Aberrant Dragonmark – DnD 5e Feat Guide (2024)

Introduction

Aberrant Dragonmark is an unusual and often-overlooked feat option. Buried atthe end of the chapter of Eberron: Rising from the Last War which detailsdragonmarks (essentially subraces), it’s easy to overlook the feat bothbecause it’s a tiny block of text in a long chapter and because the benefitsof the feat are easy to overlook.

Aberrant Dragonmark’s leveled spell can be cast once per Short or Long Rest, rather than once per long rest like other spellcasting feats. That’s great if you’re picking a reliable, go-to spell like Absorb Energy or Shield which you can expect to use frequently.

For martial characters (or anyone that’s not a full caster), AberrantDragonmark is arguably the best spellcasting feat. While it provides fewerspells Magic Initiate, it provides a Constitution increase (reducing theopportunity cost of taking a feat), and Constitution is the casting abilityfor the spells gained from the feat. This is helpful for martial classes whomight otherwise need to weigh increasing a spellcasting ability score likeIntelligence over increasing their Constitution.

Martial Classes also have higher hit dice than full casters, so AberrantDragonmark’s third benefit is more slightly impactful. Getting 1d10 temporaryhp or dealing 1d10 damage is a bit better than 1d6 for a wizard orsomething.

However, those benefits come at a cost. You get one less cantrip than Magic Initiate, and you’re limited to the Sorcerer’s spell list. While that does rule out a lot of great leveled spells, the Sorcerer still gets numerous reliable 1st-level options that work on any character. If you’re planning to repeatedly use the two spells you get from Aberrant Dragonmark, this is an easy trade to make.

Aberrant Dragonmark also offers the ability to gain an Epic Boon randomly each time you gain a level. I recommend ignoring this option both because it’s unpredictable, and because when it does happen it will immediately cause problems in your game.

For more information about spellcasting feats, including ratings of the various feats, see our Spellcasting Feats Guide.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Aberrant Dragonmark Cantrip Options
• Aberrant Dragonmark Leveled Spell Options

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

Aberrant Dragonmark Cantrip Options

The spell assessments here are adjusted for characters likely to use the Aberrant Dragonmark feat. For a full list of available cantrip options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond. For assessments of the Sorcerer’s full spell list, see our Sorcerer Spell List Breakdown.

• Acid Splash^PHB: Acid Splash’s ability to target two adjacent creatures isn’t useful oftenenough to justify selecting it.
• Blade Ward^PHB: Dodge instead.
• Booming Blade^{SCAG / TCoE}: The go-to cantrip for martial builds. It notably doesn’t care about yourspellcasting ability modifier, so there’s no need to raise your spellcastingability to 20 to keep it reliable.

  Note that Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything published an updated version ofBooming Blade. According to Jeremy Crawford on the officialDragon Talk Podcast, the updated version can’t be twinned with Twin Spell.

• Chill Touch^PHB: The benefits over Fire Bolt or Mind Spike are too situational. If you’reonly going to have one cantrip, you want it to be consistently useful.
• Control Flames^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
• Create Bonfire^EEPC: A low-budget area control spell. It does as much initial damage as mostcantrips, but the ongoing damage only applies when a creature enters thearea or ends their turn there, so you can only get extra damage if you canforce an enemy into the space or if you cast it on them and they remain intheir space. It does require Concentration, which is a problem for mostspellcasters, but for martial classes with little reliance on Concentrationthat’s probably not a problem. If you like to grapple enemies, this is aninteresting way to capitalize on immobilizing a target.
• Dancing Lights^PHB: Get a torch.
• Fire Bolt^PHB: If all you want is ranged damage, grab a javelin or a bow.
• Friends^PHB: If you need to solve social situations, take the Skill Expert feat withPersuasion. It will be more reliable, and target sof your new-found charmswon’t hate you one minute later.
• Frostbite^{EEPC / XGtE}: Low damage for a cantrip (d6-based), but the big appeal is Disadvantageon the target’s next weapon attack. Unfortunately, it works on Constitutionsaving throws, and those tend to be relatively high compared to other savingthrows.
• Green-Flame Blade^SCAG: Perpetually second-best to Booming Blade, Green-Flame Blade is harder touse both due to the position requirement to hit multiple targets and due toyour spellcasting modifier being used for part of the damage bonus. Thismakes it difficult for anyone except artificers and bladesingers to use tomaximum effect.
• Gust^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational and too weak. If you just want something to force enemiesto move take the Telekinetic feat.
• Infestation^XGtE: Too unpredictable, and too unreliable since Constitution saves tend to behigh and because poison resistance is so common. If you just want somethingto force enemies to move, take the Telekinetic feat. If you want damage,look elsewhere.
• Light^PHB: Buy a torch.
• Lightning Lure^{SCAG / TCoE}: Despite the 15-foot range, this can be a great option for melee builds.Against enemies with poor Strength (like many enemy spellcasters), you canuse this to drag them into melee with you and force them to teleport orDisengage in order to get away from you unharmed. If you’re flying, you mayeven be able to pull enemies into the air to cause a small amount of fallingdamage. The save is Strength, so try to reserve this for physically weakfoes like other spellcasters.
• Mage Hand^PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
• Mending^PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e dealsdamage to your equipment.
• Message^PHB: Too situational.
• Mind Sliver^TCoE: Intelligence saves tend to be low, so this is easy, reliable damage atrange. It also only requires verbal components so you don’t need to juggleitems to cast it.
• Minor Illusion:^PHBIf you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing aForest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
• Mold Earth^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
• Poison Spray^PHB: Good damage compared to most cantrips, but poison damage is commonlyresisted, the range is essentially melee, and it’s a Constitution save soenemies will frequently pass the save.
• Prestidigitation^PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth afeat. See ourPractical Guide to Prestidigitationfor more advice.
• Ray of Frost^PHB: Decent single-target ranged damage, but if all you want is damage youshould grab a bow. The speed penalty is nice, but it won’t win you anyfights on its own.
• Shape Water^{EEPC / XGtE}: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth afeat.
• Shocking Grasp^PHB: If you’re going to be in melee, you’re almost certainly using a weapon.If you’re using a weapon, you’re going to be better served by Booming Blade.Even before Booming Blade existed, sticking to weapon attacks was probablystill a better idea.
• Sword Burst^{SCAG / TCoE}: Bad at handling crowds? Not anymore. The damage is excellent, and as youadd targets it will rapidly outpace your damage output with weapon attacks.It won’t totally replace your weapon, especially against single targets, butif you can throw yourself into the middle of a crowd you can deal a ton ofdamage in a hurry.
• Thunderclap^EEPC: Thunder damage is worse than Sword Burst’s force damage, and Thunderclapuses Constitution saves, which tend to be high.
• True Strike^PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attackingtwice rather than using this then attacking once.

