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The Aberrant Mind Sorcerer brought psionics to the forefront of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons' sorcerer class. Introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, the Aberrant Mind melds Lovecraftian influence and early multiversal concepts, introducing extraplanar sources for the sorcerer's power.
Dungeons & Dr🍸agons: Metamagic, Explained
If you've ever wondered what Metamagic is and how it works, this guide details all the aspects of the Metamagic process for S🥃orcerer in D&🍸D.
Origins range from an incomplete ceremorphosis, a psychic wind from the Astral Plane, running afoul of an aboleth, and a parasitic twin. The class also makes a case for being born with powers through unnatural means, making a variety of backstories possible for your sorcerer. The Aberrant Mind subclass provid🐟es excellent spell🎶casting and an uncanny, psychic flavor, making it a great alternative for your next spellcaster.
Aberrant Sorcerer Class Features
The variety of origins for the Aberrant Mind allows you to create a character who may not fully understand the extent of ༒their powers, fearfully watching as their thoughts warp the world around them.
Conve🍌rsely, you may make a sorcerer who intends to bring the world to its knees by infiltrating the private observations of political figures, utilizing their arcane and aberrant talent to carve a place for themselves.
The Aberrant Mind Sorcerer plays with the minds of surrounding creatures, manipulating the patterns of their allies' and enemies' brainwaves to communicate, inflict damage, and otherwise mold others to their indomitable will. At the first level, yꦇou receive an ability to articulate that will discreetl𒐪y.
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Telepathic Speech
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- You form a telepathic connection between another creature and yourself utilizing a bonus action. You can choose a single creature within thirty feet of you, as long as you can see them.
- You and the chosen target can communicate telepathically while both are within a number of miles equal to your sorcerer's Charisma modifier. The minimum is 1 mile.
- This telepathic connection will last for a number of minutes equal to your sorcerer level, so you can have extended communication at higher levels.
There are a couple of limits:
- To understand each other, you each must speak mentally in a language the other knows.
- It ends early if you are incapacitated, die, or form another connection with another creature. It works one at a time.
By maxing your Charisma, you would get five miles of connection. You could, say, safely stand outside an area and maintain a connection with someone in a situation in which the party must split. At tables where Dungﷺeon Masters allow you to exceed 20 (the hard cap being 30), your telepathic connection could extend much further.
The next ability clocks in at sixth level.
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Psionic Sorcery
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- When you cast any spell of first level or higher from the spells you gain innately as a sorcerer (your Psionic Spells feature), you can expend a spell slot as is standard or you can spend a number of sorcery points equal to the spell's level.
- If you cast the spell using sorcery points, this spell requires no verbal or somatic components. This is an incredibly unique feature, as most sorcerers will have to take the metamagic option Subtle Spell. The spell requires no material components (unless they are consumed by the spell, such as a gold cost).
You also receive another feature at this level!
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Psychic Defenses
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- You gain resistance to psychic damage.
- You have advantage on saves inflicting the charmed or frightened condition.
At the fourteenth level, you gain what's probably the Aberrant Mind's best and most versatile feature as you take on unusual aspects of your body that grant you enigmatic abilities, giving your enemies a glimpse into your unknowable nature.
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Revelation in Flesh
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As a bonus action, you can spend 1 (or potentially more) sorcery points to transform your body for 10 minutes. These features line up with how many sorcery points you spent. So, a sorcery point for each feature. You could have multiple active at one time, and the effects last until the ⛄end of your magic🧜al transformation:
- You gain the ability to see any invisible creature as long as they're within 60 feet of you and as long as it isn't behind total cover. Cosmetically, your eyes turn black or become 'writhing sensory tendrils,' which is sort of gross but a small price to pay.
- You acquire a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can also hover. Cosmetically, your skin shimmers with mucus (like an illithid, which is also kind of gross), or shines with an otherworldly light.
- You gain a swimming speed that's equal to twice your walking speed, and you can breathe underwater. You get gills on your neck or ones that spread out from behind your ears. Your fingers can become webbed, or you can grow wriggling cilia that extend through your clothing, like a eukaryotic cell.
- Your body and equipment (or anything on your person) become slimy and malleable, which allows you to gain the ability to move through any area as little as a single inch without squeezing, effectively compressing yourself without any magical shrinking. You also get the ability to spend 5 feet of movement to get out of nonmagical restraints or being grappled. There's no roll, you just do it.
💦With the Mobile feat, this feature becomes even more powerful, giving you exꦐtra swimming and flight speeds. Haste + Mobile + Dhampir Lineage would be nightmarish, but it would be one speedy character.
At eighteenth level, you now have the ability to bend space and time to punish 🌳your enemies.
