The key to any great character build is to be as true to your chosen class's nature as possible, while still maintaining an air of authenticity through creative choices and backstory. If you’ve settled on the Sorcerer class, then you obviously want to maintain a high Charisma throughout your game play so that you pack the biggest punch in the spellcasting arena, but who says you can’t also be a tank? In this list we will stick to races that boost your charisma so we can focus on how to tank each of these options out to the fullest. Remember, the point is never to win the game of Dungeons and Dragons, it is to play it and enjoy playing it. For that reason, I highly recommend giving any character build a fatal flaw, so that you add dimension to your interaction with the story.
10. Mountain Dwarf Sorcerer
A Mountain Dwarf Sorcerer Holding an Arcane Focus
The Mountain Dwarf is the kind of foundation that role players yearn for. Dwarves come with rich backstories, added benefits like armor proficiency, and attitude unmatched by any other race selection. Throw a little magic in there and Dwarves are forces to be reckoned with.
Look for items in the game made by Dwarves or made for Dwarves. These are generally powerful items that your DM will have an easy time creating a backstory for.
Get a hobby. Dwarves are innately proficient in a bunch of different tools. Make sure you incorporate these into your game play so you can give your character some dimension.
What the Mountain Dwarf Sorcerer Excels In
You can wear armor: As you can tell from the builds above, armor plays a huge role in protecting you. As a magic user, finding a race or subclass that lets you even wear armor without having disadvantage on Dexterity and Strength checks and saving throws is big. So don that halfplate and go kick some butt!
Dwarven Traits: Aside from the Armor Training highlighted above, you reap the following benefits from being a Dwarf. Resilience to protect you from poison damage. Combat Training hat makes you proficient in melee weapons. Tool proficiencies, which come in handy once you work out the mechanics with your DM.
Full Build Details: Mountain Dwarf Build
9.Yuan-ti Pureblood Sorcerer
A Yuan-ti Sorcerer and Their Snake Familiar
If you are tired of playing the bubbly bard and need a polar opposite change in your life, or if you just really like snakes, this Yuan-ti Pureblood will give you the heartless herpe foundation you’re looking for. Innately magical, the Yuan-ti are resistant to magic and immune to poison damage.
Stay true to your race selection and make sure to use the Animal Friendship spell as often as your DM intersects you with snakes. Sorcerers do not often have familiars, so this is a special treat offered to the yuan-ti.
What The Yuan-ti Sorcerer Excels In
Confusion: With a high Deception and Persuasion and a few well timed spells, the Yuan-ti is an unstoppable force, resistant to magic attacks and strong enough in constitution to withstand melee blows.
Full build details: The Yuan-ti
8. Half-Orc Sorcerer
Half-Orc Sorcerer Casting Fireball
This build is for the grumpier (in-game) role-player who likes smashing things with hammers and taking long walks across the faces of their enemies. If you’ve just joined the mages from your usual fighter role, then try on the Half-Orc Sorcerer for an intro to magic using, without all those pesky Wizard spellbooks.
Choosing the Storm Sorcery as your origin will give you access to Tempestuous Magic which will add even more oomph to each of your turns.
Mix this up by adding the Spell Sniper feat and choosing another Charisma based set of spells to cast on top of your known spells. See below for an example of the Half-Orc Sorcerer with a Warlock twist.
What this Half-Orc Sorcerer Excels In:
Combat Ready: This Half-Orc will be combat ready and will likely not lose focus on their spells while taking some time out to shoot arrows or land blows with a rapier. Keeping your Constitution up while taking advantage of the Storm Sorcery bonus actions is going to give your opponents a challenge they might not expect from a scrawny mage.
Full build details: Half-Orc Storm Sorcerer
7. Human Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer
A Human Sorcerer of the Draconic Bloodline
Are there many things cooler than a human with dragonwings? At level 14 this badass build offers everything the Draconic bloodline can offer and because you’re a human, all of your ability scores are automatically beefed up by +1.
Pick some fun kits to become proficient in. Make sure to discuss with your DM your final goals for your side projects in game, and how they relate to your backstory and game-play. Become a leather-worker so you can make custom armor that will fit you once your wings become a thing at level 14, learn to cobble so you can make shoes that give you the Alert feat, etc.
Choose a super-powerful item that gives you extra spells that don’t count against you spell slots, a bonus to your AC, advantage on saving throws, or all three! If you are playing in a high level campaign, you may be able to come to the table with these items. If you are starting off at level one, talk to your DM about which items you have your sights set on and they may set you up to encounter them when it is appropriate.
What the Human Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer Excels in
Adaptability: When you run out of spell slots, it’s nice to be good at other things. Humans are known for their ability to adapt under duress.
