Clockwork Soul Sorcerer 5e

Review by Sam West, Twitter:@Crier Kobold

I think Clockwork Soul doesn’t have enough Modron energy in it for me. It sells itself as an origin of cosmic order with perfect synchronization at its heart, like great gears turning in harmony, but doesn’t really provide tools that deliver some amount of construct or order-based magic to it. It feels like it needs a new magic to bring the “clockwork” fantasy to life, as currently it just gets a bunch of defensive cleric magic and makes you figure out how it ties to the grand order of Mechanus.

With that grievance in mind, I also think, like Aberrant Mind, that this origin solves the biggest problem base sorcerer has in its lack of spell options in the early tier. I don’t think any of the abilities presented here are as evocative, but there are mechanical advantages to be gained by staying with this for a while

1st Level: Clockwork Magic and Restore Balance

Clockwork Magic offers you two bonus spells at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level: Alarm and Protection from Evil and Good, Aid and Lesser Restoration, Dispel Magic and Protection from Energy, Freedom of Movement and Summon Construct, and Greater Restoration and Wall of Force.
Additionally, you can swamp any of these out whenever you level up for an abjuration or transmutation spell from the wizard, warlock, or sorcerer list, which I highly recommend looking into. Alarm, Lesser Restoration, Freedom of Movement, and Greater Restoration all are seriously lacking in utility; having a way to exchange them for some of the best reactions in the game like Shield and Absorb Elements is a huge boon to get as you progress.
Dispel Magic, Summon Construct, and Wall of Force are routinely powerful effects you’ll find places to cast session after session. Only Summon Construct really leans into the constructed nature of this subclass hinted at by the Manifestations of Order quirk table presented with this feature.
This list does differentiate itself from most other sorcerers in that it sets you up as a “protector” archetype with effects like Aid and Protection from Energy.
Restore Balance is the other 1st level feature. Spending a reaction to remove advantage or disadvantage from a roll is an interesting premise, and its implementation here is solid. Having two to six options to remove advantage from an attacker or give your fighter a real shot at hitting through disadvanage is neat. It being alongside a bunch of free spells definitely helps, as this feature doesn’t majorly impact your build.

6th Level: Bastion of Law

Bastion of Law mimics Abjurer’s ward with a barrier that you can sink a bunch of sorcery points into to mitigate incoming damage. The rate of reducing 1d8 damage per sorcery point isn’t great. It takes an action to set up which makes it challenging to reactively use on creatures spontaneously in danger in fights, reducing its utility substantially. If you’re playing a protector or buffer-style character, Twinned Spell buffs are going to be an easy place to put your sorcery points. If you aren’t regularly spending them all, this is a place to get a bit more advantage from your points. If you are spending your points consistently on extra slots or Metamagic, I think this feature is nearly worthless.

14th Level: Trance of Order

Finally, a decent bonus action feature: Trance of Order. Any effect that sets a minimum roll to 10 can be wildly game-warping, and this is reusable. Its major limitation is it’s on Sorcerer, a class that has a harder time taking advantage of the roll boon for attacks. This can be hilarious on Eldritch Blast sorcerer builds, as now you’re quickened 8 blasts a turn have a minimum of 20 to hit with a 20 Charisma, which is real good. On your average sorcerer casting mid to upper-tier spells, you’re normally leaning on saves for your own damage and conditions. This doesn’t affect your Summon Construct at all. When your save and ability check minimum is 10, it feels a lot less oppressive for a DM than when every one of your attacks hits anything with an AC less than 20.

18th Level: Clockwork Cavalcade

For all the crap I gave this option at the beginning for not embodying the constructed look, Clockwork Cavalcade does an admirable job trying to look the part. An action to restore 100 hit points divided as you choose in a 30 ft. cube while ending harmful 6th-level or lower spells selectively is a big boon. It taking an action makes it a lot harder to justify finding room for. Still, there will be moments a Dominate Person is ruining your chances at success, and this will end it while topping off the character your paladin just smited for 50 damage.
Damage objects being repaired is an adorable little ribbon to top it off that will make it feel like Modrons rushing around fixing people and things. For free, I’m all about this. I can even see in a pinch spending the 7 sorcery points when you need to get a Slow or Hold Person off the team while getting some people off of zero. It's by no means a 9th-level spell equivalent, but alongside 9th level spells this is entirely reasonable.

All Together

If this option started with a clockwork familiar or some other mechanical buddy I think I’d be a lot more excited to play around with it. As it stands, it’s an option dedicated to augmenting rolls and adding some defense to the party. The bonus spell list is great to have, especially as you cultivate it over time, and Trance of Order is the kind of feature you can be massively rewarded for building towards.

It’s not my favorite, but Clockwork Soul is a perfectly serviceable Sorcerous Origin.

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