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Warping Implosion
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- As an action, you have the ability to teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 120 feet of you. This is an ability, and doesn't cost any sorcery points initially, like your other features. After you vanish, every creature within 30 feet of your previous space instantly makes a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC. Upon a failed save, the targets take 3d10 force damage and are dragged directly toward the area you left. They aren't pulled and take half the damage if they succeed on their save.
- You can spend five sorcery points to use this feature again, or it replenishes after a long rest.
Recommended Species For Aberrant Mind
Dhampir, leonin, wood elf, and swiftstride shifter are good if you want to build around your fourteenth-level feature, Revelation In The Flesh. Extra speed is always go𝐆od to have, so you could conceivably create a build around such a late-game acquisition for a longer-form game. Further, dhamp🐭ir gives you the Spider Climb ability, making your character incredibly mobile.
Purely mechanically, you'll want to avoid species with preexisting psychic resistance, as your sixth-level feature would render that acquisition moot fairly early.
Tiefling automatically has Charisma-based casting, as does half-drow and drow. It's hard not to recommend drow for every spellcaster, as Faerie Fire is so helpful that it nearly justifies always picking the species if you're in a large party. These work especially well for sorcerers because Hellish Rebuke and Faerie Fire aren't otherwise available on the sorcerer spell list.
Stout halfling gives you some cool features, with poison resistance being extraordinarily useful, as poison is one of the most common damage types. Yuan-ti is good for this reason as well, and works fantasti🗹cally with the flavor of Aberrant Mind🐎.
Reborn or warforged will also give your spellcaster some durability.
Recommended Ability Scores For Aberrant Mind
Charisma comes first, as your spell save DC and the amount of damage you do will apply here. Many sorcerers serve as "faces" for their party, an🐼d will take the brunt of socialization, so having high bonuses to Deception, Persuasio✨n, and Performance may come in handy.
Next, you'll want to increase your Constitution. Sorcerers are notoriously fragile, so you should add to your hit point maximum whenever possible. Dexterity is your armor class, so it comes third.
For Aberrant Mind in particular, Intelligence saves may be more imperative to succeed in, with spells utilizing those saves frequently used by creatures in the aberrant and illithid sphere. Wisdom is also a great contender for this 🐠spot, as many spells use Wisdom saves, but failing those few Intelligence saves could potentially take your character off the board (such as in the case of the spell Feeblemind).
If you suspect your Dungeon Master wants to make use of your aberrant origin, make sure your Intelligence is stacked fourth. Otherwise, you're free to switch it out with Wisdom. Strength is last, as you really, really won't be using it unless you're multiclassing.
Recommended Spells For Aberrant Mind Sorcerer
Psionic Spells
You'll get a couple of spells by virtue of choosing the class, themed towards the mind.
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Sorcerer Level |
Spells |
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First |
Arms of Hadar Dissonant Whispers Mind Sliver |
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Third |
Calm Emotions Detect Thoughts |
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Fifth |
Hunger of Hadar Sending |
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Seventh |
Evard's Black Tentacles Summon Aberration |
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Ninth |
Rary's Telepathic Bond Telekinesis |
Recommended Cantrips
Here a🍃re a couple of cantrips that are good to have all the way through your playthrough:
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Mind Sliver |
You push a spike of psychic energy into your foe's mind, and they take 1d6 psychic damage on a failed Intelligence save. They'll also have 1d4 subtracted from their next roll, which is great for Evard's Black Tentacles. You'll get this inherently. |
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Fire Bolt |
On a hit, the target takes 1d10 fire damage. This is a great ranged cantrip that levels with you, increasing in d10s. |
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Prestidigitation |
The roleplayer's delight. Prestidigitation allows you to perform a minor magical effect such as: cleaning an area, soiling an area, altering the taste of food, warming something, or shooting 🅺off sparks. Prestidigitation can be incredibly fun foꦺr creative players. |
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Shocking Grasp |
The target takes 1d8 lightning damage while within melee range, and you roll with advantage if the foe is wearing armor. It prevents opportunity attacks, as it eliminates reactions for the turn, and you can escape if caught in close range. |
Recommended Spells
Here are some first-level spells to help build your character from th✃e ground up.
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Chromatic Orb |
Chaos Bolt is one of the best spells for a sorcerer, but in the Aberrant Mind's case, it can't be recommended over Chromatic Orb. You have other sources of psychic damage, and the flexibility of getting to choose your damage type is great. It also works with Twinne⛎d Spell, which Chaos Bolt does not. |
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Sleep |
Sleep can knock out a bunch of low-level opponents if they have fewer hit points than 5d8, no save required. An early must-have. |
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Shield |
You cast on a reaction, and the Aberrant Mind doesn't use its reaction for much. It's good to boost AC! |
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Magic Missile |
Magic Missile is an assured hit, which is something you'll want with you for the majority of your adventure. You roll a number of d4s corresponding with the level you're at, starting at 3d4 at early levels. It's good, reliable damage and is frankly one of the best spells out there. |
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