D&D Sandbox Character — Wild Magic Sorcerer / Goblin

Character – Campaign Introduction

One of the groups I play with has decided to start a new sandbox-style campaign. Like many long-running groups, life has made consistent scheduling difficult kids, jobs, shifting priorities so we’ve moved away from tightly scripted, narrative-heavy play toward a more flexible sandbox approach.

The group is in the middle of transitioning from the 2014 D&D 5e rules to the 2024 rules, but not everyone has access to the updated books yet. Because of that, I’ll be presenting this character with two mechanical builds: one using the 2014 rules and one using the 2024 rules. The character concept remains identical between both versions.

Sandbox campaigns are both freeing and challenging. Without extensive world lore at the beginning, characters need motivations that naturally push them toward exploration, danger, and cooperation. This character is designed with that flexibility in mind, allowing the DM to easily integrate elements of his past into the setting.

A fast-talking goblin con artist whose fake magic occasionally becomes terrifyingly real—and who considers unexplored ruins the safest place to experiment.

Character Overview

Name: Skez “Boomwhisper” Muzzlewort
Race / Ancestry: Goblin
Class / Subclass: Sorcerer — Wild Magic
Alignment / Motivation: Chaotic Neutral (impulsive, curious, self-preserving)
Pronouns: He/Him

I’ve always enjoyed the class fantasy of the Sorcerer as someone who doesn’t learn magic but instead survives it. Wild Magic Sorcerers in particular embody uncontrolled power magic that reacts to emotion, stress, and instinct rather than careful planning.

Pairing that with a Goblin felt like a natural fit. Goblins already exist on the margins of society, often underestimated or treated as disposable. Giving one volatile arcane power creates a character who is unpredictable, dangerous, and constantly struggling to keep control of something that may eventually consume him.

Skez does not believe he is special or chosen. He believes something went wrong—and now he has to live with it.

Character Backstory

Skez Muzzlewort known to most as “Boomwhisper” was born in the shanty warrens beneath a sprawling metropolis, where goblins survived by scavenging what fell through the cracks of polite society. Life below was simple: if something exploded, it was either a disaster… or a success. Skez had a strange talent for making it the latter.

He wasn’t particularly strong, brave, or stealthy, but he was clever and cursed (or blessed) with ideas that tended to end in fire, smoke, or screaming. Alchemical accidents followed him like a shadow. Sometimes they were intentional. Sometimes not. His peers called him a visionary. The city guard called him a recurring problem.

Eventually, Skez discovered something even more powerful than explosions: lying convincingly.

Reinventing himself as a traveling “Miracle Maker,” Skez began selling Boomwhisper’s Guaranteed Lucky Charms trinkets, tokens, and talismans cobbled together from scrap and superstition. Most were harmless fakes enhanced with cheap illusions. A few… weren’t.

Every so often, when Skez leaned just a little too hard into a performance, reality bent. A charm actually worked. A blessing manifested. A fake miracle became real. Skez never knew why only that when things went wrong, they went spectacularly wrong.

The turning point came when one of his “miracles” attracted too much attention. Rumors spread. Some people believed he was chosen by chaos itself. Others wanted revenge, refunds, or his head. Skez did the only sensible thing:

He left.

Now Skez wanders the frontier, ruins, and unclaimed wilds—places where miracles are harder to disprove and explosions are less likely to bother anyone important. He’s joined (or regularly works with) adventurers and guilds not out of heroism, but because dangerous places are perfect cover for unpredictable magic.

Out there, if something goes wrong, it’s just “another dungeon incident.”

Skez claims he’s searching for answers: ancient ruins, lost magic, anything that might explain why chaos answers him. The truth is simpler he’s curious, ambitious, and convinced that if he survives long enough, he’ll either figure it out…

…or become too powerful for anyone to complain.

Campaign Motivations

Skez’s motivations fit cleanly into a sandbox campaign:

• Gold means safety
• Power means control
• Knowledge means fewer accidents

Adventuring provides all three.

He is drawn to ruins, magical anomalies, and unstable places not out of bravery, but familiarity. Whatever changed him came from places like these, and he hopes that understanding them might someday give him control—or at least answers.

How He Gets Along in a Party

• Enthusiastically loyal to anyone who protects him
• Over-explains plans he only half understands
• Treats party members as friends, shields, and occasionally test subjects
• Feels genuine guilt when his magic harms allies

Despite the chaos, skez wants to belong somewhere.

Character Build

2014 Rules Build (PHB)

Race: Goblin (Volo’s Guide / Mordenkainen Presents)

• +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
• Nimble Escape (Disengage or Hide as a bonus action)
• Darkvision

Class: Sorcerer — Wild Magic

Key Features

• Wild Magic Surge
• Tides of Chaos
• Bend Luck (later levels)

Ability Scores (Point Buy, before racial bonuses)

• STR 8
• DEX 14 → 16
• CON 14 → 15
• INT 10
• WIS 10
• CHA 15

Suggested ASIs / Feats

• Charisma +2 (18 → 20)
• War Caster or Lucky

2024 Rules Build (PHB 2024)

Rules Reference:
This character uses the updated Wild Magic Sorcerer subclass.
See: Wild Magic Sorcerer — PerfectlyCircularSeal (2024)

Ancestry: Goblin

• Ability scores assigned freely (+2 CHA, +1 CON recommended)
• Nimble Escape
• Darkvision

Class: Sorcerer — Wild Magic (Revised)

Notable Changes

• More frequent interaction with Wild Magic features
• Improved survivability for Sorcerers
• Clearer integration of Tides of Chaos

Ability Scores (Standard Array Example)

• STR 8
• DEX 14
• CON 14 → 15
• INT 10
• WIS 12
• CHA 15 → 17

Feats

• Level 1: Magic Initiate (Wizard) or Alert
• Later: War Caster, Resilient (CON)

Final Thoughts

Skez is designed for low-lore, high-freedom campaigns. He works equally well as comic relief or as a tragic figure shaped by forces beyond his understanding.

Most importantly, he has a clear reason to adventure, a reason to stay with a party, and enough instability for the world to meaningfully react to his presence.