Sorcerous Origin: Etched Soul
Your innate magic comes from a powerful text or source of knowledge. Your lineage likely traces to an ancestor who encountered some forbidden truth or celestial insight which scarred your bloodline with magic.
The power of the words etched into your blood can manifest in a number of peculiar ways:
| 1d6 | Etched Bloodline Quirks |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your skin is covered in strange glyphs |
| 2 | Your pupils are shaped like letters or signs |
| 3 | When you talk, your words briefly appear in the air near you, before vanishing |
| 4 | Your blood has the colour and consistency of ink |
| 5 | Your skin looks like weathered parchment |
| 6 | Loose papers and pages tend to drift behind you as if caught in a breeze etched magic |
You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Etched Spells table. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. These spells can't be replaced when you gain a level in this class.
Etched Spells
| Sorcerer Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | comprehend languages, illusory script |
| 3rd | magic mouth, animal messenger |
| 5th | tongues, sending |
| 11th | word of recall |
| 13th | divine word, power word pain |
| 15th | power word stun |
| 17th | power word heal, power word death |
Forbidden Speech
1st-level Etched Soul feature
You can use an action to speak fragments of the word in your soul out loud, overwhelming listeners. Each time you do so, you take 1d12 psychic damage, and each creature within 15 feet of you takes 3d6 psychic damage.
Evoke the Name
6th-level Etched Soul feature
You understand better the glyphs that burn in your heart. Odd patterns and words float around everything in existence, but only you can attempt to understand them. You can spend a sorcery point to scrutinize a creature and learn its true name if it fails a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. Knowing a creature's true name (unpronouncable in most tongues) allows you to cast spells on it more easily, and that creature has disadvantage on all saving throws against your magic. You may only ever attempt to learn any given creature's true name in this way once.
Babbling Insight
14th-level Etched Soul feature
You can read the words in your soul, and they speak to you of things yet to come. You learn contact other plane and can cast it for a single sorcery point with a casting time of 1 action.
Words of Power
18th-level Etched Soul feature
Your mastery of the word supercedes all lesser magical foibles. As long as you can complete the vocal component of a spell, you can ignore any other components listed.