How Metamagic and Sorcery Points Work in 5e
Metamagic lets a Sorcerer bend a spell as they cast it: twice the range, a second target, no words or gestures, a Bonus Action instead of an action. Each option costs Sorcery Points. You get 2 points and two options at level 2, one more point every level after, two more options at levels 10 and 17, and you can use only one option per spell unless the option says otherwise. Below: the rules quoted, all ten options with their costs, and what the main ones are worth for a level 5 Sorcerer.
The rule
Sorcery Points come from Font of Magic at level 2:
You have 2 Sorcery Points, and you gain more as you reach higher levels, as shown in the Sorcery Points column of the Sorcerer Features table. You can't have more Sorcery Points than the number shown in the table for your level. You regain all expended Sorcery Points when you finish a Long Rest.
The table gives one point per Sorcerer level: 2 at level 2, 5 at level 5, 20 at level 20. Metamagic arrives at the same level:
You gain two Metamagic options of your choice from "Metamagic Options" later in this class's description. You use the chosen options to temporarily modify spells you cast. To use an option, you must spend the number of Sorcery Points that it costs.
You can use only one Metamagic option on a spell when you cast it unless otherwise noted in one of those options.
Whenever you gain a Sorcerer level you can swap one option for one you don't know, so a weak first pick costs you one level, not a career.
All ten options
| Option | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Careful | 1 | Allies auto-save |
| Distant | 1 | Double range; Touch to 30 ft |
| Empowered | 1 | Reroll damage dice |
| Extended | 1 | Double duration |
| Heightened | 2 | Disadvantage on saves |
| Quickened | 2 | Action to Bonus Action |
| Seeking | 1 | Reroll a missed attack |
| Subtle | 1 | No V, S or M |
| Transmuted | 1 | Swap damage type |
| Twinned | 1 | Spell level +1 |
Two of them, Empowered and Seeking, say "You can use [it] even if you've already used a different Metamagic option during the casting of the spell." Those are the only ways to stack two options before level 7.
What they buy at level 5
The worked Sorcerer: level 5, Charisma 16, so spell save DC 14 and spell attack +6. They have 5 Sorcery Points.
Heightened Spell (2 points) gives "one target of the spell Disadvantage on saves against the spell". Every save, not just the first. Hold Person on a Bandit Captain (Wisdom save +2): the SRD has the target repeat the save "at the end of each of its turns". The captain fails the first save 55% of the time, 79.75% with Heightened. Still Paralyzed at the start of your third turn: 16.6% plain, 50.7% Heightened. That is the best 2 points in the class when the fight hangs on one enemy.
Twinned Spell (1 point) works on a spell that "can be cast with a higher-level spell slot to target an additional creature" and raises its "effective level by 1". Hold Person adds one Humanoid per slot level above 2, so a level 2 slot plus 1 point holds two captains. A level 5 Sorcerer has three level 2 slots and two level 3 slots: Twinned saves the level 3 slot for Fireball.
Quickened Spell (2 points) turns an action into a Bonus Action, with a limit:
You can't modify a spell in this way if you've already cast a level 1+ spell on the current turn, nor can you cast a level 1+ spell on this turn after modifying a spell in this way.
So Quickened Fireball plus Fire Bolt works (a cantrip). Two Fireballs in one turn does not. Fireball is 8d6, average 28 on a failed save; Fire Bolt at level 5 is 2d10, average 11. See Cantrip Damage at Levels 5, 11 and 17.
Seeking Spell (1 point) lets you "reroll the d20" when a spell attack misses. Fire Bolt at +6 against a Bandit Captain's AC 15 hits 60%; with a Seeking reroll on every miss, 84%. Average damage per cast goes from 7.15 to 10.0.
Empowered Spell (1 point) rerolls up to your Charisma modifier in damage dice, "and you must use the new rolls." On a Fireball with Charisma +3, reroll the three lowest dice when they show 3 or less: that adds 5.0 damage on average to a 28 average. Since it stacks with another option, it never competes for the one slot.
Extended Spell (1 point) doubles a duration of 1 minute or more, up to 24 hours, and:
If the affected spell requires Concentration, you have Advantage on any saving throw you make to maintain that Concentration.
Sorcerers have Constitution save proficiency. With Constitution 14, a level 5 Sorcerer has +5, so a DC 10 Concentration save goes from 80% to 96%. On Hold Person or Fly, that matters more than the doubled minute. How Concentration Works has the full DC table.
Subtle Spell (1 point) casts "without any Verbal, Somatic, or Material components, except Material components that are consumed by the spell or that have a cost specified in the spell." Counterspell's trigger reads "when you see a creature within 60 feet of yourself casting a spell with Verbal, Somatic, or Material components", so a Subtle spell gives it nothing to react to. More in Counterspell and Dispel Magic.
Careful Spell (1 point) picks up to your Charisma modifier in creatures (minimum one) who succeed on the save automatically, and "takes no damage if it would normally take half damage on a successful save". Three allies inside a Fireball take nothing.
Transmuted Spell (1 point) swaps between Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison and Thunder. Fire-resistant or immune enemy, Fireball becomes a Cold or Thunder ball.
Distant Spell (1 point) doubles range, or turns Touch into 30 feet: a healing or buff spell from across the room.
Making and spending points
Font of Magic also trades points and slots both ways. You can "expend a spell slot to gain a number of Sorcery Points equal to the slot's level (no action required)", and, as a Bonus Action, turn points into a slot:
| Slot level | Point cost | Min. Sorcerer level |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 4 | 6 | 7 |
| 5 | 7 | 9 |
The trade loses value: a level 3 slot breaks into 3 points, but making one costs 5. Created slots "vanish" on a Long Rest. Break slots into points only when you need Metamagic more than spells.
From level 5, Sorcerous Restoration returns points on a Short Rest, up to "half your Sorcerer level (round down)", once per Long Rest. At level 5 that is 2, so a day with one Short Rest gives 7 points: three Twinned or Seeking casts and two Heightened, or any mix.
Later levels
- Level 7, Sorcery Incarnate: while Innate Sorcery is active, "you can use up to two of your Metamagic options on each spell you cast." Heightened plus Twinned Hold Person: two targets, both at Disadvantage.
- Level 10 and 17: two more options each time, six in all.
- Level 20, Arcane Apotheosis: while Innate Sorcery is active, one option on each of your turns costs no points.
Which two first
At level 2 you have 2 points and level 1 spells. A safe start: Twinned (cheap, works on Charm Person, Hold Person later) and Seeking or Quickened depending on whether you live on Fire Bolt or on control spells. Heightened becomes the pick once you have Hold Person and the points to spend 2 at a time. Swap one each level as the spell list grows. How Many Spells Can I Prepare in 5e? has the Sorcerer's prepared spell count.
Odds are exact d20 and dice counts. Rules and stat blocks from the SRD 5.2.1: Sorcerer class (Font of Magic, Metamagic, Metamagic Options, Sorcerous Restoration, Sorcery Incarnate, Arcane Apotheosis), Hold Person, Fireball, Fire Bolt, Counterspell and the Bandit Captain.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
