when were sorcerers added to dnd

Sorcerers were first added to Dungeons & Dragons as a core player class in 3rd Edition, released in the year 2000.

Quick answer

• The sorcerer class debuted in the D&D 3rd Edition Player’s Handbook in 2000, as a new spontaneous arcane caster distinct from the wizard.

• Earlier editions (OD&D, AD&D 1e, AD&D 2e, B/X, etc.) did not have sorcerer as a standard player class, even though the word “sorcerer” might appear in lore or monster text.

A bit of context

In 3rd Edition, sorcerers were designed as innate casters: they know fewer spells than wizards but cast them more flexibly without pre-preparing individual slots. This was a big mechanical and flavor shift from the strictly Vancian, book‑studying wizard that earlier editions focused on.

Later editions (3.5, 5e, and the 2024 revision) kept sorcerers as a full caster class, expanding them with different “sorcerous origins” like Draconic Bloodline and Wild Magic to explain where their inborn magic comes from.

TL;DR: Sorcerers became an official, playable D&D class in 3rd Edition (year 2000); before that, there was no standard sorcerer player class even if the term showed up in fiction or fan material.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.