One of the things I wonder when I read a new class option is this: Should I be worried if it seems balanced?

The trouble with any addition to a game system is it provides a wonderful new way to break the game. Just ask the makers of Magic: the Gathering, who have been having a rough few years as they push the boundaries of the game, sometimes with unfortunate effects.

Sorcerer: Slaad Symbiote, a 5E archetype for the sorcerer, begins with good flavour: you’ve had an Slaad egg implanted in you, but instead of taking you over, it becomes your familiar, grants you power, and occasionally teleports outside you to do wacky stuff. Well, it mainly fights or relays your spells, but those are a good start.

One of the really odd things about the class is that, with the exception of the slaad going out and attacking, it is curiously lacking abilities that work actively or alter your powers. You get the following:

• Immunity to disease
• Advantage on Death saves
• Advantage on saves against magic
• Ability to heal yourself
• Ability to speak Slaad
• Ability to survive hostile environments

All very flavourful – although I note that if you use the resistance to magic ability, you gain a level of exhaustion. For an ability of limited use, this seems too much of a penalty. I also note that I’d prefer the ability to be activated as a reaction triggered by making a save rather than something you activate with a bonus action – imagine if you activated it and never benefited from it!

Unfortunately, most of those abilities disappear when your slaad symbiote is acting as a combatant or familiar. I like the tension between using the abilities and gaining your symbiote as an ally, but I think the powers need more interest to make the tradeoff worthwhile. Will you notice losing these abilities? I suspect, for the most part, not.

The concept is great, the abilities are well-written, but I prefer it if the symbiote affects how your magic works. Probably with a healthy dose of chaos!