The Aberrant Mind Sorcerer is one of my favorite subclasses, but it seems that one of the features from the subclass hasn't yet been implemented into the character sheets. An Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, upon gaining a level in Sorcerer, can swap out any Psionic spell for an Enchantment or Divination spell of equal level, from the Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard Spell list.
I don't have the Psionic Spells in my Manage Spells list, so I can't unlearn them, and if I could, I don't yet see how I could pick something off the requirements listed. Any idea when you think this will be implemented?
This is a known issue, and unfortunately not an easy one to solve.
The Abberant Mind and Clockwork Soul sorcerers' ability to alter their Expanded Spell Lists is unprecedented in 5e. All previous classes that had an ESL treated that ESL as a fixed, unchanging facet of the class. Due to this, the way DDB's system handles ESLs is fundamentally designed to add a fixed, unchanging selection of extra spells to your class list.
If you only want to swap out one or two spells, the usual workaround is to create a copy of the Aberrant Mind subclass, take the spells you don't want off its ESL, add the ones you do, and switch to that homebrew edited subclass. If you want to swap out spells all the time, or replace your entire Aberrant ESL, the workaround is the same but with more work attached.
Sorry, Vaekarion. There's no quick-and-easy fix for this. Unfortunately it's what happens when Wizards drops a book that changes almost all of the fundamental class building rules of D&D in one go. The digital toolset will be catching up for quite some time, and fringe abilities like the Aberrant and Clockwork sorcerers altering their ESLs are usually among the last abilities to get fixed.
Previously, the only classes with ESLs were “prepared casters” (Artificers, Clerics, Druids, Paladins), so the section for adding ESLs only works that way for them. That section just adds spells to the normal list for everybody else, so they couldn’t use that, they had to use the “ADD SPELL” section of the specific class feature.
So, if you go to the homebrewer and. “Create a Subclass” using the official one as a template, and then edit that feature, you can change it. When you look at the “SPELLS” section of that feature you will see a different instance for each of those spells that they added. If you “edit” each one, where you see the name of the spell, you would have to there individually list every spell from the correct classes and schools as appropriate for that subclass. (So, for the Aberrant Mind that would be every Divination and Enchantment spell from the Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard spell lists. What that will do is create a dropdown in the builder where the player would have to initially choose the spell that is supposed to be there whenever they gain the appropriate level for it, but then they could actually swap it out after that as well.
Unfortunately, you then have to do the exact same thing 9 or 10 more times, once for each of the “psionic spells,” and then replicate the process for the Clockwork Soul. And, as stated, it wouldn’t automatically include the correct spell the first tome.
So, it is possible, but it’s less than perfect and frankly, a pain in the but.
There is a very simple way for Beyond to solve this problem. Simply create Psionic and Clockwork spell lists. Allow players to select two spells from each level they can cast. We know the rules and can govern ourselves in terms of which spells are selected. Please fix this ASAP!
There is a very simple way for Beyond to solve this problem. Simply create Psionic and Clockwork spell lists. Allow players to select two spells from each level they can cast. We know the rules and can govern ourselves in terms of which spells are selected. Please fix this ASAP!
They aren’t allowed to create spell lists that WotC doesn’t publish. They have to treat those subclass spell lists the same as every other subclass specific spell list, but that’s the problem. When they built the system they made it as immutable as a skyscraper. Now they have to keep juggling scaffolding all over the place because they need to turn that skyscraper into Howe’s Moving Castle without accidentally knocking parts of it down in the process. (That last concern is why everything takes so long.)
There is a very simple way for Beyond to solve this problem. Simply create Psionic and Clockwork spell lists. Allow players to select two spells from each level they can cast. We know the rules and can govern ourselves in terms of which spells are selected. Please fix this ASAP!
They aren’t allowed to create spell lists that WotC doesn’t publish. They have to treat those subclass spell lists the same as every other subclass specific spell list, but that’s the problem. When they built the system they made it as immutable as a skyscraper. Now they have to keep juggling scaffolding all over the place because they need to turn that skyscraper into Howe’s Moving Castle without accidentally knocking parts of it down in the process. (That last concern is why everything takes so long.)
