Sorcerer — Partial School Draft¶
Working draft, not locked in. Sorcerers are a partial school with no academy behind them. Their magic is a Sigil bloodline coming out sideways — present, but unstructured, rather than the clean focused ability of a Sigil-bearer (see Sorcerer Bloodlines and Sigils in Magic Systems and The Sigil Houses).
There's no set Sorcerer class per bloodline, and no fixed spell list. Each Sorcerer's spells and Arts are worked out by the player and GM together, matched to the Sigil their bloodline carries.
Who Can Be a Sorcerer¶
- Bloodline. A Sorcerer is born to a Sigil bloodline — any of the thirteen houses, or Aberrant. The bloodline decides what the sorcery feels like and which spells fit it.
- No Sigil. A Sorcerer doesn't carry the Sigil itself and can't take a Sigil Focus. That gap is what makes them a Sorcerer, and why the houses watch them.
- Taken like any partial Mage tradition: an Adventurer pairs it with another partial class.
How They Cast¶
The trade: Sorcerers get their magic more slowly than a typical partial Mage, but use it more often.
- Slower. A Sorcerer knows fewer spells than a partial Mage of the same level could prepare, and gains Arts more slowly. (Exact numbers pending a pass against WWN's partial-Mage tables.)
- More often. A Sorcerer casts as many spells per day as a full Mage of the same level.
- Known, not prepared. No spellbook and no daily preparation: the spells a Sorcerer knows are simply theirs. Swapping one out happens on gaining a level, with the GM's agreement.
- No research. Their magic is innate, so the school-catalogue and research gates on 4th and 5th level spells don't apply to them (see Practical Access in Magic Systems). The spell-level ceiling still does.
Building a Sorcerer¶
Done together, at the table, when the character is made and again each time they gain a spell or Art.
- Name the bloodline. Which Sigil's line the Sorcerer comes from.
- Say how it comes out sideways. One line on how the bloodline's domain shows up as raw, unstructured sorcery — a Tempest line whose storms answer the caster's temper, a Wayfarer line that skips space when startled.
- Pick spells from any list. Sorcerers pull across school lines — Crimson, Mirage, Primal, Haras, Unbound, General — taking whatever fits the bloodline's domain. The GM approves each pick. A spell that doesn't fit needs a story reason, not just a good build.
- Build the Arts. Sorcerer Arts are bespoke. Start from an existing Art on any list and reskin it to the bloodline, or write a new one as a rough, unstructured echo of the Sigil's domain. Never a copy of the Sigil Focus's own abilities — that clean, focused power is exactly what a Sorcerer doesn't have.
Starting Points by Bloodline¶
Suggestions to start the conversation, not lists. Spells and Arts named here come from the setting's school lists.
| Bloodline | Sideways leaning | Spells to start from | Arts to start from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artisan | Matter that shapes itself | Sense the Working, Elemental Favor, Flame Without End, Breach | Earthsight, Rune of Destruction |
| Healer | Life read and held still — no healing | Amber Stasis, False Death, Sense the Working | Gravesight, Unliving Persistence |
| Tide | Water and air that carry | Shrink the Vessel, Aqueous Harmony, Boreal Wings, Wind Walking | Steps of Air, Beckoned Deluge |
| Tempest | Storm, wind, lightning | Fair Weather, Gale of Iron, Elemental Vallation | Elemental Blast (lightning), Stunning Shock, Thermal Shield |
| Hearth | Shelter and comfort | Fair Weather, Palanquin of Passage, Loyal Servant, Watcher's Flame | Elemental Sparks, Thermal Shield |
| Scholar | Words that carry meaning | Lasting Impression, Bound Word, Whisper Through the Skull, Short Foresight | Build from scratch |
| Sentinel | Protection of a person | Weapon-Ward, Warding Glass, Conjured Plate, Second Chance | Pavis of Elements |
| Warder | Exclusion and counterspell | Unmaking, Ward Line, Stored Unmaking, Unbreakable Ward | Pavis of Elements |
| Shade | Going unseen, wearing other faces | Borrowed Face, Veil of Unseeing, Borrowed Skin, Step From the World | Build from scratch |
| Wayfarer | Skipping distance | Fleet Step, Short Step, Skyward Step, The Near Gate | Steps of Air |
| Diviner | Seeing what's hidden | Sense the Working, The Distant Eye, Flame Scrying, Short Foresight | Earthsight, Flamesight |
| Tracker | Finding a specific someone | The Distant Eye, Elemental Spy, Flame Scrying | Gravesight |
| Handler | Beasts that listen | Beast-Speaker's Bond, Loyal Servant | Build from scratch |
| Aberrant | Anything — unpredictable by nature | Any, by agreement | Any, by agreement |
Healer-line Sorcerers get no healing: no list teaches it, and serious healing belongs to the Healer Sigil alone.
Still open¶
- Exact spells known, Arts, and Effort, checked against WWN's partial-Mage tables.
- Whether the spell-level ceiling follows the partial Mage's, or lags behind it too.
- Healer-line Sorcerers: the Sigil only manifests in mothers. Does a Healer bloodline's sorcery show up in anyone born to it, or follow the same rule?
- Forge has no list yet; Artisan-line Sorcerers will want it once it exists.