Wild Magic
Wild magic is not a common part of spellcasting. Usually, only Wild Mage sorcerers can tap into wild magic, but some magic items, areas of wild magic, or magical effects can cause wild surges.
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A wild surge is when you cast a spell and a second, unexpected effect happens, usually tied to the power of your spell. Wild surges can happen at random to Wild Mage sorcerers, but they can also happen for other reasons. When you cast a spell and trigger a wild surge, you roll on a wild surge table to determine the effect of the surge.
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Wild Surge Tables
When you trigger a Wild Surge for any reason, you roll on the Wild Surge Table appropriate to the spell’s level. Most of the time, your spell works as normal and you then you trigger a random secondary effect.
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If the wild surge has an effect that requires a saving throw, the DC is your spell save DC.
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You cannot wild surge more than once per turn.
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​Cantrips don't trigger wild surges. There are 10 wild surge tables. The first 9 correspond to spells of 1st through 9th level. The 10th level surge table is very dangerous and best avoided. If you somehow get a surge above 10th level, roll on the 10th level table.
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Wild surges count as spells of the same level as the level of the table. They are subject to the same restrictions as other spells, such as line of sight requirements.
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If your surge requires you to choose a target and you don't want to target a creature within range, you can target an object, which may be relatively harmless.
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If for any reason your spell is affected by more than one effect that causes a Wild Surge, then your Surge’s level increases by one level for each triggering effect. For example, if you use Voluntary Surge as a Wild Mage sorcerer and cast a 1st level magic missile in a wild magic zone where all spells are wild surges, you roll on the 2nd Level Surge Table instead of the 1st Level Surge Table. If you also trigger a random surge via the Wild Mage's Wild Surge feature, you would then roll on the 3rd level table.
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Wild Mage Subclass
We feature this information on our main Sorcerer page, but we've included it here for easy reference.
If you want to use our Wild Mage without using the expanded Elkan 5e ruleset, you should gain the level 10 feature at level 14, and the level 14 feature at level 18. You'll need to use Prismatic Bolt and Prismatic Spray from Elkan 5e regardless.
Level 1: Extra Spells Known
When you reach certain levels as a sorcerer, you gain the ability to cast higher level spells. When you do, you learn these additional spells. They do not count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. ​
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Level 1: Random Wild Surge
Sometimes when you cast spells, unpredictable things happen. Tapping into the source of your chaotic power is usually helpful, but can also be violent and dangerous.
When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, roll 1d6. If you roll a 5 or a 6, you trigger a wild surge, granting your spell an additional effect. The additional effect is not affected by your metamagic features.
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See our wild magic for details on wild surges.
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Wild Mage
Your magic came to you seemingly at random. Whether the result of magical experimentation, a gift from a chaotic entity, or even appearing out of nowhere, your magic is chaotic and unpredictable. Some wild mages are spotted at a young age, whereas others discover their volatile magic when they're older. A wild mage's spells always have a chance to do something random. Usually this is a good thing, but accidents do happen.
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In the world of Elkan, wild magic is the domain of Baphomet, the wild minotaur god, who you can see on our homepage.
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Level 3: Avert Disaster
Once Per Turn - Self - 3/Long Rest - Magical
When you roll a wild surge and don't like what you rolled, you can reroll the surge, taking either result.
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Level 3: Voluntary Surge
Once Per Turn - Self - 3/Long Rest - Magical
Before you roll 1d6 to determine if your spell will be a random wild surge, you can force your spell to be a wild surge. You still roll the 1d6. If you roll a 5 or 6, your surge's effect is rolled on the table one level higher (which is the standard rule for triggering a surge in two different ways). For example, if you voluntarily surge on a 2nd level spell and then roll a 6 for a random surge, you roll your surge on the 3rd level wild surge table.
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Level 6: Chaos Conductor
When you cast a spell with a random component you can control the chaos of that spell. You may choose to roll twice for every random component of a spell that isn't an attack roll, saving throw, damage roll, healing roll, or illusion check, choosing which roll you want.
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For example, every time a creature is confused by the Confusion spell and rolls for a random effect, you can roll twice and pick which result you wish to apply. With Mirror Image, you can roll twice to determine whether an attacker hits one of your images.
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Level 10: Delayed Surge
As you produce a wild surge, you bottle the magic within yourself for later use.
Reaction - 1/Short Rest - Magical
When you roll a Wild Surge, you can choose to delay the surge's effects. You store the surge for up to 1 hour, and can trigger the surge at any time using another reaction. If you do not trigger the surge within 1 hour, it then triggers automatically.​​
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Level 14: Magical Blowout
You make yourself a conduit for chaotic powers, allowing your magic to run rampant.
No Action Cost - Self - 1/Long Rest - 1 Minute - Magical
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Every time you cast a spell, you can choose to trigger a wild surge. You still have the normal limit of one surge per turn.
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You can use Voluntary Surge or trigger a Random Wild Surge after choosing to surge this way, raising the level of your surge.​​
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Tables
For each table, roll 1d20 to determine the result. More coming soon!
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