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The Privilege of Sorcerers
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While the Eberron setting doesn't directly tie dragonmarks to the Sorcerer class, it does explore hereditary magic as a privilege. In general, if you're not of the bloodlines who are "supposed to" get particular constructive magic and want to go into business using that magic, you need to either sign a contract with the appropriate Dragonmarked House or they'll go Pinkerton on your ass. This cuts the other way, too, where anyone in the House with such powers is pressured to participate.
Eberron is one of my favorite DnDoid settings, precisely because the designers put a lot of thoughts into this stuff. -
Racism and prejudice are missing from your equation. The sorcerer is different but only treated special in character creation because they get free shit. In the world they would be hated and feared as the person who started fires as a child or drowned a local cow. They would have a rumor of death or destruction follow them wherever they go Good on your for not thinking of how much your personal frustrations would impact the behavior of the world. It's hard to think beyond prejudice and racism. People hate different people for existing and different people exist: they can be called "special" but they are still different. And special people exist. That's what makes Einstein and Mozart and many others stand out in history. Differences exist. How your world treats them is what makes a good story.> In the world they would be hated and feared as the person who started fires as a child or drowned a local cow. Would they, though? Or would they end up in an upper class that controls world leaders from back rooms while looking like flashy celebrities in public? Because the takeaway from the real world is that racists hate on people they see as less powerful than them, and sorcerers are categorically not that.
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Seoni, the iconic sorcerer of Pathfinder.
I'll note that one thing that bugs me about the Sorcerer class *is* that, despite how fairly early in D&D 3e's life there was a Dragon article talking about many alternative ways to have innate magic other than being born with it, both D&D itself and Pathfinder after it doubled down on the "magical bloodline" lore and terminology.
My preference is more "wizards have an education, warlocks have a magic sugar daddy, sorcerers have a superhero origin".
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I'd also like to see it come with relevant costs. Much in the same way genius and madness often go hand in hand. Not full on oracle's curse, more like how some beautiful people struggle being taken seriously or respected for their minds, or how some neurodivergent people just get difficult subjects while struggling with aspects of ordinary life. But yeah generally I'm in full agreement with you. Show me the half orc who only got a chance in their hometown because they're a sorcerer and that resulted in complicated emotions. Show me the noble whose family paid good money for their child to be a sorcerer and now they're off trying to prove themselves. Show me a society in which a sorcerer child is considered an unimaginable blessing even though that bloodline may leave their sibling a hated tiefling and then use it to show a golden child/scapegoat sibling dynamic enforced not necessarily by the parents, but by the whole community. The Locked Tomb did both. Necromancers are a blessing and privileged. There are roles in society only they're allowed to fill. But they're also chronically ill. They're frail and sickly and look and feel like they're dying. That actually would give credence to if they were to not like being like that.
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One of my pet peeves of modern fantasy media is the notion that some people are "special" - and thus implied to be "better" - than other people because of some inherent magical ability. One of the best-known modern examples of this is the ***Harry Potter*** franchise, where the protagonists are mostly mages, and even the characters who actually care about the welfare of the latter do so in an extremely patronizing way - i.e. by stopping the "bad mages" rather than working together. In D&D and similar games, the concept is represent by the "sorcerer" and similar characters who gained their cool powers from some innate birth ability rather than study and hard work. And while there is nothing wrong with wanting to play such a character, just for once I would like to see an in-setting examination of what it means to have this privilege, instead of the more common: "Oh no, woe is me, I have been born with *special powers* and will be hated and persecuted for them. Thus, I must spend most of my time in a secret society with my fellow *very special people*!" To be clear, people born with privilege did not *ask* to be born with privilege, and cannot be blamed for that. However, they should also acknowledge that they *have* this privilege, and not assume that they are somehow "better" than people without it.Now you've inspired me. I should make a character who's 1 level in sorcerer, the rest in wizard, and the premise is that they set out to prove everyone wrong that they're *not* just going to rely on their inborn talents and they're ready to do the work!
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Ok now I want to play a noble sorcerer who's parents paid a massive price for her powers and is now struggling with the guilt and expectations. Harrowhark Nonagesimus meets Lorelai GilmoreI know y'all are talking about like, buying a wish spell, but y'all make it sound like the mom hired a magic gigolo XD
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I know y'all are talking about like, buying a wish spell, but y'all make it sound like the mom hired a magic gigolo XD
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One of my pet peeves of modern fantasy media is the notion that some people are "special" - and thus implied to be "better" - than other people because of some inherent magical ability. One of the best-known modern examples of this is the ***Harry Potter*** franchise, where the protagonists are mostly mages, and even the characters who actually care about the welfare of the latter do so in an extremely patronizing way - i.e. by stopping the "bad mages" rather than working together. In D&D and similar games, the concept is represent by the "sorcerer" and similar characters who gained their cool powers from some innate birth ability rather than study and hard work. And while there is nothing wrong with wanting to play such a character, just for once I would like to see an in-setting examination of what it means to have this privilege, instead of the more common: "Oh no, woe is me, I have been born with *special powers* and will be hated and persecuted for them. Thus, I must spend most of my time in a secret society with my fellow *very special people*!" To be clear, people born with privilege did not *ask* to be born with privilege, and cannot be blamed for that. However, they should also acknowledge that they *have* this privilege, and not assume that they are somehow "better" than people without it.Sounds like a GM problem. It's been pretty clear to me when I read Eberron back then (never been much of a DnD head) that sorcerers were "talented children" assholes, as opposed to the raging wizard nerds who had *studied* to get there. Not using this dynamic is completely on your GM and player group in general. And it's a damn shame!
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Ok now I want to play a noble sorcerer who's parents paid a massive price for her powers and is now struggling with the guilt and expectations. Harrowhark Nonagesimus meets Lorelai Gilmore