Magical Origin: Adding the Draconic Resilience to this build with a high Dexterity gives the human sorcerer all the AC it needs before even picking up a shield. This also gives the human some dimension, perhaps you have some physical traits from your forefathers like a fun dragon-eye, or a propensity to sprout a tail. The sky, and your DM, set the limits.
Full build details: Human Draconic Sorcerer
6. Tielfling Healer Paladin-Sorcerer Multiclass
A Tiefling Paladin-Sorcerer in Smoldering Armor
If you’ve ever come to a table full of tanks and no healers and not known what your options were, this tanked out healer build is for you. Sorcerers get a bad reputation for being blood-thirsty, evil, and selfish. Today we will turn that around with this terrifying and altruistic Tiefling Variant build that is sure to impress your party mates--who all came to the table as Barbarians.
When choosing your metamagic options make sure to include the Distant and Twinned spell option. This will allow you to expend sorcery points to give the Cure Wounds spell a range of 30 feet and double its use, which is great if two of your allies are unconscious and just out of reach.
With multiclassing comes a price, and you will see on this build that the price is speed. Talk to your DM about how to quicken your pace so that you don’t fall behind your friends. Perhaps a mount or a nice pair of wings (see the Sword Coast’s Tiefling Variant) will help you keep up with the rest of the party on those long road marches.
What the Tiefling Sorcerer Excels In:
Heavy Armor Proficiency: The challenge of choosing mages is keeping your Armor Class high enough to dodge a few punches. Combining a couple levels of Paladin into any class that is not already proficient in heavy armor is a great way to make yourself as untouchable as possible while still being able to cast fireball without stripping naked on the battlefield.
Healing Hands: Lay on Hands (5 per level of Paladin you chose) is a bank of hit points that can be given as an action to yourself or any of your allies that you can touch. Divine Soul magic lets you tap in to your inner Cleric and learn Cure Wounds. With the Healing feat added to this character, you become proficient in medicine and become an asset on the battlefield long after your spell slots have run dry.
All the Extras: The divinity in this multi-class build gives a lot of benefits in the way of smites, rebukes, protection and senses. From the Tiefling race selection, you’ll have dark vision, hellish resistance to fire damage, and infernal legacy all built in.
Full build details: Tiefling Sorcerer Build.
5. Tabaxi Storm Sorcerer
A Tabaxi Sorcerer in the Moonlight
The curious and dextrous Tabaxi race packs in some bonuses that pair well with sorcerer builds. Sometimes you just need to get the heck out of there, so pair Storm Sorcery with the Tabaxi’s innate Feline Agility to create a fast-as-lightning mage that will knock the socks off any monster.
Pair this build with the Mobile or Alert feats to give you the extra jump on your foe and keep yourself out of their crosshairs. If you are starting at a higher level, consider asking your DM if you can bring a magic item like the Ring of Evasion to the table.
Focus on spells where you can deal maximum damage with Heart of the Storm, which gives you resistance to Thunder and Lightning Damage and deals extra damage to those within 10 feet of you whenever you cast these types of spells.
What Tabaxi Sorcerers Excel In
Speed: If you can’t carry shields and heavy armor around without putting yourself in danger, speed is your only hope of survival. Feline Agility allows you to double your movement on one turn, and allows you to recharge this by standing still on your next. As a magic user with access to Invisibility spells, and extra speed from your subclass, you will be essentially uncatchable.
Storm Magic: The tempestuous magic you possess gives you an extra boost by allowing you to gust yourself away an extra 10 feet on a bonus action. Get out of trouble like an airbender, without having to endure any opportunity attacks.
Full build details: Tabaxi Sorcerer
4. Drow Half-Elf Wild Magic Sorcerer
A Wild Magic Drow Half-Elf Sorcerer in Melee
Speaking of Wild Magic, the Drow Half-Elf Wild Magic Outcast trope is the emo-assassin you thought you wanted to be when you grew up. A perfect combination of melancholy drifter, backstory potential, and crazy-powerful, out-of-control magic. This build is for anyone who loves improv and role-playing as much as combat.
The wild surge is not there to be feared. Make sure to have conversations with your DM about what is working and isn’t working. For instance, if your trigger for Wild Surge is rolling a 1, and that doesn’t happen often enough for anyone to have any fun, modify it!
What Drow Half-Elf Sorcerers Excel In:
Elven Ancestry: You have all the benefits of Darkvision, advantages against charm and sleep spells, and you tap into Faerie Fire and Darkness once per long rest, helping you diversify your magic and keep your combatants on their toes.
Wild Magic: At higher levels, Wild Magic can set you apart from other mages on the battlefield. Your DM and you will have fun setting parameters for the table so it works in your campaign and doesn’t become too cumbersome.
