timeborn sorceror subclass idea

[slightlyprime]

timeborn sorceror subclass

you were born at a weak point in time, thus giving you the abilities to meddle with time. You can open portals where fireballs from another time and place fly down burning your enemies, you pluck out earthquakes from the past and destroy the castles walls, instead of mending an object you rewind time for that object to a point when it was not broken. you don't cast spells though rather shape the word by manipulating time.

1st lvl there is little difference between the past and present for you, you gain proficiency in the history skill, any check involving this skill you double your proficiency bonus for it.

1st lvl everyone seems so much slower, add 1d4 to your initiative.

6th lvl you can warp time at a whim, spend 2 sorcery points to warp time as a reaction and give disadvantage or advantage to another creature that you can see that makes an attack roll, saving throw or ability check.

14th lvl distance means nothing as a manipulator of time, you can cast misty step at will without expending a sell slot or having the spell prepared.

18th lvl you can spend 16 sorcery points to cast timestop without expending a spell slot. you also add foresight to your list of known spells.


i felt this was fairly balanced 1st lvl seems fine when compared to draconic, 6th lvl is literally just the wild sorcerer ability, 14th I'm stuck on due to balance issues, 18th is thematically perfect in my opinion and doesn't bbreak the game, as 9th lvl slot using spell points variant in dmg costs 13 points so i feel 16 is fine as you get to cast it more than once, also timestop shouldn't break the game, also adding foresight is fine, if necessary i could add the words that you can only cast it on yourself to stop twinning even thouh i feel twinning is a poor strategy compared with extending duration to 16 hrs.

so thanks in advance for any help, sorry for poor editing and the long post.

 

[Hriston]

You may wish to (if you haven't already) check out Lew Pulsipher's Timelord NPC class in Dragon #65. I've been toying with the idea for the last month or so of converting this to 5E, and a Sorcerer subclass seems like a good fit. Pulsipher's Timelord is a bit more martial, however, so it's almost more along the lines of a Rogue/Fighter plus the Sorcerer-like time manipulation abilities. It looks like you've already hit upon some of the abilities form the article, but there are more in there. One of my favorites is the ability to change one die-roll from the previous round. Anyway, just in case you didn't know about this, it's very much along the lines of what you've outlined.

 

[slightlyprime]

thanks, gives me some good ideas for reflavoring spells. love the idea of disintegrate killing someone by aging them to dust. was going to avoid affecting the past as that seemed annoying for a dm to deal with.

 

[Jeph]

I don't think unlimited misty step is too powerful at 14th level. Remember, the Way of Shadow monk gets an at will bonus action 60 foot teleport at 6th level.

 

[slightlyprime]

forgot about way of thr shadow monk, that is a good point

 

[slightlyprime]

okay misty step seems less broken to me now when comparing it to other abilities of similar nature. the eladrin elf subrace gets misty step once per short rest at lvl 1, shadow monks get something similar to misty step at lvl 6 though more situational though better range and abilities, also conjuration wizard gets a teleportation abiliy at lvl 6. Also i noticed that draconic flight is better than the spell by a lot, they don't need to concentrate, it has unlimited duration and only takes a bonus action to cast and argueably the best part it is not a spell so they can activate flight and fireball on the same turn. whereas misty step is still a spell so you can't cast a second spell on the same go only a cantrip and it does not let you cross a 35ft lava pit which flight can do over a number of turns and won't get you to the top of that 60ft tower. so whilst misty step is really really awesome there is a eeason why it is lvl 2 spell and fly is lvl 3. i don't feel misty step needs an upgrade though juwt putting out the thought. so maybe i should let them have unlimited misty step at lvl 14. itis a cool power.

 

[transcendantviewer]

This seems like it's got potential, and allowing a player to cast another high level spell at a hefty cost like that should be reasonable, but I'd say they should also take a detriment. Like they gain the ability to cast Timestop whenever they like without expending a spell slot, however, doing so causes them to immediately take 9d10 Life Drain damage after the spell is completed. That's an awesome ability, but it can also be very dangerous. If it drops their maximum hit points to 0, they fade from existence and can never be resurrected (Because they never existed). They rip themselves out of the timeline for a brief period of time, at a great physical cost.

 

[transcendantviewer]

This is basically a step up and a step down from your idea, but it's also really thematic and can make for many "Life or Death" situations.

 

[slightlyprime]

i actually considered when writing it whether to decrease the cost for time stop and add some mechanic similar to the evocation wizards empowered spell, so no damqge first time you cast, second time damage and increase damage each time you cast again. however, i decided against it as it adds more book keeping, however, how you described it, transcendentviewer, is thematically awesome so i might add in that mechanic and make the cost lower.

 

[slightlyprime]

also paying with your own blood is awesome as it saves sorcery points, gees as a sorceror i would be cutting off fingers for more spells lol