Your favorite explanations for a sorcerer's magical abilties?

[RangerWickett]

I don't use wizards much, so to me, sorcerers are the generic spellcaster. Whatever the player comes up with, I'll run with. Maybe he does study to control his powers, or maybe he researches spells just as a wizard does. Or he might have magical blood, blessings of fey, super powers, or a curse.

One thing I do that I think is a little unique is that whenever a powerful demon or celestial is summoned, anyone who is nearby it briefly acquires magical powers in the aftermath, since they absorbed the critter's magical energy.

 

[Vrylakos]

If you click on the link in my sig, and then go to the updates section, you'll find the Sorcerer Domain System. It's a little rules variant for the sorcerer, wherein you choose the source of your magical power, then choose two domains to reflect it. Its sort of like the clerical domains, but the granted powers are in general slightly juicier and more flavorful. Once the bloodline is chosen, the domains force the character to take two spells of each spell level to reflect their lineage.

Some of the more interesting 'bloodlines' in the sorcerer domain system (and maybe a couple of new ones that I'll:

Leyline born
Arcane Creation
Ghost-touched/Ghost-born
Dhampyri
Ooze-blooded
Moonchild (child of werecreatures)
Eyes of God (Mortal born as a vessel for a divinity)
Arcanophage (Individual who consumes the organs and flesh of magical beasts to gain their power)
Devilkin (Born of a union between a devil and a mortal - good for conflicted, brooding characters, like a PC in my game)
Hag-born
Chaos-Magnet (An individual tainted by chaos - a good choice for using Wild Spellcraft)

I'm also going to revise the system, and include 'Racial Paragon', wherein the sorcerer is a mystical archetype for their race. I also want to go in and standardize the granted powers and check them for balance. The elemental granted powers need a few tweaks.

The system is open enough to allow folks to make up their own bloodlines by combining three or more domains that represent the mythic or stat-based resonance of a creature or power source.

If nothing else, you can mine the sorcerer domain system for some ideas.

VRYLAKOS

 

[the Jester]

Some really good ideas in here! Good thread, Bugaboo, and thanks!

I like the comic book analogy, personally. I'd say it depends on the sorcerer's focus, if any, and it prolly doesn't matter unless he knows his power's origin. Some might be the offspring of a pair of lackeys who worked in an alchemical lab and were exposed to strange fumes and stuff for years. Some might be the guy exposed to the fumes himself.

I like the "old blood tells" explanation, whether it's dragon, slaad, doppleganger or whatever blood. I think that's a good way for a pc to give his character a sort of spell focus, and this thread's given me the idea for background feats for sorcerers (must take them at 1st level or as soon as taking 1st level sorcerer). These feats would have abilities specifically tied in to the sorcerer's spells to encourage following a theme, maybe each would have a domain-like list of spells and would give a benefit to all spells on the list (+1 DC, +1 caster level, whatever depending on the background).

Hmm, I'll have to mull this one over...

 

[alsih2o]

shouldn't have posted what i did, so i undid it

 

[Vrylakos]

Hm, I like the emotion-born thing. I think I'll roll that idea into the SDS, if that's ok with you.

I can see a 'rage-born' sorcerer, an arcane 'Incredible Hulk'. OR even someone whose birth was filled with anger... a proud woman raped by an invading humanoid army gives birth to an angry vengeful half-orc sorcerer, to whom magic is merely a manifestation of his white-hot rage.

Or something...

VRYLAKOS

 

[alsih2o]

Hm, I like the emotion-born thing. I think I'll roll that idea into the SDS, if that's ok with you.

actually, i am doing some writing now for ambient, please contact me before using it

(yeah, i know, probably shouldn't have posted it then, my bad)

 

[I'm A Banana]

So, Jack's jonesin' for a Final Fantasy Fix, I see.

I actually like that. Adapts magicite/material spell-learning nicely into the system.

I've got a different take on the summonners for FFd20, but that is a nice lil' hybrid, there.

 

[tsadkiel]

Bahamut The Platinum Dragon Air LG Diamond

Roquat Rugged Ruler of the Rocks Earth NE Garnet

You put Bahamut and the Nome King in the same category? That's just wrong, dude. And I mean that in a good way.

 

[Phowett]

In my world, an element called the "mist" (kind of like the "weave" of Faerun) produces "magic". While Wizards study on ways to control the mist into spells, Sorcerers were born into the world being infected by the mist, so the mist runs in their blood.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I use a domain system similar in flavor to Vrylakos's, but slightly different mechanically. I think in the future, I might try to combine a domain system with the sorceror class from BOEM 2.