Of all the multi-class character builds players can make in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, few are as versatile as the Paladin/Sorcerer, capable of hitting hard with blades, blasting foes with arcane spells, and bolstering allies with divine magic. What sort of character backstory would justify the existence of a "Sorcadin" PC in a D&D group's campaign world? There are a few interesting possibilities.
Unlike in previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition Paladins aren't tied to a deity like Clerics, but gain their Divine powers through the sacred weight of theirs Oaths to fight evil and protect the innocent. The wording of these oaths can be rigid or flexible, compassionate or ruthless – what's important is that a PC (and their player) earns their Paladin powers every day through sheer determination to uphold their promises. Sorcerers, in contrast to the dedication of Paladins, are gifted their powers by happenstance – because of their bloodline, the blessing of a divine being, or exposure to otherworldly energies. Unbound by codes of conduct, the need for scholarship, or obligations to patrons, a D&D Sorcerer's alignment can be any combination of Good, Evil, Lawful, Chaotic or Neutral.
Mechanically, a Paladin's Smites, Auras, and healing powers have great synergy with a Sorcerer's high-level spell-slots and Metamagic. Narratively, though, gamers need a compelling backstory to explain just why their Paladin PC awoke to the power of arcane magic, or why their Sorcerer PC was moved to swear a noble oath. D&D players or Dungeon Masters having trouble coming up with a good justification for their melee/magic "Gish" build should check out the sample backstories below, each designed to demonstrate how a Paladin's conviction and a Sorcerer's untamed power might exist within a single hero.
"Sorcadin" Backstory #1: A Sorcerer Swears To Avenge His Dragon Dad
Marius Scalemark, a Dragonborn with Draconic Bloodline Sorcery, had always been close his father Tiberius, regularly visiting the brass dragon's desert lair to chat over a bottle of wine and a freshly slaughter cow. One day, Marius arrived to the scene of a slaughter – the lair's treasure hoard plundered, his father's giant corpse butchered for parts.
Reeling, heartbroken, brimming with rage, Marius swore an Oath of Vengeance, consigning his own sorcerous soul to the flames of the Nine Hells if he failed to track down the murdering vagrants who killed his father and end them with sword and spell.
"Sorcadin" Backstory #2: A Sorcerer Grifter Becomes A Real Hero By Accident
Thane "Twopenny" Puck, a Wild Magic Sorcerer and con-artist by trade, had the perfect scheme lined up. He'd use illusion magic to stage bloodless "bandit attacks" on a local village, get them to post a Bounty in the local tavern, then disguise himself as a "Bandit-slaying Paladin" and collect all the reward money for himself.
...and then a real adventuring party showed up, a band of meddling heroes (i.e. Player Characters) who accidentally dragged Thane off on a harebrained quest to save the world. Stuck with this gaggle of do-gooders, Thane has to keep behaving like a real Paladin and rambling about his Oath Of The Ancients if he doesn't want his "new friends" to beat him up and toss him in a jail on charges of fraud. One other problem – the more Thane pretends to be a righteous, honorable hero, the more "right" it feels.
"Sorcadin" Backstory #3: A Watcher Of The Abyss Gazes Too Deep
Rosalind Dubois is a veteran Paladin who swore the Oath of the Watchers, a scarred, grey-haired sentinel who patrols her land, slaying demons and abominations, then sealing the dimension rifts from which they invaded. On her last quest, the portal she tried to shut exploded instead, drenching her body in psionic energy from Dungeons & Dragons' Astral Plane. As a newly-awakened Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, Rosalind uses her new, unnatural abilities with caution, fearing their abuse might turn her into a creature no different from those she swore to fight.
"Sorcadin" Backstory #4: A Patriotic Paladin Is Blessed By The Heavens
In the kingdom of Shen Zhou, divided by civil strife, Lady Jin Shengnǚ and her fellow paladin-generals swore the Oath Of The Crown beneath a flowering Gingko tree, promising to stand together in battle and bring peace anew to their war-torn country (yes, this backstory is heavily inspired by Romance Of The Three Kingdoms). To prove her worth to the people she seeks to rule, Lady Jin embarks on a quest to find the "Crown of Clouds," the royal artifact of an ancient, revered Queen. She and her sworn sisters search the lands for this crown, fighting their way past Battlefields and Sieges, through Dungeons & Dragons. Finally, they retrieve the ancient circlet from an ancient tomb. Donning the Crown, Lady Jin is imbued with the power of Storm Sorcery, the ability to command both clouds and the lightning they generate.