[RPG] Can Aberrant Mind Sorcerers upcast Psionic Spells using Sorcery points

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Aberrant Mind Sorcerers get Psionic Sorcery at L6:

When you cast any spell of 1st level or higher from your Psionic Spells feature, you can cast it by expending a spell slot as normal or by spending a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level. If you cast the spell using sorcery points, it requires no verbal or somatic components, and it requires no material components, unless they are consumed by the spell.

Can you cast these spells at a higher level, using more sorcery points? I.e., cast Arms of Hadar at L2 using 2 sorcery points?

Best Answer

Yes, you can upcast spells using sorcery points.

First, Psionic Sorcery says:

When you cast any spell of 1st level or higher from your Psionic Spells feature, you can cast it by expending a spell slot as normal or by spending a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level.

The first notable phrase we observe is:

When you cast any spell of 1st level or higher from your Psionic Spells feature, you can...

This indicates that we first choose to cast a spell of 1st level or higher. “You can” indicates further options that we choose after we have chosen to cast a spell of 1st level or higher.

So suppose I choose to cast dissonant whispers at 3rd level. Notably, this is a 3rd level spell:

When a spellcaster casts a spell using a slot that is of a higher level than the spell, the spell assumes the higher level for that casting. For instance, if Umara casts magic missile using one of her 2nd-level slots, that magic missile is 2nd level. Effectively, the spell expands to fill the slot it is put into.

Of course, this assumes we are using spell slots to cast our spells, since this passage is taken from the general rules for spellcasting. It is only natural to talk about casting spells using spell slots in a section of general spell casting rules, since slots are generally the only way to cast spells.

Psionic Sorcery goes on to create an exception to this general rule about expending spell slots. It says:

you can cast it by expending a spell slot as normal or by spending a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level.

So we can cast dissonant whispers at 3rd level as normal using a spell slot, or our class feature creates an exception that allows us to use 3 sorcery points instead.

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