Bard/wizard MC

[Sgt Jiggz]

So I'm thinking about a character I might use in a CoS campaign. I'm currently traveling but when I get back home I'll join my old gaming group again, they'll probably be around 5th level by then.

My plan is Lore bard 3/wizard 2. He would be a 5th level caster with level 3 spell slots, but he wouldn't have any third lvl spells known/prepared. Or would he? If I find a third lvl wizard spell I should be able to scribe it into my spellbook.

Phb 114 "when you find a wizard spell of 1st lvl or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a lvl for which you have spell slots."

So I should be able to have 3rd lvl spells in my spellbook. I should also be able to prepare them.

Phb 114 Preparing and casting spells"...The spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots"

And since I have a 3rd lvl spell slot I should also be able to cast the 3rd lvl spell. This seems a bit strong since it negates the main disadvantage of multiclassing to another spellcasting class?

[Ninja_Prawn]

I suspect most DMs won't allow this. I certainly don't. Our argument is generally that any rules that you find in the text of a base class assume you're singleclassed and any level prerequisites refer to class level so, by extension, slot level prerequisites refer to the slots you would have if you were a singlclassed Wizard 2.

This is a common argument and there may have been some sage advice on this; I'll leave it others to look that up.

[PloxBox]

Page 165 PHB

Spells Known and Prepared. You determine
what spells you know and can prepare for each class
individually, as if you were a single-classed member of
that class. If you are a ranger 4/wizard 3, for example,
you know three 1st-level ranger spells based on your
levels in the ranger class. As 3rd-level wizard, you know
three wizard cantrips, and your spellbook contains ten
wizard spells, two of which (the two you gained when
you reached 3rd level as a wizard) can be 2nd-level
spells. If your Intelligence is 16, you can prepare six
wizard spells from your spellbook.
Each spell you know and prepare is associated with one
of your classes, and you use the spellcasting ability of that
class when you cast the spell. Similarly, a spellcasting
focus, such as a holy symbol, can be used only for the
spells from the class associated with that focus.

[DivisibleByZero]

In the class descriptions, anything that references level is doing so with the idea that you are a single classed.
If and or when you multiclass, all of that goes out the window.
So that blurb about adding spells to your book is assuming you're a single class wizard.
Once you multiclass, you follow different rules. So basically, scribing a spell into your spellbook is the wizard's version of "learning" it, and he can only do so if he could cast it as a single classed wizard.

[Quoxis]

So I'm thinking about a character I might use in a CoS campaign. I'm currently traveling but when I get back home I'll join my old gaming group again, they'll probably be around 5th level by then.

My plan is Lore bard 3/wizard 2. He would be a 5th level caster with level 3 spell slots, but he wouldn't have any third lvl spells known/prepared. Or would he? If I find a third lvl wizard spell I should be able to scribe it into my spellbook.

Phb 114 "when you find a wizard spell of 1st lvl or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a lvl for which you have spell slots."

So I should be able to have 3rd lvl spells in my spellbook. I should also be able to prepare them.

Phb 114 Preparing and casting spells"...The spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots"

And since I have a 3rd lvl spell slot I should also be able to cast the 3rd lvl spell. This seems a bit strong since it negates the main disadvantage of multiclassing to another spellcasting class?

Afaik you can do that, but you'll have to spend time and resources on it, you even have to find a source from which you can copy the spells.
You can't learn 3rd level spells by levelling up, which would be free, but by RAW it should be allowed (and as it has a cost, it's not "negating" the downside of multiclassing so much as "working around").

[DivisibleByZero]

Afaik you can do that, but you'll have to spend time and resources on it, you even have to find a source from which you can copy the spells.
You can't learn 3rd level spells by levelling up, which would be free, but by RAW it should be allowed (and as it has a cost, it's not "negating" the downside of multiclassing so much as "working around").

Nope.
http://www.sageadvice.eu/2014/09/19/multiclass-caster-spellbook/

Allen Shock @allenshock1
cleric 2/wizard 2 finds a 2nd level spell in a book. By multiclassing rule he has 4 1st and 3 2nd level slots? can he copy 2nd level wiz spell into his book even though Wiz 2 can't normally cast 2nd level spells? and then cast

Jeremy Crawford @JeremyECrawford
No, and he can use those 2nd-level slots only to cast 1st-level spells.

Once again, a wizard scribing a spell into his spellbook is his way of "learning" the spell. He can't do it unless he could cast it as a single classed wizard, as per the multiclass rules.
One level of wizard is not enough to make an awesome ritual tome. One level of wizard is only enough to copy 1st level spells into your book.
2nd level spells and higher are beyond your comprehension, and you can't copy it if you can't understand it. If you get to wizard 3, then you can copy 2nd level spells into your book.

[Quoxis]

Nope.
http://www.sageadvice.eu/2014/09/19/multiclass-caster-spellbook/

Allen Shock @allenshock1
cleric 2/wizard 2 finds a 2nd level spell in a book. By multiclassing rule he has 4 1st and 3 2nd level slots? can he copy 2nd level wiz spell into his book even though Wiz 2 can't normally cast 2nd level spells? and then cast

Jeremy Crawford @JeremyECrawford
No, and he can use those 2nd-level slots only to cast 1st-level spells.

Once again, a wizard scribing a spell into his spellbook is his way of "learning" the spell. He can't do it unless he could cast it as a single classed wizard, as per the multiclass rules.
One level of wizard is not enough to make an awesome ritual tome. One level of wizard is only enough to copy 1st level rituals into your book.
2nd level spells and higher are beyond your comprehension, and you can't copy it if you can't understand it.

Ah well, the phb, constantly contradicting itself.
What Crawford tweets is written in stone though, so i admit defeat and humbly take my statement back.

[DivisibleByZero]

Ah well, the phb, constantly contradicting itself.
What Crawford tweets is written in stone though, so i admit defeat and humbly take my statement back.

It is not contradicting itself.
Read the post above yours. Here it is again.


In the class descriptions, anything that references level is doing so with the idea that you are a single classed.
If and or when you multiclass, all of that goes out the window.
So that blurb about adding spells to your book is assuming you're a single class wizard.
Once you multiclass, you follow different rules. So basically, scribing a spell into your spellbook is the wizard's version of "learning" it, and he can only do so if he could cast it as a single classed wizard.