Sorcerous Origin
Comments from the Finger: This has been on my todo list since the early days of the blog, and its concept has been bouncing around in my other work for just as long; you might recognize its influence in the Channeler, for example.
Relicker
The wellspring of your arcane might lies not with an eldritch bloodline or the interference of wild magic, but with a deep cache of arcane power, stored within an ancient magic item. By fate, or perhaps by the item’s wishes, your soul has become entwined with this magic item, which remains always at your side, empowering your abilities and motivating your quest.
Relic Bond
Starting at 1st level, your very soul is bonded to a unique magic item, called a relic, from which you manifest your arcane might. If your relic is ever lost or destroyed, it manifests at your side when you next take a long rest. Choose one of the following options:
Glyph Stone. Perpetually floating in an orbit about your person, this smooth stone is marked with a single ancient glyph along its side. You can use your glyph stone as an arcane focus, even though you do not need to hold it.
The stone knows two of the following cantrips of your choice: acid splash, chill touch, light, mage hand, mending, message, minor illusion, poison spray, prestidigitation, produce flame, ray of frost, resistance, shocking grasp, spare the dying, and true strike. You can cast these cantrips as if you knew them, and they count as sorcerer spells for you.
Additionally, starting at 2nd level, your glyph stone has 3 charges and regains all expended charges daily at dawn. The stone also learns one spell of your choice from any class’s spell list, and learns an additional spell at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 11th levels. You can cast one of these spells without using a spell slot by expending a number of the stone’s charges equal to the spell’s cost in sorcery points, as shown on the Creating Spell Slots table.
Relic Weapon. Though the iron of this weapon is rusted and its wood is stained with blood, an unseen power weights its swing. Your relic weapon is your choice of a battleaxe, longsword, or warhammer. Once chosen, this decision cannot be changed.
You can use your action to summon your relic weapon to your open hand. You are proficient with it while you wield it. This weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
While you are holding your relic weapon and no other weapons, and you are not wearing armor and not carrying a shield, you gain a +3 bonus to your armor class.
Your relic weapon has 3 charges and regains all expended charges daily at dawn. When you use the Attack action to make an attack with your relic weapon, you can spend 1 of its charges to make an attack using it as a bonus action.
Umbral Cloak. This hooded cloak confounds the eye, seeming indistinct and difficult to focus upon. While you wear your umbral cloak, you are proficient in the Stealth skill, and can Hide as a bonus action.
Your umbral cloak has 3 charges and regains all expended charges daily at dawn. You can use your bonus action and spend 1 of your umbral cloak’s charges to cast the spell invisibility, targeting yourself, without using a spell slot or spell components. When you begin your turn while invisible, you can maintain this effect by spending a sorcery point. Otherwise, the spell ends.
Sorcerous Recharge
By 6th level, your connection to your relic has strengthened. Your relic increases to having 6 charges, and regains 1d4 + 2 expended charges daily at dawn. Additionally, you can use your action and expend any number of sorcery points to regain the same number of your relic’s expended charges.
Greater Relic
At 14th level, your relic takes on an aspect of greater power. Choose one of the following features, as appropriate to your relic:
Glyph Stone
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- Of Ancient Lore. Your glyph stone learns 2 spells of your choice of 7th level or lower and 3 spells of your choice of 3rd level or lower from the wizard spell list. These spells count as sorcerer spells for you and you can cast them using your glyph stone as an arcane focus as if you knew them.
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- Of the Dawn. Your glyph stone learns the following spells: bless, faerie fire, lesser restoration, prayer of healing, zone of truth, daylight, fireball, and divination.
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- Of Warding. Your AC increases by 1. Additionally, your glyph stone learns the following spells: mage armor, shield, blur, hold person, counterspell, dispel magic, and death ward.
Umbral Cloak
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- Of Flight. While you wear your umbral cloak, you can spend 2 sorcery points to cast the fly spell as a bonus action without using a spell slot (no concentration required).
- Of Spaces Beyond. You can use your action to reverse your umbral cloak, disappearing with your belongings into a 30-foot cube extradimensional space accessible only to you. Attacks and spells can’t target you inside the space, but you can see and hear outside the space from the point you entered. Objects brought within the space remain there and can be retrieved by you later. You can exit the space as an action, reappearing within 5 feet of where you entered.
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- Of Swiftness. While you are wearing your umbral cloak, opportunity attacks made against you have disadvantage and you can take the Dash action as a bonus action.
Relic Weapon
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- Of the Many. You can use your action to transform your relic weapon into any other weapon of your choice (though this transformation does not include ammunition). You are proficient with any form the weapon becomes while you wield it.
When you finish a long rest, choose one of the following monster types: aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead. You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with relic weapon attacks against creatures of the chosen type until you next finish a long rest. - Of Retribution. When you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make an attack against that creature using your relic weapon.
- Of the Many. You can use your action to transform your relic weapon into any other weapon of your choice (though this transformation does not include ammunition). You are proficient with any form the weapon becomes while you wield it.
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- Of Wounding. Hit points lost to your relic weapon’s damage can be regained only through a short or long rest, rather than by regeneration, magic, or any other means.
Additionally, once per turn, when you hit a creature with your relic weapon, you can wound the target. At the start of each of the wounded creature’s turns, it takes 1d8 necrotic damage for each time you’ve wounded it, and it can then make a Constitution saving throw, ending the effect of all such wounds on itself on a success. Alternatively, the wounded creature, or a creature within 5 feet of it, can use an action to make a DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check, ending the effect of such wounds on it on a success.
- Of Wounding. Hit points lost to your relic weapon’s damage can be regained only through a short or long rest, rather than by regeneration, magic, or any other means.
Artifact
At 18th level, your relic becomes an artifact. It gains two minor and one major beneficial property, either selected at random or chosen by the DM. When you gain this feature, you can also choose to gain an additional minor beneficial property as well as one minor detrimental property, selected at random.
Changelog: 8/25/17: Greater Relic: Glyph Stone: Of Ancient Lore allows you to cast the known spells yourself, and the other two no longer include spells of 5th level or higher
Greater Relic: Umbral Cloak: Of Flight: no concentration required
Relic Bond: Relic Weapon: AC bonus only applies if you don’t wear armor
8/26/17: Greater Relic: Umbral Cloak: Of Spaces Beyond: Space changed to a 30-foot cube
