In the Sword Coast Adventurer Guide, we were introduced to the Arcana Domain for the Cleric class, which acted to provide a subclass for Clerics which draw upon arcane knowledge in addition to their holy patronage. As an inverse to that, the Unearthed Arcana #33 introduced the Theurgy wizard subclass which would similarly give the Wizard some access to divine magics. That being said, I am not a fan of the way the Theurgy wizard was constructed, as it basically feels like duct taping a Cleric subclass onto the Wizard chassis.
To realize a more specific "holy" flavor for a wizard, I have developed two subclasses - Astrology and Cosmology. I would love to hear feedback on both as well as which one you think better fulfills the fantasy of a wizard that dabbles in the divine.
Astrology
Star Mapping
Beginning when you choose this school at 2nd level, you gain proficiency in the Survival skill. While traveling at night (or in another space surrounded by celestial bodies) you have advantage on any Wisdom (Survival) checks made to navigate.
Additionally, you gain proficiency in Cartographer’s Tools. Using these tools, you can chart a Star Map in one of the pages of your spellbook as part of a long rest. Doing so allows you to use your spellbook as a spellcasting focus for your wizard spells.
Celestial Spellcasting
Also at 2nd level, whenever you cast a wizard spell, you can use the influence of heavenly bodies to alter its casting in one of the following ways:
Traveling Comet: When you cast a spell with a range of 5 feet or greater, you can double the range of the spell. If the spell deals damage, you can change the damage dealt by the spell to radiant.
Constellation: The first time you make a ranged spell attack against a single creature, you can choose to target two creatures within 10 feet of each other instead of one, making a separate attack roll for the new target. Any time you score a critical hit on an attack roll made as part of this casting of the spell, the energy leaps to a different creature of your choice within 10 feet of the original target: Make a ranged spell attack roll against the new target, which could cause the spell to leap again. Each additional attack made as part of this feature has the same effect as the original spell on a hit.
Focal Star: When you cast a spell that targets only a single creature or object, you can choose to enhance the target’s gravitational pull. Once while the target remains affected by the spell, you use your bonus action and force each creature within 15 feet of the target to make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature is pulled up to 10 feet towards the target, ending its movement in an unoccupied space.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
(Dunamancy): If the spells from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount are being utilized as part of the campaign, an Astrology wizard has access to the dunamancy spell list.
Horoscope
Starting at 6th level, the Augury spell is added to your spellbook and counts as a wizard spell for you. When you cast the spell at night (or in another place surrounded by celestial bodies), you can ignore the material component of the spell.
Channel the Zodiac
Also at 6th level, the Enhance Abilityspell is added to your spellbook and counts as a wizard spell for you. You can cast this spell once without expending a spell slot, targeting yourself. You can cast it this way regardless of if you have the spell prepared. After you do so, you cannot cast the spell this way again until you finish a long rest.
Improved Celestial Spellcasting
At 10th level, your ability to invoke the power of celestial bodies is enhanced, leading to the following improvements for each option available to you:
Traveling Comet: After applying this option, the first time you make a damage roll for the spell you add your Wizard level to the total.
Constellation: After applying this option, any attack roll(s) made as part of the spell scores a critical hit on a roll of 19-20 on the d20.
Focal Star: After applying this option, a creature which fails its Strength saving throw against this effect also takes radiant damage equal to your Intelligence modifier.
Cosmic Projection
At 14th level, you are able to call upon the power of heavenly objects wherever you find yourself across the planes. As an action, you can evoke an aura filled with illusionary, celestial bodies in a 20-foot radius. This aura lasts for 1 minute, but ends early if you are incapacitated. While using this feature, you and any friendly creatures within the aura can add 1d8 to any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw which uses its Intelligence or Wisdom modifier.
Additionally, once while this feature is active you can cast a Divination spell of 5th level or lower which you have prepared without expending a spell slot or material components.
Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.
Cosmology
Sanctified Spells
Beginning when you choose this school at 2nd level, drawing inspiration from the divine pantheon empowers your spellcasting. You learn one cantrip of your choice from the Cleric spell list, which counts as a wizard spell for you but does not count against the number of cantrips you know.
Additionally, the gold and time you must spend to copy a spell with the Ritual tag into your spellbook is halved, and any spells from the Cleric spell list with the Ritual tag are added to the Wizard spell list for you.
