5E Spell Progression Slow Down

[bloodgroove]

Has anyone seen an explanation as to why almost all caster's spell progression drops to every other level starting at 11th?
Was this a balance issue? First time I saw it I thought it was a typo in the table but saw it was consistent with all the other classes.

[MaxWilson]

Has anyone seen an explanation as to why almost all caster's spell progression drops to every other level starting at 11th?
Was this a balance issue? First time I saw it I thought it was a typo in the table but saw it was consistent with all the other classes.

Note that warrior classes slow down too at that point. Fighter gets only a handful of useful abilities past 11th.

I suspect it's a deliberate design choice to make a la carte multi-classing more attractive/balanced.

[Unoriginal]

What do you mean by "drop every other level"?

[MaxWilson]

What do you mean by "drop every other level"?

"...spell progression drops to every other level starting at 11th" presumably refers to the fact that at levels 12, 14, 16 a spellcaster gains no spells at all.

[CircleOfTheRock]

"...spell progression drops to every other level starting at 11th" presumably refers to the fact that at levels 12, 14, 16 a spellcaster gains no spells at all.
Spell slots save for new-level-ones, maybe...? Because Wizard gets more spells at levels 12, 14 and 16...

[LeonBH]

I don't get it. Wizards, Clerics, and Druids get more spells known after level 11. Every full caster gets higher level spell slots as well. And every learned caster (as opposed to prepared casters) can swap out an old spell for a new spell each time they level up.

[Malifice]

Has anyone seen an explanation as to why almost all caster's spell progression drops to every other level starting at 11th?
Was this a balance issue? First time I saw it I thought it was a typo in the table but saw it was consistent with all the other classes.

Indeed. Whenever I hear the argument on caster supremacy i tend to point out that you only get 1 higher level slot every 2 levels past 9th.

Those slots are awesome though.

They nailed it in 5e. Enough to make it worth it, but not enough to make casters exponentially stronger than everyone else

[MaxWilson]

Spell slots save for new-level-ones, maybe...? Because Wizard gets more spells at levels 12, 14 and 16...

At level 11, a wizard has slots 4/3/3/3/2/1 and 6 more levels from Arcane Recovery. At level 12, a wizard also has slots 4/3/3/3/2/1 and 6 more levels from Arcane Recovery. No change there.

What a wizard gains at level 12 is an ASI and some HP (and two new spells known), not more spells per day.

[LeonBH]

At level 11, a wizard has slots 4/3/3/3/2/1 and 6 more levels from Arcane Recovery. At level 12, a wizard also has slots 4/3/3/3/2/1 and 6 more levels from Arcane Recovery. No change there.

What a wizard gains at level 12 is an ASI and some HP (and two new spells known), not more spells per day.

I believe he meant maybe the OP means spell slot progression doesn't change at level 12 from level 11, because the Wizard gains more spells known at level 12.

Also, the Wizard gains two spells in their spellbook and one more spell prepared.

[Beelzebubba]

Has anyone seen an explanation as to why almost all caster's spell progression drops to every other level starting at 11th?
Was this a balance issue? First time I saw it I thought it was a typo in the table but saw it was consistent with all the other classes.

Those levels they gain ASIs or Wizard class features instead - not to mention the two spells in their spellbooks (and extra spell known).

Also, every two levels the gain in power is so huge every other level that they don't need it.

[Ellisthion]

5E's strict limiting of spell slots for high level casters is a massive balance improvement over earlier editions. It's very much "working as intended". Casters are still very powerful but non-casters are actually relevant.

[Talamare]

It's because they didn't dedicate a significant amount of time designing higher levels because they don't see a point in wasting the effort

The VAST majority of players focus around the 3-11
So the VAST majority of content is focused around those levels as well.