D&D 5E Xanathar's Guide to Everything gets the Shadow Sorcerer

[jgsugden]

Although it has the stats of a dire wolf, its size medium. So you would need to be a halfling, gnome or a member of another small race. Its ability to move through objects and creatures is written a lot like the incorporeal quality on a lot of creatures, so depending the DM, it can become a lot greater complication.

Mmmm... i now want to play an extremely edgelordy halfling sorcerer(shadow)/fighter(cavalier), who rides on his summon or a shadow mastiff...

Most importantly, the movement restrictions in the UA article make it difficult for it to be a useful mount. It goes straight to the enemy in question and goes through obstacles rather than around them.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'm curious to see how the Shadow sorcerer might have been altered, it's a solid subclass as is but it did need some detail work and the details are so important to how these classes end up working.

In terms of sorcerers I'm really looking forward to, I was really interested in the Sea Sorcerer, so many of their mechanics were interesting and I loved the cantrip cursing. Really hope they made it, but the chances of having 4 or more Sorcerers seems slim to none.

 

[TwoSix]

Anyway I'm done with my cranky old man bit. Feel free to resume explaining how you're so excited to play a clinically depressed moping flop of misery.

Obviously you never played the majority of the roleplaying games released in the '90s.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

I'm curious to see how the Shadow sorcerer might have been altered, it's a solid subclass as is but it did need some detail work and the details are so important to how these classes end up working.

In terms of sorcerers I'm really looking forward to, I was really interested in the Sea Sorcerer, so many of their mechanics were interesting and I loved the cantrip cursing. Really hope they made it, but the chances of having 4 or more Sorcerers seems slim to none.

That is a good point, we know the cavalier was heavily altered. I could easily see something like: you summon a shadow of a beast type monster, 1 CR (counting anything less than CR 1 as CR 1) per SP [rest pretty much as is], so if you had enough SP's (and nothing else to spend them on), you could summon up a shadow T-rex.

 

[Dionysos]

It seems a lot of people think Favored Soul will be the other sorcerer. I’m not sure if it will or won’t but, if it is, I hope the wizard tradition is something other than Theurgy. I don’t think the game really needs two different expressions of divine mage, even spread across two classes.

 

[Undrhil]

I'm hoping for the Favored Soul as well, but the Shadow Sorcerer looks interesting for a Rogue MC to get to see through Darkness without being a Warlock. I foresee many more Rogue (Swashbuckler) / Shadow Sorcerers in the future.

 

[gyor]

It seems a lot of people think Favored Soul will be the other sorcerer. I’m not sure if it will or won’t but, if it is, I hope the wizard tradition is something other than Theurgy. I don’t think the game really needs two different expressions of divine mage, even spread across two classes.

The favoured soul isn't really a divine mage so much as an update to the 2e Mystic class with elements of the 3e Favoured Soul. You get the wings of the 3e Favoured Soul and the Sorceror connection, but otherwise feels more like the Mystic to me or the 2e Speciality Priest class.

The Theurge on the other hands, still feel more like a wizard, is still an arcne caster, uike the Favoured Soul, just with some church taught tricks. Still maybe we will get the War Mage instead.

 

[gyor]

The Shadow Sorceror reminds me of the Shade/Shadovar race from heroes of shadow in 4e, which had shadow magic racial powers, one of which involved summoning shadow monsters.

 

[Yaarel]

I think Mearls did a decent job highlighting the Dark Humor potential. This is what I would stress if one of my players wanted to go down this route.

Yeah, dark humor is a saving grace.

I noticed it recently in the Defenders tv series. The character Jessica Jones is more grunge than goth, but she has that mopey misery going on in spades. In the show featuring her, she was miserable, complaining, and mean − slightly annoying. But in the show featuring the team that she is part of, while she was interacting with people that she cared about, her dark humor and catty wit often had me laughing out loud.

Humor. Saves lives.

 

[AmerginLiath]

I wonder if the choice of Shadow over Stone (if that’s indeed the case) if due to choosing the subclass that does “sorcerer” more clearly. While awesome, Stone Sorcerer strikes me as sharing the Blade Warlock’s issue of being a melee character built on a caster chassis (something the Bladesinger did a lot of work to make feasible, but might have closed off more subclasses of similar style in the process).