Tortured Soul

Great tragedy and torment wreak devastating consequences on all who they touch, but some who witness intense tortures or are born in a place where a travesty has occurred will experience pushback from the Weave itself. Those who are unfortunate enough to experience great famine, disease, or incursion by fiends, monsters, or Old Gods may find themselves on the receiving end of power beyond their wildest dreams: trauma made manifest, as some scholars have called them. 

A Tortured Soul is often reclusive, secretive, and sometimes even a bit mad. They are often very sympathetic to the plights of others, however, and the very best of them exemplify the proverb, “Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger.” Your power may be a burden, but it was given to you through great sacrifice and loss, and no matter how far you run, your past will not hide from you forever. When the day of truth comes, be assured all secrets will be laid bare.

As a Tortured Soul Sorcerer, you can choose what event caused your powers to develop. Consult the Tragic Backstory table and either roll for an origin story or choose one yourself!

Tragic Backstory
d6	Origin
1	An evil wizard performed a ritual that snuffed out all the lives of your village in exchange for his immortality. You still hear their screams sometimes, but then it is as if a thousand voices are suddenly silenced.
2	The Spellplague tore through the land many years ago, and nothing was ever the same.
3	One of your ancestors suffered mental anguish inflicted by an aberration, fiend, or fey. The horrors they experienced has left all their descendants with psychic scars.
4	As a child, you accidentally wandered into a rift to another dimension and are traumatized by witnessing something you never should have seen. By the time you return to the Material Plane, you are forever changed.
5	The place where you were born was the site of a massive, brutal battle that wreaked so much carnage that it opened a wound in the Weave.
6	A coven of hags has held sway over your birthplace for many years. The arcane energies have infused the people with minor supernatural abilities, but your birth is unique.

 

Reactionary Magic

At 1st level, the tragedy that birthed you gives you access to certain abilities.

You can speak, read, and write one of the rare languages. Additionally, you have proficiency on ability checks using the Perception or Arcana skills to perceive the nature of tragedy or trauma that has occurred.

You also learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Tortured Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.

Whenever you gain a sorcerer level, you can replace one spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level. The new spell must be an abjuration or a necromancy spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.

Tortured Spells

Sorcerer Level	SPells
1st	detect evil and good, dissonant whispers
3rd	wither and bloom, Nathair's mischief
5th	summon shadowspawn, dispel magic
7th	phantasmal killer, private sanctum
9th	dispel evil and good, synaptic static

Misfortune

At first level, it is already apparent that you radiate an aura of misfortune. When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack roll against you or performs a skill check, you may roll 2d4 and subtract the result from their roll, possibly changing the outcome. Also, for as long as the targeted creature is alive, a 1 or 2 rolled on a d20 counts as if it were a 1.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

At 14th level, you may roll 3d4 and subtract that amount from your enemy's skill check.

Lash Out

Starting at 6th level, when you are hit by a weapon attack or spell attack, you can use a reaction to make a Constitution saving throw against the a DC of 8 + the attacker’s Strength modifier to see whether you can reflect the damage that was dealt to you. While you still are dealt the full damage from the attack, you can spend 1 to 4 sorcery points to take in the damage received and turn it into power to strike back. Each sorcery point is equal to half the damage they dealt to you, for a maximum retaliation of 2 times the amount of damage dealt to you. This reaction may be used once per round.

Resistance to a damage type reduces the amount of power that can be reflected back, but vulnerability can increase the power that can be reflected back.

Beneath the Skin

At 14th level, you gain the ability to summon the anguish within you into a shadowy defender. You may spend one or more sorcery points to gain 1 minute of transformation per point. In this time you gain several abilities:

• Your eyes glow bright red and can see through magical darkness as if you had Devil's Sight.
• Your size is changed to large.
• You may manifest claws, tusks, or any bestial or monstrous natural weapon that deals 1d6 + Strength slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage. Attacks made with these natural weapons are magical.
• You develop resistance to either slashing, bludgeoning, or piercing damage (your choice).

Once you use this bonus action, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 5 sorcery points to use it again.

Song of Despair

Beginning at 18th level, you release a cry of sorrow that causes your foes to share your burdens. As an action, you can spend any number of sorcery points and cry out, forcing all creatures in 60 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. Each hostile creature in 60 feet that fails the throw receives a number of d10s equal to the sorcery points spent worth of psychic damage split between them and falls prone. On a successful save, the creature takes half the damage and is not knocked prone. Any hostile creature that is within 60 feet of you also has disadvantage on attack rolls against you or your allies for a minute, regardless of the result of the save.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.