Celestial Dichotomy
Your spellcasting draws upon the balance of the Great Wheel and the many planes which comprise it. Also at 2nd level, from the influence of the upper and lower planes you gain two additional spells, as outlined in the traits below:
Positive Spellcasting. Choose one of the following spells: Bless or Cure Wounds. The chosen spell counts as a Wizard spell for you, is always prepared, and does not count against the number of spells you can prepare.
Negative Spellcasting. Choose one of the following spells: Baneor Inflict Wounds. The chosen spell counts as a Wizard spell for you, is always prepared, and does not count against the number of spells you can prepare.
Each time you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the chosen spells with the other from its associated trait.
Planar Recovery
In times of rest, you are able to channel the divine energies which suffuse the outer planes. Beginning at 6th level you can use your Arcane Recovery feature twice per day. At 14th level, you can use your Arcane Recovery feature three times per day.
Orderly Dichotomy
At 10th level, the forces of law and chaos also influence your magic in the following ways:
Lawful Spellcasting. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that deals damage, you can replace the value rolled for the damage with its average value. You can choose to do so after the damage is rolled, but before its effect is applied. Once you do so, you cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Chaotic Spellcasting. When you cast a spell that requires you to make an attack roll, you can instead choose to flip a coin. On heads, the attack is treated as scoring a critical hit. On tails, the attack is treated as scoring a critical failure. If you alter your attack roll this way, it is not affected by sources of advantage or disadvantage. Once you have scored a critical hit this way, you cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Otherworldly Barriers
Starting at 14th level, each time you complete a long rest you gain the effect of the Protection from Evil and Good spell, which lasts until the start of your next long rest. If you attack a creature or target it with a spell, this effect ceases to protect you from any creatures of the same type for the remainder of its duration.
Astrology: Doesn't really feel divine to me. Travelling Comet is extremely OP at level 10: 600ft range on Fireball with + 10 damage and it is radiant damage is insanely good (even at lower levels this is very powerful basically equivalent to 2 metamagics). I'd suggest give turn it into radiant damage at 2nd level and double the range at 10th level.
Constellation should be limited to cantrips. Doubling upcast levelled spells is unbalanced.
Focal Star - this shouldn't be repeatable for free, just once on casting.
Channel the Zodiac is fine but I don't get how the mechanics reflect the flavour.
Channel the Zodiac is fine but I don't get how the mechanics reflect the flavour.
A good portion of Zodiac symbols are represented by animals (Leo - Lion, Taurus - Bull, Pisces - Fish, etc). Enhance Ability allows you to become empowered by some animalistic trait. So, the flavor is just that instead of getting a generic "Bull's Strength" you are channeling the cosmic power of Taurus. Plus you get a spell not usually available to wizards that you can cast.
Astrology: Doesn't really feel divine to me. Travelling Comet is extremely OP at level 10: 600ft range on Fireball with + 10 damage and it is radiant damage is insanely good (even at lower levels this is very powerful basically equivalent to 2 metamagics). I'd suggest give turn it into radiant damage at 2nd level and double the range at 10th level.
To get a range of 600 feet, you would need to get access to the Extended Spell metamagic through either a feat or multiclassing, so it requires more investment. This sort of combo is intentional, but not one you can get through this subclass alone. Even with those aspects, due to the small pool of sorcery points you would have, you could likely only do that combo once per day. Beyond that, getting that insane reach also requires you to be in a situation where you can target something 600 feet away without any cover between you and the target, which will be likely few and far between unless you are running a campaign almost exclusively in an open field.
Edit: The Extended Spell metamagic would not be applicable to Fireball with only 2 sorcery points from the feat, so you would have to multiclass to get the 600foot Fireball combo, at which point your build is going to be fairly MAD.
Constellation should be limited to cantrips. Doubling upcast levelled spells is unbalanced.
A sorcerer can do this using Twinned Spell without the limitation of the targets being within 10 feet of each other, and depending on their level they can potentially do it more often than the wizard, who can only apply these changes INT/long rest (no more than 5 times per day)
Focal Star - this shouldn't be repeatable for free, just once on casting.
