Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana Sorcerers: Favored Souls, Phoenix Sorcery, Sea Sorcery, & Stone Sorcery

Favored Soul (again), Phoenix Sorcery, Sea Sorcery, Earth Sorcery.

Could this be the start of Elementalists?

 

[The Human Target]

It's interesting that 5e was supposed to be a game of three pillars, and "bring back" exploration and role playing interaction.

And yet, almost none of these subclasses ever have anything but combat abilities.

 

[cbwjm]

Most of the time, I don't think I really need any additional mechanical ability beyond skills for the exploration and social pillars.

 

[Greg K]

Most of the time, I don't think I really need any additional mechanical ability beyond skills for the exploration and social pillars.

The same is true for me.

 

[MoonSong]

I don't think this Favored Soul is meant to be another holy warrior. That's what clerics and paladins are for. This Favored Soul is meant to be Gandalf.
I think they both have a place at the table, but I think the Holy Warrior Favored Soul is stepping on the paladin and cleric's toes.

Not really, I've played a couple of the previous favored souls, they are quite flexible, and only one ever gets anywhere near the cleric's toes -thankfully there is no cleric there because I am the cleric-. Unless you choose Life, all you are is a squishy gish with a little more utility than a dragon sorc.

Favored Soul is just a meh concept to me. Clerics and Paladins are already 'favored', what makes these jabronis special? Feels like a concept in search of a need, not the other way around. Overall lukewarm to it, though it's got no major crunch problems.

Probably not the best name, but the concept "I wield divine magic and it is all me. Maybe a deity shaped me into this, but this divine gift is all me." is nice

The Favored Soul is the most disappointing archetype to come out of these yet. Though I speak as someone who has looked on most of these archetypes with a favorable light. The fact that they gutted everything that made the test archetype both fun and good (and similar to the original 3.5 class, though that's a minor detail considering the identity of a favored soul isn't necessarily something that's been fully realized) while doing nothing good to satisfy the image of someone chosen by the gods except give them virtually unrestricted access to the cleric list really makes me wonder why they feel the need to keep surpressing the Sorcerer. Favored Soul was easily my favorite Origin, and probably the closest to a well-designed Origin I've seen thus far. Storm came close until they neutered the bonus spells, which was really the only nail in the coffin it could take before becoming a vanilla archetype.

Though at this point I'm not entirely surprised that they skimped on the sorcery point-based abilities and didn't bother to address the paltry spell selection of the class. The other archetypes at least have the benefit of cohesive abilities that have a variety of uses or benefits that make the character unique. Favored Souls 0, Sorcerers as a whole 1. I'm really torn with how this one came out.

I don't know, after having a few hours to think it over, I like it. I still like the other one the best, but it is far from perfect. It is certainly bad to model a higher concept, but instead allows you to do lots of stuff that was denied to sorcerers before -including the first Favored Soul- Subtle + Silence + Knock, you are finally a magical thief and not just a thief that also does magic. Animate dead -yay necromancy-. Create Water, Control Water, Control Weather You are now a real Water mage. Summoning, cursing, Geasing, the only problem is to have enough known spells to fullfill the concept.

I like the idea of a Favored Soul, but it seems to be lacking in the 'why to pick this class' department. I been trying to determine the best way to make a non-armored healer besides just having a cleric who does not wear armor. I just don't think the Favored Sould has anything that a regular cleric does not do better.

Twin + Cure wounds at higher levels. It is super efficient healing.

I'm disappointed in the Favored Soul. While I think the extra spells from the original UA Favored Soul could have a been a little powerful, limiting the spells to a single domain(deity) was very fitting. I dislike opening it to all the cleric spells. Plus, compared to the Sorcerer spell, I can't really see picking many cleric spells over the spells the Sorcerer already has access to. I also miss the weapon and armor proficiencies and especially I miss the wings. I thought that was the coolest aspect of the class. Holy Warrior that works toward his goal until finally earning his wings in the service of his deity. Between the two, I would still prefer the first Favored Soul UA.

I plan to allow both. The new one feels more like a demigod.

I like most of them (and maybe all of them, still thinking on the phoenix).

I admit I was wrong in thinking they weren't going to keep access to cleric spells for the favored soul. It seemed like having those and melee attacks would be too much, and this is better (plus the requests for a buffing sorcerer are fulfilled).

Don't know how else you'd do a divine sorcerer. I mean other than going for a Radiant Blaster with wings.

