Sorcerer Guide 5e: Metamagic, Spells, and Complete Builds

A Sorcerer makes a limited spell selection flexible through Metamagic. You cannot prepare a new answer to every problem tomorrow, so choose spells that remain useful and learn when a Sorcery Point changes a turn enough to justify its cost. Charisma also gives you a natural role when the party needs someone to speak.

This guide uses 2014 D&D 5e, with Draconic Bloodline as the SRD subclass. The three original builds use 27-point buy and 2014 racial bonuses. The 2024 comparison treats revised Innate Sorcery, Metamagic, and spell preparation separately.

Sorcerer quick build

Choose a half-elf with Charisma 16, Constitution 16, Dexterity 14, and Gold Draconic Ancestry. Take an arcane focus, light crossbow and twenty bolts, two daggers, and explorer’s pack. Choose Arcana/Persuasion, racial Stealth/Investigation, and Acolyte for Insight/Religion. Start with Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion; learn Shield and Sleep. At 3 choose Careful Spell and Quickened Spell. Raise Charisma at 4 and 8.

Sorcerers use a d6 Hit Die and Constitution/Charisma saving throw proficiency. Charisma sets spell DC and attack bonus, Constitution supports HP and concentration, Dexterity supports AC and initiative. You have no armor or shield proficiency from the base class. Draconic Resilience changes your unarmored AC; it does not grant permission to cast in armor you cannot use proficiently.

Spells known, components, and concentration

You start with four cantrips and two first-level spells known. At Sorcerer 5, you have five cantrips and six leveled spells known, with four first-level, three second-level, and two third-level slots. Known spells are not daily preparations. When gaining a Sorcerer level, you can replace one known Sorcerer spell within the class’s limits. All slots recover on a long rest; this class does not have Wizard ritual casting.

Spell attack bonus is proficiency + Charisma modifier, and DC is 8 + that total. A spell must be on your class list and known unless another specific feature provides it. Draconic Bloodline does not give the 2014 builds a bonus list of known spells.

An arcane focus replaces eligible unpriced material components. It does not replace a consumed or priced component, or remove a somatic requirement from a spell with no material component. Keep hands available and read spell components. You can maintain only one concentration spell at a time: Web, Invisibility, and Suggestion are competing choices, not a stack of permanent benefits.

Font of Magic and Metamagic

At 2, Font of Magic gives Sorcery Points equal to Sorcerer level, restored on a long rest. You cannot hold more than the listed maximum. Flexible Casting uses a bonus action in 2014: spend points to create a slot, or spend a slot for points equal to its level. The conversion rates are not symmetrical. Creating first- through fifth-level slots costs 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 points, respectively. Created slots disappear when you finish a long rest.

At 3 choose two Metamagic options, with more at 10 and 17. Usually only one option can modify a casting unless a particular option says otherwise. Quickened Spell costs two points and changes an action spell to a bonus action. In 2014, casting a bonus-action spell restricts other spellcasting that turn to a cantrip with a one-action casting time. Quickening Fireball and then casting Fire Bolt is legal; Quickening Fireball and then casting another leveled action spell is not. Nor can you use Flexible Casting and Quickened Spell in the same turn when both require your one bonus action.

Careful, Empowered, Subtle, and Extended each cost one point per use in 2014.

Careful Spell makes selected creatures succeed on a spell’s saving throw; it does not erase half damage on a successful save. Empowered Spell rerolls a limited number of damage dice and explicitly permits combination with another option. Subtle Spell removes verbal and somatic components, not material components in 2014. Extended Spell increases an eligible duration within its cap, without granting a second concentration slot. Twinned Spell costs points equal to the spell level, or one for a cantrip. It needs a spell targeting only one creature, without a range of Self, that cannot target more than one creature at the level cast. An apparent single attack roll does not automatically make every spell eligible.

Sorcerer progression: levels 1–20

Class level	Milestone
1	Spellcasting; Draconic Bloodline; four cantrips and two spells known
2	Font of Magic; two Sorcery Points
3	Two Metamagic options; second-level spells
4	ASI or optional feat; fifth cantrip
5	Third-level spells; six spells known
6	Draconic: Elemental Affinity
7	Fourth-level spells
8	ASI or optional feat
9	Fifth-level spells
10	Another Metamagic option; sixth cantrip
11	Sixth-level spells
12	ASI or optional feat
13	Seventh-level spells
14	Draconic: Dragon Wings
15	Eighth-level spells
16	ASI or optional feat
17	Ninth-level spells; another Metamagic option
18	Draconic: Draconic Presence
19	ASI or optional feat
20	Sorcerous Restoration: four points on a short rest

Slots and known spells progress at different rates: consult both columns when leveling. Cantrip damage commonly scales by total character level, while Sorcery Points and subclass milestones use Sorcerer level. Multiclassing does not grant permission to learn high-level spells merely because combined slot progression provides a high-level slot.