At level 10 its basically radiant Lightning Lure that you can cast as a bonus action. I dont think thats too powerful, especially since you are limited by battlefield layout for which creatures you can target.
Constellation: Twinned spell is NOT free, Sorcerery points are a very limited resource if spent on additional spell slots are equivalent to the Wizard's Arcane Recovery, and Sorcerers get far fewer known spells. Giving everything a sorcerer gets to a wizard at no cost to the wizard's existing resources is unbalanced.
Focal Star: this is AoE where as Lightning Lure is a single target, plus Focal Star can be used to pull creatures towards the big tanky Barbarian whereas Lightning Lure pulls them towards the squishy wizard. Even if it was changed so that is wasn't significantly better than Lightning Lure (which it is right now) that is still Quicken spell for free every round at level 2 - totally unbalanced.
Travelling Comet : adding a flat damage bonus to every target of a spell is extremely powerful. The Draconic Sorcerer version of this is extremely limited in which spells it can affect, and maxes out at +5 (where as yours can be a +20 bonus), and even still the Draconic Sorcerer version makes them the best blaster in the game.
Your Astrology Wizard basically takes every good feature from Sorcerers and gives them to the Wizard for free. This is very OP!
Constellation: Twinned spell is NOT free, Sorcerery points are a very limited resource if spent on additional spell slots are equivalent to the Wizard's Arcane Recovery, and Sorcerers get far fewer known spells. Giving everything a sorcerer gets to a wizard at no cost to the wizard's existing resources is unbalanced.
This isnt free either. You get to use Celestial Spellcasting Int/LR.
Focal Star: this is AoE where as Lightning Lure is a single target, plus Focal Star can be used to pull creatures towards the big tanky Barbarian whereas Lightning Lure pulls them towards the squishy wizard. Even if it was changed so that is wasn't significantly better than Lightning Lure (which it is right now) that is still Quicken spell for free every round at level 2 - totally unbalanced.
Except at level 2 it doesnt deal damage, so its nowhere near lightning lure. Plus, how much bang you get out of it depends on if the person actually has other targets nearby. You could potentially pull a bunch, but realistically you may only grab one or two. I can see how such a large AOE may still be powerful, so I will limit it to once per casting for now.
Travelling Comet : adding a flat damage bonus to every target of a spell is extremely powerful. The Draconic Sorcerer version of this is extremely limited in which spells it can affect, and maxes out at +5 (where as yours can be a +20 bonus), and even still the Draconic Sorcerer version makes them the best blaster in the game.
Your Astrology Wizard basically takes every good feature from Sorcerers and gives them to the Wizard for free. This is very OP!
Again. Not for free. You missed an absolutely crucial limitation of the ability (which I have now highlighted in red), which I think is skewing your appraisal. The wizard cannot use this all the time for free
What I mean by "free" is that it is purely above and beyond what a Wizard can already do, and they get similar number of uses per day as a sorcerer does. It turns the wizard into both a wizard and a sorcerer without sacrificing anything. To think about it another way, if you let a character gain both all the class features of Wizard AND all the class features of Sorcerer when they level up you would get a character similar in abilities as this character. Though this subclass actually scales up faster in terms of meta-magic uses that the hypothetical dual-classed character.
(And still many of the features of Astrologer are more potent than the sorcerer equivalents). Consider the +level damage can be combined with: Magic Missile to give (1d4+1+level )* (2+spell level) damage that aurohits. Aka 40 autohitting force damage 4x per day at level 6. Or comboed with something like negative energy flood for 10 extra damage to everyone on the entire battlefield...
What I mean by "free" is that it is purely above and beyond what a Wizard can already do, and they get similar number of uses per day as a sorcerer does. It turns the wizard into both a wizard and a sorcerer without sacrificing anything. To think about it another way, if you let a character gain both all the class features of Wizard AND all the class features of Sorcerer when they level up you would get a character similar in abilities as this character. Though this subclass actually scales up faster in terms of meta-magic uses that the hypothetical dual-classed character.
(And still many of the features of Astrologer are more potent than the sorcerer equivalents). Consider the +level damage can be combined with: Magic Missile to give (1d4+1+level )* (2+spell level) damage that aurohits. Aka 40 autohitting force damage 4x per day at level 6. Or comboed with something like negative energy flood for 10 extra damage to everyone on the entire battlefield...