They can absolutely give you a drop down list of available spells based on the rules as written. The available spells are clearly stated by WotC in TCoE: Divination and enchantment spells from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spells list for Aberrant Mind. Abjuration and transmutation spells from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list for Clockwork Soul. You don’t need to look any further than how Beyond has handled spell feats like Fey Touched or Shadow Touched. It’s the exact same execution.
It's not just a matter of a dropdown list. It's a matter of having a set spell for the first level where it becomes available, that then changes into a dropdown list for later levels. DDB will need to implement that functionality, which isn't as trivial as it may sound.
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Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
It's not just a matter of a dropdown list. It's a matter of having a set spell for the first level where it becomes available, that then changes into a dropdown list for later levels. DDB will need to implement that functionality, which isn't as trivial as it may sound.
You don’t need to do that. Just provide the drop down list and the DM / players can follow the rules as written. For example: if you wanted to you could replace every single spell from one sorcerer level to the next, but you don’t, you only replace one, because you’re following the rules as written. Beyond is a resource, not an air tight iron box rule set.
It's not just a matter of a dropdown list. It's a matter of having a set spell for the first level where it becomes available, that then changes into a dropdown list for later levels. DDB will need to implement that functionality, which isn't as trivial as it may sound.
You don’t need to do that. Just provide the drop down list and the DM / players can follow the rules as written. For example: if you wanted to you could replace every single spell from one sorcerer level to the next, but you don’t, you only replace one, because you’re following the rules as written. Beyond is a resource, not an air tight iron box rule set.
Yep, we don't need to do that, but we aren't DDB, who have a contract with WotC to implement the official things as officially written.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
It's not just a matter of a dropdown list. It's a matter of having a set spell for the first level where it becomes available, that then changes into a dropdown list for later levels. DDB will need to implement that functionality, which isn't as trivial as it may sound.
You don’t need to do that. Just provide the drop down list and the DM / players can follow the rules as written. For example: if you wanted to you could replace every single spell from one sorcerer level to the next, but you don’t, you only replace one, because you’re following the rules as written. Beyond is a resource, not an air tight iron box rule set.
Yep, we don't need to do that, but we aren't DDB, who have a contract with WotC to implement the official things as officially written.
DDB doesn’t stop you from replacing all your spells, redoing your skills, rerolling your ability scores, adding equipment you don’t have, and just about everything else. That’s not their responsibility. Their responsibility is to provide a resource for DMs and players to use. At this point ANY implementation would be better than the one they have. By your own logic DDB are currently violating their contract.
There is a very simple way for Beyond to solve this problem. Simply create Psionic and Clockwork spell lists. Allow players to select two spells from each level they can cast. We know the rules and can govern ourselves in terms of which spells are selected. Please fix this ASAP!
They aren’t allowed to create spell lists that WotC doesn’t publish. They have to treat those subclass spell lists the same as every other subclass specific spell list, but that’s the problem. When they built the system they made it as immutable as a skyscraper. Now they have to keep juggling scaffolding all over the place because they need to turn that skyscraper into Howe’s Moving Castle without accidentally knocking parts of it down in the process. (That last concern is why everything takes so long.)
They can absolutely give you a drop down list of available spells based on the rules as written. The available spells are clearly stated by WotC in TCoE: Divination and enchantment spells from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spells list for Aberrant Mind. Abjuration and transmutation spells from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list for Clockwork Soul. You don’t need to look any further than how Beyond has handled spell feats like Fey Touched or Shadow Touched. It’s the exact same execution.
But that’s not what you suggested. You wrote “Simply create Psionic and Clockwork spell lists.” They couldn’t create a “Dimir” spell list for encode thoughts and had to incorrectly list it as a Wiz spell because of system requirements. If they were not allowed to create a Dimir spell list, then they cannot create a Psionic or Clockwork spell list either.🤷♂️
Not at all. I’m actually just repeating what one of the Mods explained to me about the issue. He was just parroting DDB’s official position on the matter. They’re the ones arguing semantics neighbor. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Seems relevant, while being shameless self-promotion, and shitty audio but maybe it will help.
A video how to change Clockwork/Aberrant Mind spells:
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Private users like you, me, and Cyb3rM1nd can legally take the liberties required to make it work. DDB is legally prohibited from using the methods we can get away with for our own private homebrews.