Draconic Bloodline and other origins

Draconic Bloodline (SRD/PHB 2014) starts at level 1. Choose a specific dragon ancestry and associated damage type. Draconic Resilience gives unarmored AC 13 + Dexterity modifier and adds one HP per Sorcerer level. This is an alternative AC calculation, not a bonus to Mage Armor.

At 6, Elemental Affinity adds Charisma to one damage roll of a spell dealing the ancestry’s damage type; it also offers temporary resistance by spending a point under its trigger. It does not add Charisma to every ray regardless of wording, and a level-5 build does not have it yet. Wings arrive at 14, with equipment restrictions. Draconic Presence at 18 is costly and uses concentration. The benefit is reliable baseline durability; the limitation is an elemental theme that can run into resistance or immunity.

Wild Magic (PHB 2014) offers a less predictable origin with its own surge and DM-interaction rules. Divine Soul (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) broadens spell-list access, but still asks you to choose from a limited known-spell budget. Those options require their named books and their own builds; do not import their spell access into the SRD Draconic character.

Three complete 2014 Sorcerer builds

Scores use STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA. Every base array costs 27 points. All choose Draconic at 1, Acolyte with its equipment and 15 gp, and the focus/crossbow/twenty bolts/two daggers/explorer’s pack package. No armor, feat, magic item, or multiclass feature is assumed. Level-5 figures use fixed HP. All have five Sorcery Points and slots 4/3/2, restored on a long rest.

Half-elf fire generalist

Sources and role: SRD/PHB 2014; flexible ranged damage and control. Base 8, 13, 15, 10, 12, 14; +1 Dexterity/+1 Constitution/+2 Charisma gives 8, 14, 16, 10, 12, 16. Class Arcana/Persuasion; racial Stealth/Investigation; background Insight/Religion. Gold ancestry, fire. No skill duplicates.

Cantrips at 1: Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion; add Prestidigitation at 4. Leveled spells: Shield/Sleep at 1, Magic Missile at 2, Web at 3, Misty Step at 4, Fireball at 5: six known, no replacements required. Choose Careful/Quickened at 3. Raise Charisma to 18 at 4 and 20 at 8.

At 5: AC 15, HP 42 including Draconic Resilience, spell DC 15, attack +7. Fire Bolt deals 2d10 on a hit before resistance; there is no Charisma damage bonus yet. Turn: spend two points to Quicken Fireball, then cast Fire Bolt as your action. Alternatively, spend one point on Careful Fireball and accept that protected allies still take half damage on the save. Weakness: fire resistance and a limited spell list; Web may contribute more than another blast, and friendly fire remains a placement problem.

Human lightning skirmisher

Sources and role: SRD/PHB 2014; line attacks and escape. Base 8, 14, 15, 10, 8, 15; +1 each gives 9, 15, 16, 11, 9, 16. Class Arcana/Persuasion; background Insight/Religion. Blue ancestry, lightning.

Cantrips: Shocking Grasp, Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, Light at 1; Minor Illusion at 4. Spells: Shield/Magic Missile at 1, Sleep at 2, Mirror Image at 3, Misty Step at 4, Lightning Bolt at 5: six known. Metamagic Quickened/Empowered at 3. Raise Charisma to 18 at 4 and 20 at 8.

At 5: AC 15, HP 42, DC 15, attack +7. Turn: Quicken Lightning Bolt for two points, then Dash as the action to reach cover. Empowered may also modify that casting because its text allows it, costing another point; it does not create an extra spell. Weakness: getting a good line can expose a fragile caster, and both Misty Step and Quickened casting want the bonus action. Elemental Affinity arrives at 6, not now.

Tiefling subtle envoy

Sources and role: SRD/PHB 2014; negotiation and selective control. Base 8, 14, 14, 10, 10, 15; +1 Intelligence/+2 Charisma gives 8, 14, 14, 11, 10, 17. Class Deception/Persuasion; background Insight/Religion. Red ancestry, fire.