If your definition of "free" is that it is above and beyond what a class can normally do, then every subclass in the game gives the character stuff "for free", including other Wizard subclasses. Evocation wizards can allow their friends to avoid harm from their evocation spells and can add their Int to those spells "for free." Scribes wizards can change damage types for any of their spells "for free." Enchantment wizards can target multiple creatures with their enchantment spells "for free"
These abilities do not turn a wizard into a sorcerer. While I did take some inspiration from Metamagic, I tried to make each option somewhat unique. The one that runs closest to a metamagic option is Traveling Comet with Distant Spell. Beyond that, though, Constellation is distinctly different from Twinned Spell based on its targeting limitations (targets must be within 10 feet of each other) and its potential ability to jump to extra targets. If anything, its more like a mixing of the mechanics of Acid Splash and Chaos Bolt (although with a much lower chance of jumping). There also isnt a single metamagic in the sorcerer's arsenal that would replicate the ability of Focal Star.
On the sorcerer side of things, this wizard cannot replicate the abilities of Extended Spell, Empowered Spell, Transmuted Spell, Heightened Spell, Quickened Spell, Subtle Spell, Seeking Spell, or Careful Spell. They still have lots of options to set them apart. Also, with a maximum of 20 Sorcery points they stand to use their metamagic far more than 5 times per day.
Wizards main mechanic is spellcasting, and there are plenty of existing subclasses for them that have introduced mechanics which alter their spellcasting in some way. Although Sorcerers have the most choice and flexibility in altering their spellcasting through metamagic, they do not have monopoly on it.
As a separate note, you make a very good point about the extra damage and pairing it with magic missile specifically, so I will likely lower the damage. That being said, due to the limited uses of the ability, it needs to be something flashier than just +Int because Evocation Wizards get to add that much damage all the time.
In the Sword Coast Adventurer Guide, we were introduced to the Arcana Domain for the Cleric class, which acted to provide a subclass for Clerics which draw upon arcane knowledge in addition to their holy patronage. As an inverse to that, the Unearthed Arcana #33 introduced the Theurgy wizard subclass which would similarly give the Wizard some access to divine magics. That being said, I am not a fan of the way the Theurgy wizard was constructed, as it basically feels like duct taping a Cleric subclass onto the Wizard chassis.
To realize a more specific "holy" flavor for a wizard, I have developed two subclasses - Astrology and Cosmology. I would love to hear feedback on both as well as which one you think better fulfills the fantasy of a wizard that dabbles in the divine.
Astrology
Star Mapping
Beginning when you choose this school at 2nd level, you gain proficiency in the Survival skill. While traveling at night (or in another space surrounded by celestial bodies) you have advantage on any Wisdom (Survival) checks made to navigate.
Additionally, you gain proficiency in Cartographer’s Tools. Using these tools, you can chart a Star Map in one of the pages of your spellbook as part of a long rest. Doing so allows you to use your spellbook as a spellcasting focus for your wizard spells.
Celestial Spellcasting
Also at 2nd level, whenever you cast a wizard spell, you can use the influence of heavenly bodies to alter its casting in one of the following ways:
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
(Dunamancy): If the spells from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount are being utilized as part of the campaign, an Astrology wizard has access to the dunamancy spell list.
Horoscope
Starting at 6th level, the Augury spell is added to your spellbook and counts as a wizard spell for you. When you cast the spell at night (or in another place surrounded by celestial bodies), you can ignore the material component of the spell.
Channel the Zodiac
Also at 6th level, the Enhance Ability spell is added to your spellbook and counts as a wizard spell for you. You can cast this spell once without expending a spell slot, targeting yourself. You can cast it this way regardless of if you have the spell prepared. After you do so, you cannot cast the spell this way again until you finish a long rest.
Improved Celestial Spellcasting
At 10th level, your ability to invoke the power of celestial bodies is enhanced, leading to the following improvements for each option available to you:
Cosmic Projection
At 14th level, you are able to call upon the power of heavenly objects wherever you find yourself across the planes. As an action, you can evoke an aura filled with illusionary, celestial bodies in a 20-foot radius. This aura lasts for 1 minute, but ends early if you are incapacitated. While using this feature, you and any friendly creatures within the aura can add 1d8 to any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw which uses its Intelligence or Wisdom modifier.
