Through the Unearthed Arcana, Dungeons and Dragons is constantly evolving with new content added on a regular basis. The most recent addition to the Unearthed Arcana brought us a strange, order-based version of the Sorcerer, the Clockwork Soul. Focused on order, the Clockwork Soul Sorcerer works to restore balance, uphold law, and utilize control in a world filled with chaos.
The Clockwork Soul Sorcerer is born with their power as a result of some sort of interaction with Mechanus, the realm of utmost order overseen by the godlike Primus. This mechanical realm offers several flairs for the Sorcerer’s spellcasting, such as the ringing of a clock or giant, spectral gears behind you as you cast.
At first level, a Clockwork Soul Sorcerer earns Clockwork magic, allowing them a multitude of spells as Clockwork Spells that are unlocked as they level. They also gain Restore Balance, a feature that allows the Sorcerer to “equalize chaotic moments,” allowing you to cancel out both advantage or disadvantage on a roll for any target.
At sixth level, the Sorcerer unlocks the Bulwark of Law, allowing them to imbue a creature with a shield of order. As an action, the Sorcerer can expend one to five sorcery points to create a ward around a creature within 30 feet, counting themselves. Each point allows a D8, which the shielded can then roll when taking damage to lower the incoming damage by the amount rolled.
Once the Clockwork Sorcerer reaches the fourteenth level, they unlock the Trance of Order, allowing them to enter a “state of clockwork consciousness” using a bonus action. When in the Trance of Order, attack rolls against the Sorcerer cannot benefit from advantage, and whenever they make an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can treat a d20 roll of nine or lower as a ten at the minimum.
Finally, reaching eighteenth level, the Clockwork Soul Sorcerer can utilize the Clockwork Cavalcade to summon spirits of order at their will in a thirty-foot cube originating around the Sorcerer. These spirits do the following:
- Restore up to 100 hit points, divided as you choose among any number of creatures in the cube
- Any damaged objects entirely in the cube are repaired
- Every spell of sixth level or lower ends on creatures and objects of your choice in the cube (extremely useful for stripping buffs off enemies are taking away negative effects from your allies)
The Clockwork Soul Sorcerer upholds order and law above anything else – but it’s up to the player to decide what these qualities look like. Maybe this could mean enforcing peace and tranquility, or maybe it means tyrannically imposing an iron will. Either way, the Will of Mechanus is absolute.
