| Justin Rocket |
In my world, Sorcerers don't gain their power through heritage. They start off as children who, for one reason or another, attract the attention of spirits. Their primary spirit is their guardian. All sorcerers gain familiars (wizards gain arcane bonds, but not familiars). The sorcerer's familiar starts off as a normal animal which acts as an anchor for the guardian. With feats, the familiar can become more powerful.
Okay, so far, this sounds a bit like witches, the difference being that witches are Int-based scholars who have tried to duplicate by means of technique, what sorcerers are and have found malevolent entities from the nightmare plane who convince the witches the entities are guardians.
Sorcerers have an exceptional connection to magic, but have a reputation for not having the best control over it. They are usually ostracized and chased out as teenagers once their nature is discovered. Typically growing up homeless, they often end up in secret societies covertly helping each other. PC sorcerers have ties to these organizations and can buy special "sorcerer only" feats representing access to various resources.
Lacking formal training in magic and faced with magic they are fearful of losing control of, young sorcerers may create superstitions to help them control their magic. A rabbit's foot may have no intrinsic power, but the young sorcerer believes it does. It becomes a psychological aid which helps the sorcerer. The sorcerer is convinced the item provides magical aid. Therefore, it actually does provide benefits. People with Arcane Knowledge call these items fetishes. Many Int-based casters unfamiliar with fetishes have been driven into utter confusion over how seemingly random detritus provides obvious benefits to sorcerer spell casting.
As mentioned earlier, sorcerers have an exceptional connection to magic. This connection comes with a price, however. It can warp the sorcerer, both mentally and physically. This warping is called corruption. How corruption manifests depends on the guardian's nature. Corruption provides both helpful and detrimental changes (for example, fish scales which must be regularly oiled to prevent drying out, but provide endure elements (cold)) and can get increasingly pronounced. The worse it gets, the more obvious it is (for example, the aforementioned fish scales spread over a greater percentage of the body and a fishy smell develops). Purification is possible with lengthy rituals which must be learned.
Also, guardians fall into the following three main types; ancestral, primal, astral. Each of these fall into subtypes, primal falls into elemantal, draconic, and primeval.