I think it's mostly a case, Wardawn, of something is stopping them from doing the quick-and-dirty hack job everyone's been begging them to do to make Aberrant/Clockwork function. If nothing was, then they would've done it by now. If it was truly so easy as one dev putting in half an hour to formalize a messy homebrew workaround, that would've long since happened. So either it's not so simple as all that, or there's another reason they're not doing the work.
I generally imagine it'd be the former - there's something we're not familiar with that's blocking the "easy" solution. Note that all the homebrew workarounds are janky, bizarre, and only really work if you're already good with the homebrew tools and you're very careful with what you do; you can't give a gussied-up Aberrant Mind to a player with no clue and expect them to come within a country mile of using the feature correctly. That difficulty is probably why Aberrant Mind/Clockwork Soul haven't been futzed with yet - as Sposta says, DDB itself is held to a higher standard than the average homebrewer wonk. We can be epic screwups all we want; DDB needs to get any given feature pitch-perfect the first time or an infinite number of people give them infinite shit, including Wizards of the Coast.
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The Aberrant Mind Sorcerer is one of my favorite subclasses, but it seems that one of the features from the subclass hasn't yet been implemented into the character sheets. An Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, upon gaining a level in Sorcerer, can swap out any Psionic spell for an Enchantment or Divination spell of equal level, from the Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard Spell list.
I don't have the Psionic Spells in my Manage Spells list, so I can't unlearn them, and if I could, I don't yet see how I could pick something off the requirements listed. Any idea when you think this will be implemented?
Thanks!
Keep an eye on this thread:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/bugs-support/87774-tashas-cauldron-of-everything-issues-and-support
As thats the Tasha's Bug Support page and has updates on features.
This is a known issue, and unfortunately not an easy one to solve.
The Abberant Mind and Clockwork Soul sorcerers' ability to alter their Expanded Spell Lists is unprecedented in 5e. All previous classes that had an ESL treated that ESL as a fixed, unchanging facet of the class. Due to this, the way DDB's system handles ESLs is fundamentally designed to add a fixed, unchanging selection of extra spells to your class list.
If you only want to swap out one or two spells, the usual workaround is to create a copy of the Aberrant Mind subclass, take the spells you don't want off its ESL, add the ones you do, and switch to that homebrew edited subclass. If you want to swap out spells all the time, or replace your entire Aberrant ESL, the workaround is the same but with more work attached.
Sorry, Vaekarion. There's no quick-and-easy fix for this. Unfortunately it's what happens when Wizards drops a book that changes almost all of the fundamental class building rules of D&D in one go. The digital toolset will be catching up for quite some time, and fringe abilities like the Aberrant and Clockwork sorcerers altering their ESLs are usually among the last abilities to get fixed.
Please do not contact or message me.
Thank you both for the replies, I see that DDB is aware of it, and that's what I was looking for at minimum. I also appreciate the workaround listed!
As my friend Yurei said, only not quite.
Previously, the only classes with ESLs were “prepared casters” (Artificers, Clerics, Druids, Paladins), so the section for adding ESLs only works that way for them. That section just adds spells to the normal list for everybody else, so they couldn’t use that, they had to use the “ADD SPELL” section of the specific class feature.
So, if you go to the homebrewer and. “Create a Subclass” using the official one as a template, and then edit that feature, you can change it. When you look at the “SPELLS” section of that feature you will see a different instance for each of those spells that they added. If you “edit” each one, where you see the name of the spell, you would have to there individually list every spell from the correct classes and schools as appropriate for that subclass. (So, for the Aberrant Mind that would be every Divination and Enchantment spell from the Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard spell lists. What that will do is create a dropdown in the builder where the player would have to initially choose the spell that is supposed to be there whenever they gain the appropriate level for it, but then they could actually swap it out after that as well.
Unfortunately, you then have to do the exact same thing 9 or 10 more times, once for each of the “psionic spells,” and then replicate the process for the Clockwork Soul. And, as stated, it wouldn’t automatically include the correct spell the first tome.
So, it is possible, but it’s less than perfect and frankly, a pain in the but.
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You can also make items for each spell you want and have that item give you the spell.