Cantrips: Fire Bolt, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation; Message at 4. Racial Thaumaturgy is additional, not one of those five. Infernal Legacy’s later Hellish Rebuke and Darkness uses are racial benefits under their own limits, not extra known Sorcerer spells. Spells known: Charm Person/Shield at 1, Sleep at 2, Suggestion at 3, Invisibility at 4, Counterspell at 5: six. Choose Subtle/Extended at 3. At 4 add +1 Charisma/+1 Constitution, reaching 18/15; at 8 raise Charisma to 20.

At 5: AC 15, HP 37, DC 15, attack +7. Turn: Subtle Charm Person costs one point and removes its verbal/somatic components; it still follows the spell’s targeting, save, and later awareness rules. Subtle Suggestion still needs its material component and the target must hear and understand the suggestion. Weakness: some creatures are immune to charm, obvious coercion can have consequences, and the known list has less direct damage. Magic does not guarantee a favorable social outcome.

Feats, multiclassing, and spell choices

The builds use Charisma ASIs for accuracy, DCs, and social checks. Optional PHB 2014 War Caster can support concentration and component handling; Elemental Adept is an elemental specialization with a spellcasting prerequisite and a limited resistance benefit; Alert supports acting early. Verify each original feat. Elemental Adept does not make an immune creature vulnerable. None is required by these builds.

Sorcerer multiclassing needs Charisma 13 and the other class’s prerequisite. Paladin also needs Strength 13: none of these arrays meets that without rebuilding. Warlock introduces separate Pact Magic recovery and known spells, but delays Sorcerer access, points, and ASIs. Keep each spell’s casting ability and each slot system straight rather than assuming a dip upgrades every feature.

For spells, choose roles rather than five variations on the same attack. A defensive reaction such as Shield, movement such as Misty Step, control such as Web, and one reliable area option such as Fireball make different decisions possible. Sleep’s HP threshold becomes less dependable as enemies become tougher; replacing it on a later level is a reasonable plan. These builds deliberately show legal learning sequences, not a promise that every starting spell stays forever.

Managing a day and contributing outside combat

An original resource decision: after two fights you have two points left. Quickening one more blast may be worthwhile to end a threat, but it spends all your remaining Metamagic. A normal action spell plus movement can preserve points. Converting a slot also consumes a bonus action and sacrifices later casting; a short rest alone does not restore the 2014 pool before level 20.

Mage Hand and Minor Illusion can support exploration within their size, range, and sensory limits. Persuasion and Deception remain useful when magic would be inappropriate. Discuss what others can see, hear, or remember before treating a subtle casting as consequence-free. Carry the spell components your plan actually requires.

2024 Sorcerer changes

The revised class adds Innate Sorcery at 1, a limited bonus-action state that improves Sorcerer spell DC and grants advantage on relevant spell attacks. Metamagic moves to 2; subclasses move from 1 to 3. The revised prepared-spell table supplies a larger repertoire, but this is not unlimited daily preparation: replacement follows its own level-up rule. Converting a slot into points no longer needs an action, while creating slots retains its own cost. Sorcerous Restoration arrives at 5 with limited short-rest recovery, and Sorcery Incarnate at 7 interacts with Innate Sorcery and Metamagic.

Read revised Metamagic individually. Twinned Spell changes its eligibility and effect, Careful can protect against half damage, Subtle also addresses eligible material components, and Quickened has explicit same-turn restrictions. Old combos cannot be assumed to transfer unchanged.

Revised Draconic starts at 3, has bonus prepared spells, and calculates unarmored AC as 10 + Dexterity + Charisma modifiers, rather than the old 13 + Dexterity. Elemental Affinity’s resistance, wings, and the level-18 dragon feature also change. Background ability boosts and level-19 Epic Boon alter build planning. Rebuild the examples rather than stacking revised benefits onto 2014 Resilience.

Sorcerer FAQ

Can I Quicken two leveled spells in a turn?

You have one bonus action, and the 2014 bonus-action spell rule restricts your other casting. Quickened spell plus an action cantrip is the usual legal example.

Does Careful Spell make Fireball harmless to allies?

Not in 2014: automatic save success still leaves the spell’s half damage.

Do I prepare new spells every morning?

No. These 2014 characters use a small known-spell list and level-up replacement.

Does Draconic Resilience stack with Mage Armor?

No. They offer alternative AC calculations, not two bonuses to add together.

Rules sources: SRD 5.1 for the 2014 class, SRD subclass, equipment, and spells; the Player’s Handbook (2014) and 2014 Basic Rules races for named racial options and optional PHB choices; Sage Advice Compendium for relevant 2014 clarifications. The separate comparison uses SRD 5.2.1. Recommendations, builds, and example decisions are original advice.

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.