D&D: ‘Spellfire Sorcerer’ Playtest – Who Knew Playing With Fire Could Fix Your Problems
The new Spellfire Sorcerer subclass in the latest Forgotten Realms playtest proves that you don’t always get burnt when you play with fire.
Spellfire is an iconic part of the Forgotten Realms. It’s their phlebotinum, their quantum entanglement, their unobtanium, their element zero – basically, it’s the plot device magic. Whenever you need magic to do something weird and outside of the rules of D&D, Spellfire is there. Which is good because that need comes up a lot.
Mostly in the novels. That’s typically where things like “well, this would make sense in a story but not in a world governed by the mechanics of D&D” occur… until now. Now, Spellfire is here as a clearly defined rule. And with strict mechanics as to what it can do, I’m sure there won’t be any problems arising for the new Sorcerer subclass.
But Spellfire Sorcerers – in the playtest at least – have a few tricks they can pull off. Is it enough to warrant having plot-onium powers? Well, no. But I do like that they’re drawing on “magic doing weird things” in a way that isn’t as random as the Wild Magic. Of course, how it ultimately shapes up is kinda up to the community at large. So, let’s check out what a Spellfire Sorcerer can do.
Spellfire Sorcery Playtest – How Do You Spellfire?
Spellfire is what you get when you draw upon the raw power of the Weave. That’s magic itself if you haven’t read any Forgotten Realms novels. And if you haven’t, congrats on dating in high school, I guess. It’s not necessarily intrinsically harmful, though it is intrinsically dangerous. That’s magic for you.
WotC has certainly carved out a challenge by trying to tie the rulebreaking magic to the rules of the game. By defining it, they limit it, no matter how broad. And here, it’s surprisingly not that broad:
“Your innate power stems from the source of magic itself: the Weave. This connection manifests as a rare ability known as spellire, and you surge with radiant bursts of this raw magic. Your talent with spellfire allows you to heal allies, sear enemies, and absorb powerful spells.
Wielders of spellfire tend to be adventurous souls with penchants for wandering. Many travel between cosmpolitan settlements, such as those along the Sword Coast, and wield their magic in service of the common good. Others prioritize the realization of their own strange powers by roaming equally strange lands, from the magic-blasted wastes of the Anauroch Desert to the god-touched wilds of the Old Empires. Wherever they go in the Realms, spellfire Sorcerers are often courted by factions with interests in the arcane arts, such as the Harpers and the Cult of the Dragon.”
Though, I’m not sure why organizations with interests in the arcane arts would court them. Spellfire doesn’t do anything a Cleric can’t. Heal allies? Healing Word can do that. Sear enemies? Searing Light has it right in the name. Maybe it’s the spell absorption – but it’s not like that benefits anyone other than the Sorcerer.
Or maybe it’s about having someone who can heal, who isn’t always preaching to you about a god – and who isn’t a Bard because they keep seducing your faction leader and throwing the whole organization into chaos.
Yeah, that’s definitely what it is. I’d court them too, if I had the chance.
Play With Spellfire And Don’t Get Burned – Or Do, The Choice Is Yours
And you get access to Spellfire right away. Well. At level 3, once your innate power manifests because you’ve eaten enough XP for your spellfire pilot light to finally click on. But once you do hit level 3, you gain all sorts of benefits, starting with Spellfire Burst. Like many features in 5.5E, this has two main benefits that trigger whenever you spend a Sorcery point as a Magic Action or Bonus Action on your turn:
- Bolstering Flames – This lets you “heal” your allies, giving them 1d4 + Charisma Modifier temporary hit points
- Radiant Fire – This lets you deal 1d6 Fire or Radiant damage to a creature within 30 feet if they fail a Dex save
But you also gain Spellfire Spells. This is a collection of bonus spells that are always prepared/known to you. You get them at levels 3, 5, 7, and 9. As you might imagine, it’s a lot of both healing and fire/radiant damaging spells. All in all, it’s a great list for a Sorcerer:
- Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Lesser Restoration, Scorching Ray
- Aura of Vitality, Dispel Magic
- Fire Shield, Wall of Fire
- Greater Restoration, Flame Strike
You’ll be set at any level with those lists especially since you can pick up spells that play well with them from the normal Sorcerer list.
Spellfire At Higher Levels – Eating Spells For Breakfast And Powering Up Into A Crown Of Glory
At 6th level, you gain the aptly named Absorb Spells feature, which does exactly what it says on the tin. You get a stealth bonus spell because you’ll always have Counterspell prepared. And it lets you eat the spells you counter – whenever a target fails their save vs. your counterspell, you regain 1d4 Sorcery points. Not bad. Not necessarily game-breaking, but good times.
At 14th level, you gain Honed Spellfire which lets you level up your innate Spellfire Burst. Now you add your Sorcerer level to the total temporary hit points, so it’s 1d4 + Charisma Modifier + your Sorcerer Level. Now by this point, that’s almost certainly 1d4 + 19 – which is a good amount of extra temporay hit points “for free”. But you’ll be burning through those Sorcery Points.
Similarly, your Radiant Fire increases from 1d6 to 3d6 Fire or Radiant damage when your target fails a save. That’s much better damage scaling than other classes have to contend with. So I’m a fan in general, though I don’t wonder if it couldn’t be higher.
Last, but certainly not least is Crown of Spellfire. At 18th level, this capstone feature gives you a spellfiery transformation that you can activate as a Bonus Action. You transform, suffused with Spellfire for 1 minute. And doing so gives you several benefits:
- Burning Life Force – When hit by an attack roll, you can spend up to your Charisma modifier (so 5, maybe 6 if you’ve got good items) in hit dice to reduce the amount of incoming damage from an attack by that total. It’s sort of a proactive “heal” like what you’d get from taking a Short Rest. It’s okay in principle, but I don’t feel like the ability pulls off what it needs to; good in an emergency
- Flight – Gain a fly speed of 60 feet and hover, making you immune to prone
- Spell Avoidance – Whenever you can save for half, you take no damage if you succeed and half damage if you fail
Spellfire Sum Up
All in all, this class feels like it establishes a strong identity for Spellfire Sorcerers. Maybe there’s room for a little improvement in some of the later features – maybe room to play up a font of Arcane energy. But overall, it’s a solid playtest for the Spellfire Sorcerer.
Of course, it’s your opinion that matters most. WotC wants to know what you think of each class, and your chance is here right now – fill out the survey at the link below.
Is something that catches on spellfire spellflammable or spellinflammable, I can never remember…