Additionally, once while this feature is active you can cast a Divination spell of 5th level or lower which you have prepared without expending a spell slot or material components.
Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.
Cosmology
Sanctified Spells
Beginning when you choose this school at 2nd level, drawing inspiration from the divine pantheon empowers your spellcasting. You learn one cantrip of your choice from the Cleric spell list, which counts as a wizard spell for you but does not count against the number of cantrips you know.
Additionally, the gold and time you must spend to copy a spell with the Ritual tag into your spellbook is halved, and any spells from the Cleric spell list with the Ritual tag are added to the Wizard spell list for you.
Celestial Dichotomy
Your spellcasting draws upon the balance of the Great Wheel and the many planes which comprise it. Also at 2nd level, from the influence of the upper and lower planes you gain two additional spells, as outlined in the traits below:
Positive Spellcasting. Choose one of the following spells: Bless or Cure Wounds. The chosen spell counts as a Wizard spell for you, is always prepared, and does not count against the number of spells you can prepare.
Negative Spellcasting. Choose one of the following spells: Baneor Inflict Wounds. The chosen spell counts as a Wizard spell for you, is always prepared, and does not count against the number of spells you can prepare.
Each time you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the chosen spells with the other from its associated trait.
Planar Recovery
In times of rest, you are able to channel the divine energies which suffuse the outer planes. Beginning at 6th level you can use your Arcane Recovery feature twice per day. At 14th level, you can use your Arcane Recovery feature three times per day.
Orderly Dichotomy
At 10th level, the forces of law and chaos also influence your magic in the following ways:
Lawful Spellcasting. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that deals damage, you can replace the value rolled for the damage with its average value. You can choose to do so after the damage is rolled, but before its effect is applied. Once you do so, you cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Chaotic Spellcasting. When you cast a spell that requires you to make an attack roll, you can instead choose to flip a coin. On heads, the attack is treated as scoring a critical hit. On tails, the attack is treated as scoring a critical failure. If you alter your attack roll this way, it is not affected by sources of advantage or disadvantage. Once you have scored a critical hit this way, you cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Otherworldly Barriers
Starting at 14th level, each time you complete a long rest you gain the effect of the Protection from Evil and Good spell, which lasts until the start of your next long rest. If you attack a creature or target it with a spell, this effect ceases to protect you from any creatures of the same type for the remainder of its duration.
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Astrology: Doesn't really feel divine to me.
Travelling Comet is extremely OP at level 10: 600ft range on Fireball with + 10 damage and it is radiant damage is insanely good (even at lower levels this is very powerful basically equivalent to 2 metamagics). I'd suggest give turn it into radiant damage at 2nd level and double the range at 10th level.
Constellation should be limited to cantrips. Doubling upcast levelled spells is unbalanced.
Focal Star - this shouldn't be repeatable for free, just once on casting.
Channel the Zodiac is fine but I don't get how the mechanics reflect the flavour.
A good portion of Zodiac symbols are represented by animals (Leo - Lion, Taurus - Bull, Pisces - Fish, etc). Enhance Ability allows you to become empowered by some animalistic trait. So, the flavor is just that instead of getting a generic "Bull's Strength" you are channeling the cosmic power of Taurus. Plus you get a spell not usually available to wizards that you can cast.
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To get a range of 600 feet, you would need to get access to the Extended Spell metamagic through
either a feat ormulticlassing, so it requires more investment. This sort of combo is intentional, but not one you can get through this subclass alone. Even with those aspects, due to the small pool of sorcery points you would have, you could likely only do that combo once per day. Beyond that, getting that insane reach also requires you to be in a situation where you can target something 600 feet away without any cover between you and the target, which will be likely few and far between unless you are running a campaign almost exclusively in an open field.Edit: The Extended Spell metamagic would not be applicable to Fireball with only 2 sorcery points from the feat, so you would have to multiclass to get the 600foot Fireball combo, at which point your build is going to be fairly MAD.
A sorcerer can do this using Twinned Spell without the limitation of the targets being within 10 feet of each other, and depending on their level they can potentially do it more often than the wizard, who can only apply these changes INT/long rest (no more than 5 times per day)
At level 10 its basically radiant Lightning Lure that you can cast as a bonus action. I dont think thats too powerful, especially since you are limited by battlefield layout for which creatures you can target.
