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Draconic Sorcery is a fun class option for roleplay and learning the basics of playing a spellcaster inD&D’s fifth edition. In roleplaying, you can get interesting moments from either embracing the values and ideals of a draconic parent or by rejecting them.
Related:Dungeons & Dragons: Motivations You Can Give Your Character
Mechanically, Draconic Sorcery gives you a strong baseline skill set that encourages you to invest more heavily into a single type of elemental damage. This can be a stumbling block: If you bring a poison dragon to a campaign where you’re fighting undead, you won’t get to use most of your cool features. Good build planning can emphasize these strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
Best Species For A Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
Dragonborn seems like the obvious choice for a sorcerer with a dragon ancestor, but it can be a trap.
Thefeatures a Dragonborn gains overlap with class features, and you end up losing out. Here are some other options that may fit better:
Details
Kobold
Draconic Cry: A powerful area buff that uses your bonus action.
An additional cantrip from the sorcerer’s spell list
ManyKobolds worship dragons,so having one wielding draconic magic is a position of great prestige among them. It can give a reason forplaying kobolds differently from what you’d normally expect.
Medium Armour Proficiency
Bonus hitpoints, one per level.
Resistance to Poisonboth against the damage type and on saving throws to resist it.
Draconic Sorcerers already gain bonus hitpoints compared to other subclasses. Combining this with thebonus hitpoints of a hill dwarf or the medium armour proficiency of a mountain dwarf and your sorcerer will be far more durable.
Resistance to one element
Breath weapon of the same element
While the Dragonborn can very easily end up with redundant features as draconic sorcerers, there is an easy workaround: YourDragonborn lineage does not have to be the same as the lineage your sorcery comes from. In fact, havingtwo draconic ancestors can create interesting storiesif you have to choose between honouring one or the other when their values or motivations come into conflict.
Having two elemental resistances can let youresist the damage of most common damaging spells.
Best Ability Scores For A Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
Sorcerers benefit from having one important stat they can focus almost exclusively on, Charisma.
This doesn’t mean other ability scores should be neglected, but you should aim tostart your charisma as high as possibleand boost it with items and ability score increases. We can sort the ability scores into a loose pyramid for how important they are:
Tier One: Charisma
Charisma determines the strength of your spells, meaning that you’ll rely on it for almost all of your abilities. A high charisma means your spells willland more often and be harder to resistwhile also allowing your sorcerer to take a leading role in social encounters.
Tier Two: Constitution and Dexterity
Your charisma lets you contribute to both combat and social encounters butdexterity and constitution allow you to survivelong enough to make use of those impressive spells and winning personality.
Dexterity increases your Armour Classmaking it harder for enemies to hit you.Dexterity saving throws are also among the most commonand are normally tied to spells like fireball that you’ll want to evade.
Constitution takes a more direct approach to survivability by letting you take more punishment. Both ability scores are useful, but you may allow either one to be weaker to enable specific multiclassing or roleplaying options.
If you took Mountain Dwarf or multiclassed for the medium armour proficiency you won’t need a dexterity score above 14:Medium armour limits the amount of dexterity you’re able to add to your AC to two.
Tier Three: Wisdom, Strength, and Intelligence
The three remaining ability scores don’t feature heavily in your class features, and you can safely ignore them for the most part.
Wisdom does improve your perception, which no character wants to be terrible at, but leaving a weakness in your character can allow other players to shine by covering that weakness.
The same applies tostrength and carrying capacity, though few tables manage inventory too strictly.
Intelligence has the fewest fringe uses, and in fact, some spell effects will completely ignore a character with below three intelligence. This is impossible to achieve with a standard array or point buy and can be very difficult to roleplay.
Best Ancestry For A Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
The type of draconic ancestor your character draws their power from is important both mechanically and in role-play.
A scion of anevil chromatic dragon and a good metallic dragon will be treated very differently, and the chromatic sorcerer is far more likely to be killed for acting against their progenitor.
A good aligned metallic dragon might also be more likely to take an active role in the fate of their descendants.
In a good-aligned party, metallic dragons are a safer bet, but just like in the real world, you don’t need to mirror the alignment of your parents and grandparents.
