Classcraft, Sorcerer, Warlock, Sorlock, For PlayersRichard OstranderSeptember 21, 2021Coffeelock, Pact Magic, SpellcastingComment

Classcraft: The Sorlock

Classcraft, Sorcerer, Warlock, Sorlock, For PlayersRichard OstranderSeptember 21, 2021Coffeelock, Pact Magic, SpellcastingComment

While Dungeons and Dragons allows you to mash together any classes you would like, there are some multiclass combinations that are so popular that they get their own special name, a portmanteau of the combined words. Today we are going to be looking at one of my favorite combinations… the Sorlock.

So obviously, the Sorlock is a Sorcerer/Warlock, combining two different types of magic, Spellcasting and Pact Magic. While there are specific rules in the Player’s handbook that cover how these two features interact with one another, it’s a fairly complex system, and one that has little details that can easily be missed. So lets take a closer look at how this all works…

So generally, Spellcasting means that a character gets a set of spell slots, each of a particular level. So for example, perhaps a character gets three level 1 slots, two level 2 slots, and one level 3 slot. Each slot can be used to cast one spell per long rest, and will work for a spell no higher than the level of the slot. So if you want to cast a level 2 spell, you need a level 2 slot. Just to make things a little trickier, you can also cast a low level spell with a higher level slot. Sometimes this doesn’t make the spell any more powerful, and other times it can increase things like it’s damage or duration. This spell slot system is used by most casting classes, and is the system used by the Sorcerer, one half of the Sorlock.

In addition to this, the Sorcerer has another ability that works in combination with their spell slots. This is a feature known as “Sorcery Points”. A sorcerer has a number of points based on their sorcerer level (which is also the maximum amount of points they can have at any one time), which can be used to add special effects to their spells, such as extra damage or increased range. What is more interesting is the fact that the sorcerer can exchange these points for more spell slots, or exchange slots they have remaining for more points. This is a very fluid system, where one resource can quickly be exchanged for another, a system, that quickly becomes more complicated once you factor in the Warlock half of the equation.

Now Warlocks do not use Spellcasting, they use Pact Magic. Pact magic also has slots, but they are all the same level. So a low level warlock might have slots that are all level 1, but at higher levels, they could all be level 4 or 5. With this system, every spell is cast at their maximum level at all times. This seems like a great thing, but to counter this, warlocks get very few slots, just 1 at first level and 4 at 20th. Their spell slots also cap out at 5th level when they reach level 9. This probably seems pretty terrible compared to Spellcasting (a 20th level Sorcerer has 22 slots, all the way up to 9th level), but there is one important thing about Pact Magic… you get your slots back every short rest. A short rest is only an hour, and with it a Warlock is fully recharged. Now the benefit of this feature is often directly tied to your Dungeon Master and how frequently they let you take a short rest, but let’s look at how this combos with our sorcerer magic.

With a Sorlock, you can start off your day spending your sorcery points to gain more spell casting slots, after which you can convert your warlock pact magic slots into more sorcery points. These points can make you more spellcasting slots, and then you can take a short rest, regaining your warlock pact slots. Then you can start the process all over again.

Now this concept, take to the extreme, created what was known as the Coffeelock. Coffeelock’s never sleep, they just keep taking short rests and stacking up slots to infinity. This is pretty game breaking, which is why most DM’s either ban them from their table, or apply a rule from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything that applies Exhaustion to characters that don’t get a night’s rest.

Now me personally, I do not allow Coffeelocks, and I limit my Sorlocks to one early morning conversion of one set of slots (similar to people waking up and doing meditation or yoga). But I am happy to support the idea that whenever the party takes a short rest mid-day, the Sorlock gets a chance to move around their slots and points. Given I control the adventure, and I dole out the short rests, its a system that I think gives the player a nice amount of customization without things spiraling out of control. It also helps with the terrible amount of slots a Sorcerer is given, a limitation that I feel really makes them suffer in comparison to the Wizard.

So there’s the Sorlock, at least from the perspective of their spellcasting. Feel free to make one of your own, but be sure to check with your DM, as they might have their own rules when it comes to converting spell slots and sorcery points (a feature specifically known as flexible casting).

Hopefully you can reach some sort of accord, but until then…

Happy roleplaying, and may the dice be ever in your favor.