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Constellation: Twinned spell is NOT free, Sorcerery points are a very limited resource if spent on additional spell slots are equivalent to the Wizard's Arcane Recovery, and Sorcerers get far fewer known spells. Giving everything a sorcerer gets to a wizard at no cost to the wizard's existing resources is unbalanced.
Focal Star: this is AoE where as Lightning Lure is a single target, plus Focal Star can be used to pull creatures towards the big tanky Barbarian whereas Lightning Lure pulls them towards the squishy wizard. Even if it was changed so that is wasn't significantly better than Lightning Lure (which it is right now) that is still Quicken spell for free every round at level 2 - totally unbalanced.
Travelling Comet : adding a flat damage bonus to every target of a spell is extremely powerful. The Draconic Sorcerer version of this is extremely limited in which spells it can affect, and maxes out at +5 (where as yours can be a +20 bonus), and even still the Draconic Sorcerer version makes them the best blaster in the game.
Your Astrology Wizard basically takes every good feature from Sorcerers and gives them to the Wizard for free. This is very OP!
This isnt free either. You get to use Celestial Spellcasting Int/LR.
Except at level 2 it doesnt deal damage, so its nowhere near lightning lure. Plus, how much bang you get out of it depends on if the person actually has other targets nearby. You could potentially pull a bunch, but realistically you may only grab one or two. I can see how such a large AOE may still be powerful, so I will limit it to once per casting for now.
Again. Not for free. You missed an absolutely crucial limitation of the ability (which I have now highlighted in red), which I think is skewing your appraisal. The wizard cannot use this all the time for free
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What I mean by "free" is that it is purely above and beyond what a Wizard can already do, and they get similar number of uses per day as a sorcerer does. It turns the wizard into both a wizard and a sorcerer without sacrificing anything. To think about it another way, if you let a character gain both all the class features of Wizard AND all the class features of Sorcerer when they level up you would get a character similar in abilities as this character. Though this subclass actually scales up faster in terms of meta-magic uses that the hypothetical dual-classed character.
(And still many of the features of Astrologer are more potent than the sorcerer equivalents). Consider the +level damage can be combined with: Magic Missile to give (1d4+1+level )* (2+spell level) damage that aurohits. Aka 40 autohitting force damage 4x per day at level 6. Or comboed with something like negative energy flood for 10 extra damage to everyone on the entire battlefield...
If your definition of "free" is that it is above and beyond what a class can normally do, then every subclass in the game gives the character stuff "for free", including other Wizard subclasses. Evocation wizards can allow their friends to avoid harm from their evocation spells and can add their Int to those spells "for free." Scribes wizards can change damage types for any of their spells "for free." Enchantment wizards can target multiple creatures with their enchantment spells "for free"
These abilities do not turn a wizard into a sorcerer. While I did take some inspiration from Metamagic, I tried to make each option somewhat unique. The one that runs closest to a metamagic option is Traveling Comet with Distant Spell. Beyond that, though, Constellation is distinctly different from Twinned Spell based on its targeting limitations (targets must be within 10 feet of each other) and its potential ability to jump to extra targets. If anything, its more like a mixing of the mechanics of Acid Splash and Chaos Bolt (although with a much lower chance of jumping). There also isnt a single metamagic in the sorcerer's arsenal that would replicate the ability of Focal Star.
On the sorcerer side of things, this wizard cannot replicate the abilities of Extended Spell, Empowered Spell, Transmuted Spell, Heightened Spell, Quickened Spell, Subtle Spell, Seeking Spell, or Careful Spell. They still have lots of options to set them apart. Also, with a maximum of 20 Sorcery points they stand to use their metamagic far more than 5 times per day.
Wizards main mechanic is spellcasting, and there are plenty of existing subclasses for them that have introduced mechanics which alter their spellcasting in some way. Although Sorcerers have the most choice and flexibility in altering their spellcasting through metamagic, they do not have monopoly on it.
As a separate note, you make a very good point about the extra damage and pairing it with magic missile specifically, so I will likely lower the damage. That being said, due to the limited uses of the ability, it needs to be something flashier than just +Int because Evocation Wizards get to add that much damage all the time.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!