Flavors of Sorcery

[The Traveler]

Sorcerers have a lot of potential for different plot reasons to have their powers. For example:

• You're part of a bloodline - Someone in your family tree bumped uglies with one of the stranger denizens of your campaign world. They've made a mint off of it in the meantime, and if you hadn't shown talent, you likely would have been disowned.
• You look like the milkman - Your mother had an affair with a magical creature, and she might not even have known it at the time. Perhaps he was even shapeshifted to look like your father.
• You're blessed - One or both of your parents did something good for a deity or magical being, and your abilities were the reward. You're caught up in the schemes of the being that blessed you, and big things are in your future.
• You're cursed - On the flipside of the coin, maybe dear old Dad ticked off something he'd been better to leave alone. Your powers are destined to turn you evil, crazy, or worse.
• Something is in the water - Magical residue is all over the area where you were born, and you turned out strange. Maybe it's just you, and maybe it's your whole village. Give it a few generations and the natives of the area might turn into a whole new race.
• Sold your soul - Let's face it, you never had the patience to learn magic. Years of study at a dusty wizard's college weren't for you. You made a deal with a magical being, and now you're cooking with gas. Better pray they don't come asking you for payment anytime soon...
• You're a fluke - Nobody knows how you got your powers, and that disturbs them. You're a walking Stephen King novel. People might be nice to you, but it sure isn't because they trust you.

Which do you find most rewarding to play? Which ones fit best with your campaign setting? Are there any I didn't cover that you find particularly good?

 

[Crothian]

I use all. I thinkm it works better for the class to have no one reason for the powers. It lets the charter explore the power in their own time with out always being aware of why they have the power.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Have to go with bloodline more than most of the others, call it ties to an acient order or a forgotten race, it works.

 

[VirgilCaine]

You could use a deityless cleric in somewhat the same manner.

 

[RangerWickett]

I typically say that even sorcerers have to train to learn spells. They're just more artistic, and so sorcery comes naturally to them, unlike wizards who have to study and do things in a fairly orderly fashion.

Of course, I don't use core spellcasters much anymore, since I wrote Elements of Magic. A big point of EOM, in fact, is that you decide where your magic comes from, and you choose the type of magic you cast, even to the point of creating spells.

 

[The Traveler]

You could use a deityless cleric in somewhat the same manner.

I've never been able to wrap my head around deityless clerics, but that's just me.

 

[VirgilCaine]

I've never been able to wrap my head around deityless clerics, but that's just me.

If you embrace the idea that not all divine power comes from deities (adepts) and that humans can use magic in an extremely natural way (my explanation for monks powers)
then changing the flavor of the cleric class to fit what you might want...like a "sorceror" natural caster type, then doing it is easier, IMO.

 

[Nightfall]

Well what ever works for you Virgil. Personally I always felt adepts drew on natural forces, much like druids did. But that's just me and my SL love.

*obviously LOVES bloodlines and ideas that it is an innate part of the sorcerer, not mere "rote" memorizing like wizards do. Sorcery is the Craft. Wizardry, the Art.*

 

[VirgilCaine]

To get the thread back on track, I also use the "contract" variant in the 3.0 DMG.
A mortal makes a deal with some supernatural entity, like a dragon, devil, lammasu, etc. and gains their powers from the knowledge of the entity. Once in a while they have to do a task for the entity to gain more spells.

 

[The Traveler]

In one of the little pet settings I tinker with, I run a combination of bloodlines/sold your soul/cursed. The gist of it is that a long time ago the patriarchs of various families entered into blood pacts with demons to gain magical power. These families now have various taboos that represent their familial debt to the demons that granted their bloodlines power. It turned out pretty fun, as every family has little oddities that distinguish it in-character.