The Scorned Sorcerer

As far as class thematic's go, Sorcerers have to be some of the most flavorful. Storm, Sea, Shadow, Draconic, Favored Soul, Wild Magic, Stone, and Phoenix, they all just work beautifully with their unique sub class abilities. What falls short unfortunately is the base class itself, with a very restrictive spell list and no ritual spell casting, its hard to justify a sorcerer over a wizard. But I personally have a soft spot for sorcerers, so lets have a look at making the most out of this class.

Wizbanga the Kobold Sorcerer, he saved many a life in his day.

Charisma, a PC's Best Friend

Having a spell casting modifier based of charisma is a huge bonus that grants a sorcerer some reprieve, as having a strong modifier for social skills allows sorcerers to excel in social interactions. Additionally many races have great natural bonuses to charisma, with Tiefling, Aasimar, Half-Elf and Yuan-ti Pureblood all gaining a starting +2, there is plenty of opportunity to start with a nice modifier even from level 1. Personally, the half elf here is my preferred favorite, for reasons we will cover below.

Now having a charisma based caster can be problematic, when having a bard warlock or paladin in the party also. Seeing as there is only a select few skills which utilize charisma, players may find themselves stepping on each others toes when it comes to who is going to parade as the parties "face". 

Picking a Second Purpose

When building a sorcerer, due to the need to really only prioritize charisma unlike say a paladin with strength/dexterity, constitution and charisma, it makes sense to then attempt to specialize in a second area. It should be stated here that increasing your constitution goes a long way as you continue to level up and shouldn't be ignored either hence the bonus of the Half-elf getting 2x +1 to any stat of your choice. 

A obvious choice for a second purpose would be dexterity, this could increase hit and damage with crossbows or daggers, up acrobatics and stealth rolls and also increase your armor class and initiative bonuses making you a more adaptable fighter. Combined with a urchin or criminal background, you now have a reasonably proficient infiltrator, with thieves tools and a number of spells to assist in this roll. 

Another option could be to build strength, coupled with a favored soul, stone or draconic sub-class. This could allow for characters to focus on a 2-handed build, using spells like Enlarge/Reduce or Aid to bolster your melee abilities. There are a number of defensive spells like Shield or Mage Armor to make your front line appearances less deadly and take the pressure of any overwhelmed front line fighter.

Another awesome and fun option is to take the favored soul and become your groups defacto healer/buffer. With the meta magic twinned spell ability, healing and buffing becomes incredibly efficient and powerful. This can take the pressure of any other support class in your party, especially when twin spelling Shield of Faith for your front line guys.

Another option could be to specialize in wisdom or intelligence in an attempt to fill any of your groups deficiencies in Intelligence or Wisdom based skill checks. This is where the half-elf continues to shine with its skill versatility and bonus languages.