Help with a sorcerer homebrew, Twisted Soul

So, I had a thread a little while ago, asking for assistance on this Sorcerer Origin I am making. Alas, I have reached another impasse, and require more help. I have the basic idea of my end goal, as well as the main shtick of the subclass. The inspiration is Lovecraftian, or Far Realm, so at first level you choose a form of indefinite madness off the table in the DMG, or work with your DM to construct your own special form of madness (my original planned character has an intense love for Circles and spheres, and hates squares and cubes with all of his being. Most other shapes are irrelevant, but the rounder something is, the more he will like it.)

Dangerous Mind

You have a dangerous mind. Any non-abberation being that attempts to read your mind takes 1d10 of psychic damage. This damage increases as you level, to 3d10 at 6th level, 5d10 at 14th level, and 7d10 at 18th level. (Thanks to Cap'n Kobold. Got the idea for this from the thought shield on Warlock.) You also have resistance to psychic damage, and if you would take half damage on a successful save from a psychic effect, you instead take no damage.

Elemental Chaos

At sixth level you choose an element from the table. You can spend a sorcery point to change a spell that deals this damage type into the corresponding 6th level damage type. At 14th level you can spend a sorcery point to add the damage type from the 14th level column, and split the damage dice between the two as you please. For example, a spell which deals 3d8 fire damage can be changed to deal 3d8 cold damage, 3d8 acid damage, or 2d8 of one and 1d8 of the other. These spells remain visually similar to the original damage type, and it is up to your DM how the change is represented (perhaps at sixth level you still throw a ball of Fire, but it puts off a cold mist instead of smoke, for example.) If you choose to change the damage type on a spell you cannot combine it with the original damage type. If you choose fire you can have Cold+Acid, but you cannot have Cold+Fire, or Fire+Acid.


Chaos Form

Starting at 6th level you can also shape shift into an aberration of CR 1 or lower. At 14th level this increases to CR 2, and you gain access to Oozes as an option for shape shifting. At 18th level you can change into an aberration or ooze with a maximum CR of 3. Each shift costs 2 sorcery points, and lasts for 1 minute. At 14th level this increases to 10 minutes, and at 18th level you can hold your form for up to 1 hour.
(This one is very likely to change before I am happy with it.)

I want to mention that most of my help at this point has come from @MechaTarrasque . Thanks a ton.


This is still very shaky, in my opinion, as I am not really happy with the chaos form. It may be a good lay out, and the problem is just in my head, so if you think it looks fine as is, let me know. Right now, I may suddenly think of something better, IMO, and change it.

For now I have a decent layout, so I need to do some play testing. For anyone else interested in trying it, please feel free to provide any feedback you can. This is my first real homebrew, but I don't mind some criticism, no matter how harsh.

EDIT: changed around the Elemental Chaos table, because I realized Fire dealt Cold and Acid, while Lightning dealt Acid then Cold. Now there are no elements that get the same layout. Also clarified that you cannot use the original element of a spell with the Chaos elements.

You can also now hold your Chaos Form longer as you gain levels in this class.

You could look at the Great Old One Warlock abilities, or even the Mystic/Psionic stuff. Those classes are directly Lovecraftian inspired/Far Realm-based so they might have something that fits.

Also look at the write-up they did of the Favoured Soul. The actual abilities probably aren't applicable, but they had good write-ups of the design choices behind that sorceror subclass abilities.

Cap'n Kobold said:

You could look at the Great Old One Warlock abilities, or even the Mystic/Psionic stuff. Those classes are directly Lovecraftian inspired/Far Realm-based so they might have something that fits.

Also look at the write-up they did of the Favoured Soul. The actual abilities probably aren't applicable, but they had good write-ups of the design choices behind that sorceror subclass abilities.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I actually didn't even think of looking at the warlock. I went over the Favoured soul, and it was the beginning of this idea.

I've never played at high level, so maybe it's a really broken idea to hand out extra high level spell casts, but it would be thematic to give the sorcerer one free cast of Weird per day. It's pretty weak for a ninth level spell. Basically just Fear in a large area with some psychic damage thrown in.

If that's too strong, a weaker, custom made psychic attack would suit the class.

Edit: Wow, Fear is actually better than Weird in several respects. Weird doesn't force a victim to drop what it's holding or run away, and affected creatures get another save at the start of their turn before they act or take any damage. A creature can fail its first save on Weird and not suffer any ill effects unless somebody provokes a reaction before its turn comes up.

Your custom subclass deserves something cooler than Weird.

Something like ooze form (1 SP for 1 minute polymorph into an ooze). Most of the bloodlines' higher level features are about turning into something more like "daddy" (wings or becoming a shadow). Becoming a monster is not uncommon for Lovecraft, and it par for the course for the Far Realm.

MechaTarrasque said:

Something like ooze form (1 SP for 1 minute polymorph into an ooze). Most of the bloodlines' higher level features are about turning into something more like "daddy" (wings or becoming a shadow). Becoming a monster is not uncommon for Lovecraft, and it par for the course for the Far Realm.

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good one. Do not have my books with me, but would you recommend a specific ooze? I remember there being something like five different colors. Do you think the level one ability is a bit too niche to be very useful, since there might not be many mind reading enemies? I think I might add something else to level 1, or another one at 6th level. Or do you think the ability to change damage is powerful enough to be a good payoff for a weak beginning?

I would say form of the black pudding (CR 4) at 14th level would be the best. You don't want to be a better shape changer than the Circle of the Moon druid, so I would want it after 10th level (when they are turning into elementals), but it isn't really worth the 18th level power. Unfortunately BP is the strongest ooze so far (I was hoping Jubbilex would provide some new ones in OotA).

I like dangerous mind, but when you are fighting goblins and skeletons, it won't see a lot of use. By the time you hit mid levels, it is really handy.....

An alternative first benefit is hard for this bloodline. Maybe something unusual like flash of precognition: you have advantage on initiative roles. Not a direct defensive plus (like the dragon sorcerer's scales or dangerous mind), but moving up the initiative line gets you the chance to act before the bad guy, which could have survival benefits.

MechaTarrasque said:

None of the oozes are particularly high level (black pudding is the most formidable at CR 4), so it might more sense as a lower level ability. Form of Ochre Jelly (CR 2) might be nice for a 6th level ability.

I like dangerous mind, but when you are fighting goblins and skeletons, it won't see a lot of use. By the time you hit mid levels, it is really handy.....

The first benefit is hard for this bloodline. Maybe something unusual like flash of precognition: you have advantage on initiative roles. Not a direct defensive ability (like the dragon sorcerer's scales), but moving up the initiative line gets you the chance to act before the bad guy, which could have survival benefits.

Click to expand...

The advantage sounds good. The original reason for Dangerous mind being at level one was for it to scale as you leveled, signifying you getting closer to the the Far Realm, your mind becoming a larger and larger window into madness.

how about sprouting tentacles, you can't go wrong with tentacles.

gyor said:

how about sprouting tentacles, you can't go wrong with tentacles.

Click to expand...

There are quite a few Far Realm creatures in the MM, so I can probably pick a transformation of a high enough level for an 18th level character to find it useful.

Do you think a mind flayer would be a bit much for a temporary transformation?

I am also thinking of adding a psychic resistance to the dangerous mind, to make it more useful.