Sorcerers are renowned throughout theDungeons & Dragonsuniverse for their relationship to the Weave, the arcane web that connects all spellcasters to their magical power. Sorcerers are born with magic or express it inherently, with many discovering their power originates in the shades of the Shadowfell, the divinity of the Celestial plane, or the untamed chaos of Wild Magic.

The Runechild, however, discovers their magic in the runes that appear upon their body. These runes manifest the magic their body generates on its own, culminating in more runes as the sorcerer grows more powerful.

An image of an air genasi from Dungeons & Dragons; this one has blue hair, glowing eyes, and intricate tattoos.

Runechild Sorcerer Class Features

The features of the Runechildhave been coveted by scholars of Exandria for ages, often subjugating Runechildren to use the power localized in the sorcerer’s body against their enemies or for their own arcane purposes. As such, a Runechild may hide their innate power. That doesn’t mean you have to, though. The features of the Runechildwork in tandem with the loss of sorcery points, making this subclass a bit of a powerhouse.

What Are Sorcery Points?

Sorcery points are anexclusive feature for sorcerers.Each sorcerer starts out with two, andthe number of sorcery points you have increase as your character’s level progresses.

They function as the means by which you’ll utilize yourmetamagic— a feature that allows you to amplify your spells in various ways, whether adding on damage, casting it silently, or extending your spell’s distance— or can help you regain spell slots.

a mounted sorcerer wildly conjures the four elements

Atfirst level, you can use your runes to help avoid or negate attacks from enemies wishing to do you harm.

Glyphs of Aegis

Atsixth level, you gain two more features alongside the improved version of Glyphs of Aegis.

Sigilic Augmentation

Using abonus action, you can use a Charged Runeto enhance your Strength, Dexterity, or your Constitution score.You then haveadvantageonability checkswith whatever ability you’ve chosen until the start of your next turn. You keep this going by using another Charged Rune each round.

Your other feature allows you tosee hidden magical marks.

Manifest Inscriptions

As anaction, you can expend a charged rune to have concealed magic marks, runes, wards, or glyphs reveal themselves.It only lasts for a round, and the glow of the glyphsextends to five feet around you, looking like dim light to any observers.

Atfourteenth level, your spellscan ignore immunity and resistance.

D&D two characters playing a magic chess like game

Runic Torrent

You gain the ability to use a number of Charged Runes equal to the spell’s level.Your spell will ignore a target’s resistance or immunity to its damage type.

The final feature you gain comes at theeighteenth level, granting you a number of benefits.

Mages Fighting Ithillid Monster In The Woods Forest Casting A Spell in Dungeons & Dragons.

On abonus action, you’re able to spendsix or more charged runesto briefly activate your Arcane Exemplar form.This form will last for three rounds but will add on one round for every charged rune you expendover the regular six. You also gain the following advantages:

After this feature ends, your charactercan’t take actions, and theycannot move until after your next turn.This feature replenishes after a long rest.

Adrowordrow half-elfwould make for a good Runechild, as theCharisma-based spellcastingsynergizes very well with the class. You also get access toFaerie Firewith both, which will leave a lot of your attacks at an advantage.

Shadar-kaiensures you don’t have to waste a spell slot onMisty Step, as you’ll already have it innately, freeing you up for other sorcerous options.Firbolg’sinnate casting may also be an ideal choice.

Nimble Escapefrom thegoblinis a great feature to have for a sorcerer and helps you evade enemies after possibly negating melee damage with Glyphs of Aegis.Evading enemies may be a priorityfor you, so ashiftermay be helpful to improve your durability.

Satyr’smagical resistance will also improve yourresiliencenicely, as will theyuan-ti’spoison resistance and magic resistance.

You’re going to want toprioritize your Charismafor its spellcasting ability in your sorcerer, as you’ll wanthigh DCsfor yoursuck-or-save spellsas well asthe extra damage.It’ll also fill out your skills nicely,which makes up a robust amount of your character sheet.

Next, you’ll want to boost yourConstitution.Sorcerers havea small pool of hit points to draw from, and yourhit point maximumdesperately needs the cushion a good Constitution score will provide.Dexterityshould be your third priority to raise yourarmor class.

IntelligenceandWisdomare unfortunately not as useful to have as a Runechild, but you’re able to easily swap out around any score if you want to play a physically weaker but wiser sorcerer. Wisdomsaves you from quite a few suck-or-save spells,as well as increasestwo of your character’s passives.

Intelligencemakes you more of a master of the arcane, though it’s also responsible for quite a few skill checks. Sigilic Augmentation will be great for eitherIntelligenceorWisdom, though, so you won’t need to worry too much.Strengthcan comfortably sit in the dead-last of your priorities.

Cantrips are minorspells you can cast without any expense of a spell slot.

Chill Touch

Chill Touchautomatically halts any regenerative abilities in an enemy, which counts for spells used to heal. This is very good for a cantrip, and the1d8necrotic damageis nothing to ignore.

Mind Sliver

Intelligence saving throws are few and far between, and many creatures who don’t rely on it will have a lower score. This is a great cantrip to have in your Runechild’s back pocket for spells that require saves, too,as it will subtract 1d4 from the next saving throw the enemy has to make in addition to 1d6 damage.

Shape Water

This is a very versatile cantrip and can more or less leave you with the sky as your limit as long as you have some water on hand. You canbuild barricades of ice five feet wide, melt areas of lakes,push slabs of water on enemies, change the flow of water to guide a small raft, or turn the water fun colors. You never know what use a fun color might be.

Prestidigitation

This cantrip can be used for amultitude of magical effectsand is famously used to soil and clean things.

Here are some of the better spellsyou can take at early levelsto help build your Runechild:

Magic Missile

Magic Missile is a guaranteed hit, which means that if you so wish, the three missiles you make could all hit,stacking the d4 of damage.It’s also good to spread out among foes.Having a source of dependable damage for your sorcerer will mean that your spell slot is never wasted.

Charm Person

You could take a spell that does damage at melee range, like Burning Hands, but truthfully, if someone is close enough to your Runechild,your features should protect you from the brunt of their damage, and the focus should be on getting yourself out of their range. Charm Person will let them regard you as a friendly acquaintance andwill let you move far away.It also levels with your character, letting you target multiple enemies.

Mage Armor

This will be a boost to yourarmor classand will provide you with some much-needed protection, with yourDexterity bonus adding onto a magical base of a thirteen.

Absorb Elements is great at a low level for any spellcaster that can get ahold of it. While it works particularly nicely with subclasses like the Bladesinger subclass, Runechild may want to have it on hand in case Glyphs of Aegis gets used up. However, it uses up a reaction, and at early levels, this will negate the feature Runechild already gives you.