Full build details: Drow Half-Elf Sorcerer
3. Changeling Sorcerer
A Changling Sorcerer Sits With Their Many Selves
Since Sorcerers hit dice are some of the lowest in the game, they depend on their ability to persuade, deceive, and intimidate, to try and avoid altercations that are up close and personal. What better way to deceive than to come to the table as a Changeling?
Choose the Wild Magic origin to twist up your identity even more and add some adventure into your shapeshifting playstyle.
Make sure to beef up your ability scores so you maximize your AC and hit points. Keeping your Constitution high will be important for spells that require Concentration.
What Changeling Sorcerers Excel In
Be Who You Want To Be: You can change your appearance as an action and keep it that way. A very convenient party trick that is sure to impress your friend when you come back from the Burgomaster’s house filled to the brim with jewels.
Full build details: Changeling
2. Aasimar Sorcerer
An Assimar Sorcerer Casting Ice Storm
This build is for the true silver tongues who still want to participate in their fair share of action on the battlemat. These highly charismatic beings are the perfect foundation for a diplomatic sorcerer in a party full of thieves and goblins--if that’s your vibe.
A little irony can go a long way so give your Angel build a touch of darkness by choosing the Shadow Magic Subclass. This imbues you with Strength of the Grave, which suspends you between life and death and allows you to make a Charisma saving throw to prevent you from becoming unconscious, once per long rest. Later, you’ll be able to summon a familiar that uses the Dire Wolf stats to attack your enemies within 120 feet of your position.
Give yourself a strong backstory. This type of character deserves one, and it will help your DM justify letting you walk on with enough gear to make up for your potential lack of armor or unfortunate initial dice rolls for ability scores.
The recent Unearthed Arcana offers a Telekinetic feat that uses your Charisma modifier and allows you to shove opponents with an invisible mage hand.
What Aasimar Sorcerers Excel In
You’re an Angel, basically: The Aasimar are essentially demi-gods, with celestial ties, perfect hair, 20/20 Darkvision, and a whopping +2 Charisma and +1 Wisdom. We like these bonuses because they mean we can use our point buys to pack on the Dexterity and Strength later in the build.
Altruism That Packs a Punch: No one ever said that Angels can’t fight. And if they did, they’ve never met an Aasimar Sorcerer. Not only can you perform spells outside the Sorcerer list (light, lesser restoration, and daylight) but with the right point buy spread heavy in Dexterity and Strength, you’ll be able to throw daggers and melee right alongside your fellow fighters.
Full build details: The Glass Cannon.
1. Dragonborn Sorcerer
A Dragonborn Sorcerer in Combat
Dragonborn is a great race selection for Sorcerer because it gives you a +2 to Strength and +1 to Charisma and the Draconic Bloodline Subclass plays really well into any backstory you create. Bonuses like this are an important foundation so that you can focus on beefing up your Charisma and Dexterity scores, which go a long way in protecting you. This bonus system also works to your advantage if you are thinking about selecting a feat rather than an ability score increase.
Look for magic items to increase your Charisma, Strength, or Dexterity as these will be your main focuses throughout campaigning. If you are starting at a higher level and your Dungeon Master approves it, try to come to the table with an arcane focus that doubles as a weapon, or a cloak that comes with magical benefits. A few favorites for this build are: cloak of protection (+1 to AC without counting as armor), magical staffs (existing or customized), and of course any item that increases your Charisma, Strength or Dexterity will go the distance in protecting you from the evil--or good--that looms, depending on your alignment.
Never underestimate the power of feats. Choose from War Caster, Spell Sniper, or Magic initiate to expand your spell list and give your Sorcerer some depth without having to multiclass. If you want to stay true to your Dragonborn nature, Dragon Hide and Dragon Fear are some fantastic custom feats that are fun to roleplay and highly effective in battle.
What Dragonborn Sorcerer’s Excel in
Draconic Resilience: This is a hit-point bonus to your maximum just for being you.
Ancestry: Depending on the choice here, any spell you cast with this ancestral effect has the potential to do more damage. This becomes very beneficial at level 6, when your Elemental Affinity kicks in and you can add your Charisma modifier damage rolls.
Wings: If you plan on playing at high levels with this build, by level 14 you will come into a pair of wings that you can control as a bonus action. Mixing wings with a stealthy spellcasting metamagic option, or spell sniper feat is a great way to resolve conflict from the safety of the sky.
Full build details: For a glimpse into what an advanced Dragonborn Sorcerer can accomplish, take a look at this character sheet. Spoiler warning if you are currently engaged in the Tyranny of Dragons or Rise of Tiamat campaigns.
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