D&D 5E What can I teach a sorcerer?

[aelfric5578]

In a campaign we just started, one of the characters is a sorcerer whose mentor and surrogate parent figure died of old age before he could fully train the sorcerer. He's made it his personal quest to find a new teacher. I'm planning on having the local mage guild take an interest in him after seeing him use magic in public during the last session.

I'm at a loss, though, for what kind of benefits the guild could give the character. This is a level 1 character, so I suppose I can just use his joining the guild (assuming he chooses to do so) as the reason he starts getting sorcery points etc, but I was wondering if anyone had ideas for other perks I could throw him.

 

[Eejit]

Um, general practice casting spells with supervision to prevent calamity. Potentially let him take the Ritual Caster feat down the line. If there are actual sorcerers in the guild they could be all Obi-Wan for him.

 

[KidSnide]

You could let the guild teach him a low-level ritual, maybe after months of mind-busting effort. It's outside the rules, but unlikely to be game breaking. Just think of "specialized guild training" as a magic item or 4e-style boon.

-KS

 

[Astrosicebear]

Sorcerers are innate magic users, it comes from within. They are not learned or trained. It could be an interesting concept to explore that no matter how much he tries to "control" and learn magic, he has an innate ability to create it that exceeds even the teachers at the guild. He could be feared and outcast for this ability. Perhaps the older guildmaster wizard takes an interest in him and takes him under wing.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Is he the only sorcerer in the party? If so you could play up the danger of sorcery and suggest that he needs a mentor to stay safely in control of his powers. (If he's a wild mage you could tie this into the random spell chart somehow.)

I also like the "training as a magic item" system from 4e: give him a special ability equivalent in power to the kind of magic item you'd give as a reward. Or make him earn it by doing stuff for the mentor as part of his training. (That's one system I hope they put in the DMG.)

 

[WayneLigon]

In a campaign we just started, one of the characters is a sorcerer whose mentor and surrogate parent figure died of old age before he could fully train the sorcerer.

In general sorcerers don't go through 'training'. Think of them more like mutants than spellcasters. They just 'do it' and have no real idea what they're doing. In fact, it could be an interesting plot line that the mentor has actually harmed the character more than helping him, if he tried to 'train' him in the traditional way of most mages. He can read books on spell theory and practice all day long and they're utterly useless to him.

 

[Jack99]

In general sorcerers don't go through 'training'. Think of them more like mutants than spellcasters. They just 'do it' and have no real idea what they're doing. In fact, it could be an interesting plot line that the mentor has actually harmed the character more than helping him, if he tried to 'train' him in the traditional way of most mages. He can read books on spell theory and practice all day long and they're utterly useless to him.

In another version of the mutant analogy, the mentor could teach the sorceror to use his innate powers better/more effectively, just as Prof X helps each individual X-men. /shrug

 

[erf_beto]

OR you could go the other way around: give a penalty, NOT a boon.

If he doesn't take tutoring lessons, his powers grow out of control. Orphanages burn when he's around, he turns into a magical lightning rod (spells cast within 30 feet may also target him), a sleepwalking evil murderer at night... or maybe just bad dreams. Perhaps an increasing mechanical penalty for every week out of trainning (exhaustion? too much?).

Or go the old school druid way - he can't advance another level unless he spends a week with a mentor.

Since the player is the one willing to find a tutor, he may be up for something like this.

 

[aelfric5578]

I like the idea of sorcerer training being more about control than self improvement. I'll have to ask the player what he envisioned his master taught him. Maybe he didn't so much harm him as one poster suggested but was just irresponsible in general and the guild masters need to instill some caution and restraint.

This whole thread has me wondering, though, if sorcerers are the result of innate abilities rather than practiced skill, then what is the in-universe explanation for their leveling up?

 

[GameDoc]

This whole thread has me wondering, though, if sorcerers are the result of innate abilities rather than practiced skill, then what is the in-universe explanation for their leveling up?

The more they use their powers, the more their sorcerous bloodline manifests and the better they get at tapping into the magical energies of the universe ("the Weave" if you're in Forgotten Realms"). Ongoing use of magic just kindles their power to keep growing. They are doing by instinct what wizards do by study and warlocks sell their souls for. In that regard, sorcerers might be really feared, seen as walking arcane timebombs, truly superhuman. More so than other spellcasters.