Dungeons & Dragons Is Playtesting Giant-Themed Sorcerers

Dungeons & Dragons' latest playtest involves sorcerers with a gigantic heritage.

Each month, Dungeons & Dragons releases a public "Unearthed Arcana" playtest that allows interested players to try out potential new content months or even years before it's officially released. At a DM's discretion, a player can used the Unearthed Arcana rules to make a new character and then report on how well the mechanics work in a survey posted to D&D's site.

This month's Unearthed Arcana is the "Giant Soul Sorcerer," a new kind of sorcerer subclass. The Giant Soul Sorcerer's origins are a bit similar to sorcerers with a Draconic Heritage, in that they obtain some of the core abilities of giants.

The background for Giant Soul Sorcerers is that, in the ancient realm of Ostoria, giants bestowed a small shard of power to a few chosen individuals. The descendants of those individuals will occasionally have the same gifts, giving them unique powers and abilities.

When playing as a Giant Soul Sorcerer, players need to pick a type of giant that their powers are derived from. Each type of giant has its own set of special spells and abilities. A sorcerer descended from cloud giants has access to several illusion and stealth spells, while a storm giant has access to spells like shocking grasp or gust of wind.

Once a player reaches sixth level, players get extra benefits for using one of the spells tied to their gigantic heritage. A sorcerer who chose fire sorcerer can do extra damage with those spells, while a frost giant soul sorcerer gains temporary hit points every time they use one of those spells.

The real fun for giant soul sorcerers begins when they hit fourteenth level and gains access to the "Rage of Fallen Ostoria" ability. This ability allows sorcerers to grow in size when they expend a spell slot, which gives them reach, an increase in hit points, and advantage on strength checks...which includes melee attacks. Basically, a sorcerer can become a serious melee threat, which is unusual but can also be a great trump card during battle.

When a player hits eighteenth level, they receive the Blessing of the All Father, which allows them to use the Rage of Fallen Ostoria twice between rests, and hypothetically allows a player to grow from medium-sized to huge-sized during battle.

A player who chooses to play as a Giant Soul Sorcerer should probably put some points into Constitution, as most of their subclass abilities uses the Constitution modifier when applying bonuses. They might also want to consider taking a level in Fighter, so they can take advantage of the Rage of Fallen Ostoria and use better weapons while using melee attacks.

You can check out the full rules for the Giant Soul Sorcerer here. A survey will be posted on D&D's website in a few weeks to provide feedback on how well you feel the Giant Soul Sorcerer rules work.