Dragonlance Lunar Sorcery: A Preview from Shadow of the Dragon Queen

WotC has posted a preview from the upcoming Shadow of the Dragon Queen on D&D Beyond, diving into the Lunary Sorcery subclass.

Traditionally magic in Krynn has been represented by the Wizards of High Sorcery, who owe their allegiance to one of the black, red, or white moons (and gods) of magic. Sorcerers weren't around in D&D when Dragonlance was created.

Lunar Sorcerers also draw power from the moons, based on the moon's phase (Full, New, Crescent). You choose the phase each day (though at later levels you can do so more often). The subclass gets a lot of spells (15 additional spells!)

Lunar Sorcery Sorcerer Preview From Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

Harness the power of the moon with the Lunar Sorcery sorcerer! Here's a look at the versatile features granted by this celestial subclass.

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Zaukrie]

This one didn't really generate much discussion. I think the main thing I took from it was "so I don't have to track moon phases? That's probably good since I wasn't going to anyway".

Ya, while I like the idea of the fiction of tracking, I doubt anyone I play with would....

 

[Zaukrie]

The 6th level Lunar Boons seems like the coolest part of the subclass. Being able to reduce the cost (in sorcery points) of Metamagic, even if only a no. times per day = prof bonus, is pretty sweet.

I know others want sorcerers to have more spells, but I'm not in that camp. I'd like to see sorcerers more specialized/focused around doing several things with a narrower bandwidth of magic (in order to differentiate them from other casters). So the extra 15 spells or whatever that this new subclass gets? I'm not a fan. I think it's just adding more choice points for players desiring a simpler spellcaster experience to get tripped up on.

However, I do appreciate the tweak to the sacred fire cantrip – I've often mentioned in sorcerer conversations that have come up over the years that they should be the class that builds upon just a few cantrips, but goes all in on those with ways to power-up or modify them.

I do wish the preview included the flavor text of the subclass. I don't like DNDBeyond's penchant for divorcing flavor from mechanics in their "sneak peek" articles – I think it does both a disservice to the designer's vision & makes it more difficult for the reader to get into the "feel."

I agree with all of this

 

[Faolyn]

Ya, while I like the idea of the fiction of tracking, I doubt anyone I play with would....

What's funny is that it's probably a lot easier nowadays to track the moon phases than it was way back then, because it wouldn't be hard for programming-savvy people to write a script to do it for them. But I think that yeah, it'd still be annoying to have to track.

 

[Azzy]

What's funny is that it's probably a lot easier nowadays to track the moon phases than it was way back then, because it wouldn't be hard for programming-savvy people to write a script to do it for them.

There are modules for Foundry VTT that track moon phases. I used one for my Forgotten Realms LMoP/DoIP campaign. I tried to use it with my Eberron campaign, but I couldn't get all the different moons to line up properly.

But I think that yeah, it'd still be annoying to have to track.

IMO, it is still a pain. I'm bad about meticulously keeping track of days and have a tendency to handwave these things.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm five pages in, are any posts about the actual preview, or are they all about how things were twenty or thirty years ago?

I'm 90% certain the only relevant conversation was someone saying sorcerer doesn't belong until the Age of Mortals.

I'm half tempted to start a new thread where we, ya know, discuss the mechanics and flavor of the sub.

 

[cbwjm]

I'm 90% certain the only relevant conversation was someone saying sorcerer doesn't belong until the Age of Mortals.

I'm half tempted to start a new thread where we, ya know, discuss the mechanics and flavor of the sub.

I think the flavour would be great for a wizard of high sorcery, I'm thinking of adapting it to a wizard subclass.

 

[Remathilis]

The 6th level Lunar Boons seems like the coolest part of the subclass. Being able to reduce the cost (in sorcery points) of Metamagic, even if only a no. times per day = prof bonus, is pretty sweet.

I know others want sorcerers to have more spells, but I'm not in that camp. I'd like to see sorcerers more specialized/focused around doing several things with a narrower bandwidth of magic (in order to differentiate them from other casters). So the extra 15 spells or whatever that this new subclass gets? I'm not a fan. I think it's just adding more choice points for players desiring a simpler spellcaster experience to get tripped up on.

However, I do appreciate the tweak to the sacred fire cantrip – I've often mentioned in sorcerer conversations that have come up over the years that they should be the class that builds upon just a few cantrips, but goes all in on those with ways to power-up or modify them.

I do wish the preview included the flavor text of the subclass. I don't like DNDBeyond's penchant for divorcing flavor from mechanics in their "sneak peek" articles – I think it does both a disservice to the designer's vision & makes it more difficult for the reader to get into the "feel."

So I am the opposite. I think the sorcerer hurts too much currently from its small spell selection and spell list. The current sorcerer is always picking the most efficient spells at the cost of flavor or theme. You're always going to want magic missile, misty step and fireball regardless of what your subclass is, and with some themes (shadow or non-fire dragons) there aren't enough spells to be on theme.

Granted, I don't know what the final list looks like, but the old list gave a decent mix of defense, radiant damage, illusions and even a little healing, stuff very on flavor for the moon(s) that a sorcerer could never fit in their selection, even if they somehow found a way to get it on the sorcerer's list at all.

Lastly, the lunar sorcerer really doesn't have that many powerful class features that aren't just improved spellcasting. Their level 1 abilities are bonus spells, a bonus augmented cantrip, and a free first level spell. At 6th, they get the ability to switch phase and a discount on metamagic. You have to be 14th level before the class gives you a feature that isn't just more spells and free metamagic. Compared to clockwork soul which gives you all sorts of dice shenanigans and protection abilities and it is kinda boring. So a lot of the wealth of it comes from that huge list of spell options.

I gave the other sorcs bonus spells (dragon, wild, shadow, divine and storm) after Tasha, and people have been happy with the improvement. It's a good stopgap until 1D&D playtests the sorcerer.

 

[Remathilis]

I think the flavour would be great for a wizard of high sorcery, I'm thinking of adapting it to a wizard subclass.

I don't see how, unless you are giving wizards metamagic and sorcery points...

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm 90% certain the only relevant conversation was someone saying sorcerer doesn't belong until the Age of Mortals.

I'm half tempted to start a new thread where we, ya know, discuss the mechanics and flavor of the sub.

I wish the owner and mods would encourage two certain posters that come into every 5e thread to complain think about finding a new hobby

 

[cbwjm]

I don't see how, unless you are giving wizards metamagic and sorcery points...

Adapting it, it doesn't mean a 1:1 match. I'd adapt the subclass abilities to suit the wizard. Not all of it is to do with metamagic.