updated Sorcerer will just have the ribbon, DMG spell casting, Sorcery points, and its own unique spell list. That sounds rad enough to me.

That leaves archetypes. Might make two archetypes just to play with some unique ideas mechanically, and to experiment with them.

Ideas for Sorcerers Origins now are:

• "Predator Scarred." You gained your powers because your were born to a woman killed by a predator during the birth, or you survived an encounter with a powerful predator in a hunter-becomes-hunted situation. Powers based around beasts, stalking, and high damage savagery. Maybe some kind of curse that turns something into your hunted creature. Might lead into Ranger-Sorcerer overlap.
• "Macabre Beauty." You were born with a strange, death-like beauty to you. Features that deal with easing things into death, enthralling others, curses. Eh, too much like Shadow to me, probably won't do this one.
• "Spell Burned." You've been burned horribly by a spell, both spiritually and physically. Can spread this mystic fire to others via spells, dealing a DoT to them and other debufs. Can hurt self by burning self more, rapidly increase spell power. Burn self for damage equal to 6 + con mod to cast spell at next highest level, up to highest spell slot known.