New DM here. I have a player who is a Wild Magic Sorceror who is a great RPer. His character is asking for something that can help him control his magic surges. I thought it would be a great mini-story arc if I could send him on a quest to gain something that does control his surges better. So far, the mage he asked has said:

• could take his magic away forever
• would have to look into it with his colleagues

I know it defeats the purpose of wild magic surge sorcerers but does anyone have any ideas on how I can implement something story-wise that will not destroy his character.

maybe have them need some magical thing from a powerful creature, that might not even be on their plane. So they have to travel to this dangerous place, fight through the lair of this creature and then have a big boss fight where they then harvest this item needed (could be like the blood of something) and then travel back.

You could then have a few exploration sessions, followed by a dungeon crawl then a boss fight, which can be a great little arc. And depending on their level, it might not take the surges away completely at the moment, maybe it 'levels up' (similar to the Vestiges of Divergence) [maybe it absorbs the surge, so more "powerful" surges still break through, but as its used more and more, it can contain these. and the surges that get through dont have to be the powerful ones on the table, it can be just a powerful surge even if the effect is harmless.] 

Wild Magic surges are the core of the class - I'm not sure what the point of playing a Wild Magic sorcerer is without them.

You could consider sending them on a quest that grants them a magical item - an arcane focus like a staff that helps them try to control it - that allows them to roll twice on the Wild Surge table and choose the result they prefer.

I think that Sanvael point is a good way to handle it. This is essentially the 14th lv feature of the Wild Magic Sorcerer and it really makes Wild Magic feels great - I have a Sorcerer with this feature on one of my games, and it really makes Wild Magic feels good.

A second way might be a quest to look for a being that could provide someway to shape the magic within the sorcerer, essentially changing his subclass. E.g. Look for a Divine Blessing that would switch the subclass from Wild Magic to Divine Soul, or look for a being from the Shadow Fell that could shape the raw magic into a Shadow Magic sorcerer... etc...

This is a good RP way to do the Tasha's changing subclass option. From Tasha's:

"Sometimes a character undergoes a dramatic transformation in their beliefs and abilities. When a character experiences a profound self-realization or faces an entity or a place of overwhelming power, beauty, or terror, the DM might allow an immediate subclass change."

Good luck with that ;)

Are you already in the midst of an adventure? Or are you making it up as you go? I find it's often easier to work within the bounds of an adventure. Necessity being the mother of invention and all.

Tomb of Annihilation is the campaign. I like Sanvael's option of choosing. As stated, Wild Magic is the core of the class.

Quote from Sanvael >>

Wild Magic surges are the core of the class - I'm not sure what the point of playing a Wild Magic sorcerer is without them.

You could consider sending them on a quest that grants them a magical item - an arcane focus like a staff that helps them try to control it - that allows them to roll twice on the Wild Surge table and choose the result they prefer.

 I think that's the ideal solution, but to me the problem is that this is simply the Wild Magic Sorcerer's 14th level ability. I feel like just giving one player a major milestone ability early is kind of unfair.

I think what I would do instead is to give the player a magic item that let's them choose to reroll on the Wild Magic table a limited number of times per day... it won't give them the full benefits of their high level ability early, but they've got an emergency escape button in case they're about to drop a fireball in the middle of their group of allies.

I'd probably make it into a Shard, like we see in Tasha's. The Feywild Shard is already a Wild-Magic focused shard, although it has kind of the opposite effect of what your player is asking for, since it lets you trigger wild magic more often.

Here's what I would recommend... let's call it the Shard of Chained Chaos. Requires Attunement by a Wild Magic Sorcerer. While attuned to this Shard, after rolling on the wild magic table you can choose to roll a second time, but you must use this second roll. The shard cannot be used in this manner again until you complete a Long Rest, or unless you spend 5 Sorcery Points to do so.

I want the cost of it to be high because it's replicating a high-level ability, so when they reach level 14 they won't feel like they're getting a pointless bonus that they've had access to this whole time. If anything what they really gain from reaching level 14 is the ability to stop attuning to the Shard so they can attune to some other treasure they've found. 

I would definitely do this as a METAMAGIC option that the PC could choose from 3rd level onwards.

The sorcerer can spend 1 sorcery point per level of the spell that triggered the wild magic,  AFTER the result on the wild magic table has been determined but BEFORE the full effect has taken place, i.e. before damage dice or saving throws have been made for the wild magic effect (e.g. the sorcerer senses that confusion is about to spread in his immediate vicinity, and so chooses to suppress this particular burst of magic with his sorcerous control.)

Of course, if the sorcerer doesn't have enough points remaining then they will have to suffer the effects (because he is too tired to react quickly enough to stop it).

(You could reduce the cost to 1 per 2 levels of the spell (round up) if you are feeling generous.)

As Trans pointed out, this story element of a wild magic sorcerer gaining some control is literally baked into the class. They can make whatever RP efforts they would like to, and at level 14 it will pay off. I suppose if you weren't planning on getting there after ToA, a magic item like one suggested here would probably be best. I prefer that to a metamagic solution as the mm system is already very stingy considering that the class leans on it so heavily - sorcery points/mm is literally the only feature of the class.

I would maybe give them the option to "Defer" their surge and maybe give them the option to make a saving throw on subsequent turns that would allow them to hold the surge. Then on a nat 20 with this "holding it in" they could choose to roll again or dispel the urge. On a nat 1 the surge happens and they probably also take some damage for trying to hold it in. Or maybe you could give them an orb or scroll that contains one wild surge at a time, so if they rolled a resurrection they could choose to cache it.

This is a necro'd thread from 3 years ago. But, just in case someone sees this and has a similar problem - I had a wild magic sorceress player who had a similar story arc idea for her character. The story I gave her culminated in a ritual that allowed her character to either bump up her Wild magic powers (more control, etc) or shift her subclass to a completely new one (due to story reasons). She wound up choosing to change subclasses. 

It was a cool part of the campaign, but it also took lvls 1-11 or so to culminate. Could be a good idea to offer something similar if anyone out there has a Wild Magic sorcerer that wants to RP "controlling" their magic or "getting better".

okay. I like Sanvael's idea as well. howsabout this. BIG MONSTER! maybe in the beastlands? (it deserves some love too) its blood makes a potion that allows the sorcerer to roll twice and take the option they prefer (actually scince it imposes order, maybe its an elder modron from mechanus?)