The 2024 Player’s Handbook improves many aspects of D&D’s Draconic Sorcerer, but fans still aren’t fully sold on the flavor. A YouTube video from July 9 reveals that the subclass will get its own spell list, better resistances, and the ability to summon a dragon companion. This is all great stuff, but the video’s comments (and social media) are filled with cries of “I WANTED TO BE A DRAGON”.
While Wizards of the Coast says “we have really amped up the draconic angle of the subclass”, this DnD Sorcerer still has many of the features that made it popular in fifth edition. Draconic Sorcerers still have beefier hit points, higher armor class, and increased resilience when compared to their subclass siblings, for example.
The new list of draconic spells the subclass can access at third level further hammers home the dragon theme. These DnD spells include Dragon’s Breath, and a new, level-nine spell, Summon Dragon. As the name implies, this gives you a dragon buddy. Crawford says it’s “a new version of a summoning spell we had in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons” with a few tweaks for compatibility.
At level 18, Draconic Sorcerers can cast Summon Dragon without its costly material component, and they can do so without using a spell slot (once per day). When casting the spell without a spell slot, Draconic Sorcerers also don’t need to concentrate on the spell.
Multiple quality-of-life tweaks (like not having to spend Sorcery Points on your subclass’ damage resistances) mean that the Draconic Sorcerer feels stronger than its 2014 counterpart. And the high-level options certainly feel more impressive. But D&D fans online can’t help feeling that Wizards could have taken the flavor further.
One Reddit post from July 10, titled ‘I Don’t Want a Dragon Pet’, says “something more fitting like a Draconic Transformation” would have been a better way to cap out the class. “That would’ve been arguably cooler and more on theme than just getting a summon-spell for free once per day”, the author adds.
Another commenter in this Reddit thread says the dragon summon was “not quite what I wanted”. “Was kind of hoping they get transmute spell for free and to actually turn into a dragon at level 18, but a concentration free casting of probably the best summon spell in the game is not bad at all.” “Still miles better than the last capstone”, they conclude.
For more on the 2024 Player’s Handbook, check out our One DnD guide. Or for character options you can play with right now, here’s everything you need to know about DnD classes and DnD races.