Aberrant Dragonmark Leveled Spell Options

The spell assessments here are adjusted for characters likely to use the Aberrant Dragonmark feat. For a full list of available spell options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond. For assessments of the Sorcerer’s full spell list, see our Sorcerer Spell List Breakdown.

• Absorb Elements^{EEPC / XGtE}: A fantastic defensive option at any level, this will save your life whenyou encounter an unpredictable source of elemental damage like as a trap ora spell. The bonus damage on your next attack may be useful for martialcharacters, too. But remember that it has Somatic components and no materialcomponent, so most characters need an empty hand to cast it.
• Burning Hands^PHB: AOE damage is tempting for martial characters who often struggle tohandle crowds, but the damage will feel unimpressive at high levels.
• Catapult^EEPC: The damage won’t stay relevant as you level.
• Chaos Bolt^XGtE: Get a bow or a javelin.
• Charm Person^PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before Ispent a feat to get Charm Person.
• Chromatic Orb^PHB: Get a bow or a javelin.
• Color spray^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
• Comprehend languages^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
• Detect Magic^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
• Disguise Self^PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self asan innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
• Distort Value^AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
• Earth Tremor^{EEPC / XGtE}: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small andthe damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
• False Life^PHB: A good way to improve your durability, but if this is the reason you’rehere you might be better served by the Tough feat. You’ll also mitigate moretotal damage as you level with Absorb Elements or Shield since False Lifewon’t scale, but the damage that you take will.
• Feather Fall^PHB: Important in any party, but you shouldn’t need it often enough to justifythis being your one leveled spell that you can cast every day.
• Fog Cloud^PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism and a way to negate Advantageif your enemies have the upper hand.
• Ice Knife^PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gainlevels.
• Jump^PHB: Too situational.
• Mage Armor^PHB: A +1 AC increase over light armor, but since you’re not going to castthis during combat you’re going to miss out on the cool hit die effect ofAberrant Dragonmark.
• Magic Missile^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level. There is an interesting interactionwith damage boosts like Arcane Firearm and Hexblade’s Curse which makesMagic Missile an interesting choice for some builds. Because of the “DamageRolls” rule, each missile hits at the same time and it’s considered onedamage roll. This means that Arcane Firearm and similar damage boosts applyto every target, allowing you to do an unusually large amount of damage veryreliably. Even better, Aberrant Dragonmark allows you to cast your leveledspell using spell slots without multiclassing (unlike Magic Initiate), andsince Magic Missile doesn’t care about your spellcasting modifier it’s aneasy combination without investing heavily in Constitution.
• Ray of Sickness: Generally just not a greatspell. Little damage, short duration, a commonly-resisted status condition,and it’s all on a Constitution save.
• Shield^PHB: A reliable and consistent improvement to your AC, but remember that ithas Somatic components and no material component, so most characters need anempty hand to cast it.
• Silent Image^PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
• Sleep^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
• Tasha’s Caustic Brew^TCoE: I really like this spell, and if you can hit multiple targets andmaintain Concentration it can deal a decent amount of damage across the fulllevel range. However, beyond its damage it’s not super impactful.
• Thunderwave^PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
• Witch Bolt^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.