Its the messiest way but also the fastest.
There is a very simple way for Beyond to solve this problem. Simply create Psionic and Clockwork spell lists. Allow players to select two spells from each level they can cast. We know the rules and can govern ourselves in terms of which spells are selected. Please fix this ASAP!
They aren’t allowed to create spell lists that WotC doesn’t publish. They have to treat those subclass spell lists the same as every other subclass specific spell list, but that’s the problem. When they built the system they made it as immutable as a skyscraper. Now they have to keep juggling scaffolding all over the place because they need to turn that skyscraper into Howe’s Moving Castle without accidentally knocking parts of it down in the process. (That last concern is why everything takes so long.)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
They can absolutely give you a drop down list of available spells based on the rules as written. The available spells are clearly stated by WotC in TCoE: Divination and enchantment spells from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spells list for Aberrant Mind. Abjuration and transmutation spells from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list for Clockwork Soul. You don’t need to look any further than how Beyond has handled spell feats like Fey Touched or Shadow Touched. It’s the exact same execution.
It's not just a matter of a dropdown list. It's a matter of having a set spell for the first level where it becomes available, that then changes into a dropdown list for later levels. DDB will need to implement that functionality, which isn't as trivial as it may sound.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
You don’t need to do that. Just provide the drop down list and the DM / players can follow the rules as written. For example: if you wanted to you could replace every single spell from one sorcerer level to the next, but you don’t, you only replace one, because you’re following the rules as written. Beyond is a resource, not an air tight iron box rule set.
Yep, we don't need to do that, but we aren't DDB, who have a contract with WotC to implement the official things as officially written.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
DDB doesn’t stop you from replacing all your spells, redoing your skills, rerolling your ability scores, adding equipment you don’t have, and just about everything else. That’s not their responsibility. Their responsibility is to provide a resource for DMs and players to use. At this point ANY implementation would be better than the one they have. By your own logic DDB are currently violating their contract.
But that’s not what you suggested. You wrote “Simply create Psionic and Clockwork spell lists.” They couldn’t create a “Dimir” spell list for encode thoughts and had to incorrectly list it as a Wiz spell because of system requirements. If they were not allowed to create a Dimir spell list, then they cannot create a Psionic or Clockwork spell list either.🤷♂️
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Now you’re arguing semantics? 🧐
Not at all. I’m actually just repeating what one of the Mods explained to me about the issue. He was just parroting DDB’s official position on the matter. They’re the ones arguing semantics neighbor. Don’t shoot the messenger.
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Seems relevant, while being shameless self-promotion, and shitty audio but maybe it will help.
A video how to change Clockwork/Aberrant Mind spells:
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Thanks! Good workaround until DDB gets themselves straightened out. Just goes to show it’s an easy fix if they would just put a little effort into it.
Wardawn,
Private users like you, me, and Cyb3rM1nd can legally take the liberties required to make it work. DDB is legally prohibited from using the methods we can get away with for our own private homebrews.
Cyb3r,
Out of curiosity, did you use the same fix I suggested a couple months back? (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/bugs-support/121633-replacing-spells-for-aberrant-mind-and-clockwork?comment=7)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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I think it's mostly a case, Wardawn, of something is stopping them from doing the quick-and-dirty hack job everyone's been begging them to do to make Aberrant/Clockwork function. If nothing was, then they would've done it by now. If it was truly so easy as one dev putting in half an hour to formalize a messy homebrew workaround, that would've long since happened. So either it's not so simple as all that, or there's another reason they're not doing the work.
I generally imagine it'd be the former - there's something we're not familiar with that's blocking the "easy" solution. Note that all the homebrew workarounds are janky, bizarre, and only really work if you're already good with the homebrew tools and you're very careful with what you do; you can't give a gussied-up Aberrant Mind to a player with no clue and expect them to come within a country mile of using the feature correctly. That difficulty is probably why Aberrant Mind/Clockwork Soul haven't been futzed with yet - as Sposta says, DDB itself is held to a higher standard than the average homebrewer wonk. We can be epic screwups all we want; DDB needs to get any given feature pitch-perfect the first time or an infinite number of people give them infinite shit, including Wizards of the Coast.
Please do not contact or message me.