Different settings –or even regions of the same setting– will draw the lines in different places where dragons, drakes, and wyverns differ.
Be careful not to commit a social faux pas by implying your revered progenitor was one of the unintelligent types of giant lizard.
The mechanical side of your ancestry is the element your draconic predecessor wielded.
Your options includeacid, fire, poison, cold, and lightning. The ability Elemental Affinity at level six gives youbonus damage and resistanceto your chosen element.
The adventure or module you are playing may determine what draconic heritage makes the most sense for the narrative or will see the most use in terms of elemental matchups.
Bringing a fire Draconic Sorcerer to a game set in the elemental plane of fire will make the resistance valuable but also mandate that you rarely use fire magic.
Best Spells For A Draconic Sorcerer
Sorcerers learn a small number of spells which means that you’ll want to focus on the ones that give near-universal utility, alongside damaging spells of your preferred element. Here are some good candidates for first level:
Chromatic Orb
Deals 3d8 damage in an element of your choice
Choosing the type of elemental damage you dealwith a spell lets you lean into your specialty while keeping versatility if you encounter anything with resistance.
Absorb Elements
Gain resistance to an elemental damage type as a reaction
Halving the damage from a powerful elemental attackis often enough to survive a fireball or dragon’s breath that would kill an unprepared sorcerer.
Shield
Gain 5AC for one turn as a reaction to an attack
Shield is an invaluable defensive tool. Draconic sorcerers may have more hitpoints but will still want other ways ofextending their survivability.
Silvery Barbs
Force an enemy to reroll an attack or saving throw, then give one ally advantage on their next roll.
This spell has staying power that will keep it relevant for all levels of play. Its only weakness is that since it forces a reroll rather than imposing disadvantage,it does not negate the enemy’s ability to sneak attackif they have one.
As a reaction spell,it will compete for time with absorb elements and shield. Silvery barbs works best against single attacks, while the other two are stronger against longer onslaughts.
Grease
Creates an area of grease that is difficult to move through and easy to fall over in
Grease is one of the few spells of its type thatdoes not require concentration.Sending several enemies prone gives your front-line fighters advantage on hitting them, and the leftover grease puddle will interfere with anyone else trying to get through.
Coordinate with your team when using this spell. Your allies might be free from the initial area covered, but if the enemies attempt to run, you can end up tripping in your own spell trying to chase them.
Catapult
Propel a small object at high speed, dealing 3d8 damage
While similar to chromatic orb for its use in combat, this spell gains utility in the hands of a creative player. Catapulting a piton with rope to embed on top of a cliff can negate an arduous climb. Flinging a bag of caltrops into a person can both do damage of the spell and burst the bag open, spilling the caltrops.
Don’t take mage armour: Your heritage gives you natural armour that does not stack with this spell.
Best Metamagics For A Draconic Sorcerer
Metamagics are the biggest draw of sorcerers as a class. They allow you to tailor the effects of your spells at the cost of spending additional resources.
The best metamagics are the ones that can be comfortably used on a variety of different spells as you level up and develop your playstyle.
Best Spells To Use On
Twinspell
Cause a single target spell to affect two targets. (Duration and saving throws occur as normal).
Doubling single-target damage and control spells is useful, but this metamagic shines when combined with buff spells.
Concentration spells like haste can potentially double the effectiveness of some party members,and sorcerers are unique for being able to cast it on multiple targets.
Heightened Spell
Forces the spell’s saving throw to be made at disadvantage
Forcing disadvantage on your saving throws will be useful at any level. Against enemies resistant to magic, this negates the advantage they’d typically have on the saving throw.
Subtle Spell
Removes the somatic and verbal components of a spell.
This is one of the more situational metamagic options but becomes invaluable in anycampaign that involves intrigue and social elements.
Using your magic to gain a social edge or cheat at gambling is often frowned upon, so having an extra level of deniability for one sorcery point is a cheap remedy.
It’s also useful for catching people off guard, bycasting buff spells during a villain’s monologueor weaving an attack spell into the middle of your sentences.