 

[AmerginLiath]

What I quite like about this Favored Soul – and what no one here has commented upon – is a design is that the original playtests went back and forth with and the subclasses in the Player's Handbook gave players the option for (with the likes of the Eldritch Knight and the Arcane Trickster): building subclasses that allow for "multiclassing" without actually taking multiple classes. By allowing the the sorcerer to take cleric spells (with something like the Magic Initiate feat), the player gets a taste of another class in his subclass selection (similar to the options discussed above), in this case at the cost of other sorcerer spells known (rather than putting points into Intelligence for Wizard spells). It strikes me as a fair addition to the canon and a subclass that I'd be very willing to try out (note that I'm a Dragonlance fan and that I see this as a especially a good substitute for Krynn's Mystic class).

 

[Parmandur]

These are four good subclasses; though the design space for Sorcerer can accommodate many more.

They were pretty clear that after playing with the concept, play testing showed expanding the spells known for Sorcerers is OP, and they won't go there, so that's not a surprise...

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[SkidAce]

I like all of them.

In my world, we basicaly use the sorcerer as a "channeller" archetype.

I have dozens of loners, organizations, orders of mystic seers, that are gifted with, or channel magic naturally.

Wizards are the scientists.

Warlocks are the sorcerers (you know, demon summoning sorcerers of legend), although wizards dabble.

 

[The Human Target]

Most of the time, I don't think I really need any additional mechanical ability beyond skills for the exploration and social pillars.

What about all the spells?

 

[Parmandur]

It's interesting that 5e was supposed to be a game of three pillars, and "bring back" exploration and role playing interaction.

And yet, almost none of these subclasses ever have anything but combat abilities.

Really not true of this week's UA; breathing water, flying, oozing through three inch cracks, etc. have HUGE Exploration and Social pillar implications; let alone getting metamagic with Cleric spells...

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[Chaosmancer]

I'm really disappointed that none of this addresses the sorcerers shortcomings. I'd have loved to see some alternate rules for metamagic or sorcerery points, and I still think they need more spells known.

Favored Soul is interesting, but some of their abilities seem a little weak. +1hp per level is okay, but doesn't really do anything that amazing I don't think. +2d4 is per short rest is great. Purity seems really weak for 14th level, though immunity to poison damage can be really useful in the right circumstances (fear me all Green Dragons).

Phoenix also wants you to be in melee, to get your biggest bang out of your aura and spark. I thought the aura was at-will, and seeing it as once per day is just saddening. It really makes for a set of poor abilities, except for once per day, when you catch on fire, die and explode. And the spark only heals you back up to 1 hp, so that isn't going to be very useful if the guys you let surround you didn't get toasted. The last two abilities are really good, but it doesn't make up for being a poor subclass choice until 14th level.

I had to reread Sea to like it, I thought the 18th resistance canceled put your other abilities, but as written it doesn't, making you actually very tough... as long as you follow the long Sorcerer tradition of being in melee.... Seriously?

Let's take a tangent for a moment:

-Dragon: extra hp and armor, useful for melee but not requiring it
-Storm: Flight to avoid OA's and a very close range aura, and a retribution against melee
-Favored: extra hp and probably getting a few touch spells from healing, putting you on frontlines
-Phoenix: Aura and explosion that get the most use when you are in the frontlines and melee
-Sea: A lot of abilities to protect you from weapon damage while you are in melee
-Stone: The melee mixed class that smites and protects from melee

Whose bright idea was it to look at a d6 HD class with almost no weapons and no armor, and make most of their subclasses look like they want to be in close-quarters fighting?

end tangent

Sea's Curse is a really interesting ability, as I read it, you can activate the rider while casting cantrips. So, get them cursed with a cantrip, then cast a spell, the curse then ends if the spell wasn't a cantrip.

The downside is that you don't have a lot of good cantrip options to activate. Ray of Frost may be good for laying the curse, but activating it is meh since the effects don't stack. Shocking Grasping and Lighting Lure are choices to get you into melee (again?) and Frostbite is hard to make stick with it being a Con Save.

Potential fun could be had with Lighting Lure followed by a Quickened Thunderwave though, if they fail both saves you pull them in 10 and push them out 25.

I think by phrasing Watery Defense, Shifting Form and Water Soul all stack, so moving between enemies armed with normal weapons is very easy and you are really hard to hurt in melee.


Stone, I want them to make Metal Soul. It makes so much more sense as a metal and steel based theme than a stone theme, because you really don't care about moving earth at all. Honestly, play something with a buff to con, and just be awesome in melee. Plus, I love the return of the Aegis and Stone's Edge is incredibly powerful when combined with melee spells. Honestly, I like it a lot, because I don't think they out shine the Fighter or Paladin, but they really feel like a melee focused build that should be melee focused. I want to play one as a Goliath I think, to get the Stone's Endurance to increase my livability and just be a walking mountain with a hammer.

I'd let the Aegis effect you though, with the exception that you can't teleport if you are protecting yourself. The 18th level improvement already technically allows it and it gives you more options. Protect an ally and maybe do more damage, or turtle yourself and wade in.