Can Warlocks choose to cast their spells at a lower level?

[Yakmala]

As Warlocks level, the slot level of the spells they cast also level up. Usually, this is a good thing!

But my Warlock just found a Ring of Spell Storing, which can hold up to 5 levels of spells (max 5th level).

My Warlock is currently 7th level, which means he's casting his spells as if they were using a 4th level spell slot.

Let's say I wanted to load the ring with five 1st level spells, or two 2nd level spells and a single 1st level spell. Can a Warlock downcast their spells at their original levels or would I be limited to casting all my spells using a 4th level slot, thus preventing me from ever having more than one spell stored in the ring?

[Millstone85]

Sorry, you are out of luck. Warlocks are indeed all or nothing.

[MaxWilson]

Ask your DM, not the Internet.

[Contrast]

Can a Warlock downcast their spells at their original levels or would I be limited to casting all my spells using a 4th level slot, thus preventing me from ever having more than one spell stored in the ring?

You always cast your spells at their highest level. That said, other people can cast spells into the ring (and that is honestly one of the best uses of the ring, giving you access to a wider range of spells). Does anyone else in the party have Healing Word/Shield/etc that you can jam in there?

[JNAProductions]

As Warlocks level, the slot level of the spells they cast also level up. Usually, this is a good thing!

But my Warlock just found a Ring of Spell Storing, which can hold up to 5 levels of spells (max 5th level).

My Warlock is currently 7th level, which means he's casting his spells as if they were using a 4th level spell slot.

Let's say I wanted to load the ring with five 1st level spells, or two 2nd level spells and a single 1st level spell. Can a Warlock downcast their spells at their original levels or would I be limited to casting all my spells using a 4th level slot, thus preventing me from ever having more than one spell stored in the ring?

RAW? 4th level spells.

As a DM, I'd be fine letting you cast down, though.

[Satori01]

Ask your DM, not the Internet.

A succinct, and thus brilliant response.

Indeed, ask your DM.

[Joe the Rat]

If you aren't the only caster, having others fill out the edges, or just fill the thing in general, is another option.


Related question: Is there any reason a Warlock can't use invocation spells, or any caster a ritual, to fill a ring of spell storing? Obviously putting your at-will spells into a ring is kind of silly ...unless you give the ring to someone else.

[Contrast]

Related question: Is there any reason a Warlock can't use invocation spells, or any caster a ritual, to fill a ring of spell storing? Obviously putting your at-will spells into a ring is kind of silly ...unless you give the ring to someone else.


Any creature can cast a spell of 1st through 5th level into the ring by touching the ring as the spell is cast.

Can't put cantrips in the ring.

RAW rituals or the like are less clear on how they work. Crawford (https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/901875657432371200) has said the intention is that it requires the expenditure of a spell slot but nothing has made it into the Sage Advice Compendium. Personally I'd be inclined to let it work but have them fill up spaces equal to the level of the spell as normal.

[Aaron Underhand]

It's a common house rule that only spells with a casting time of one action or less can be put into the ring.

Casting from the ring takes an action, and so otherwise (for example) a Tiny Hut can be an in-combat spell...

[Zhorn]

Me: Ask your DM


Me as the DM: Ask your Patron




Me as the Patron: P̵̢͚̜̹̲̖̤̠̟̯̼͈̩̬̃͌̈̈́̄̃͆͗̓̀͘͠͠ȍ̴̠̦̪͚̜̜̫̾̒̏̆͂q̵͛͌̔̑ ̨͎͙͇̲͚̩̲͙̪̝͔͗̀̋̓̊͝͠͝'̶̩͓̼͍̑̉̅y̶̛͕̭̹̝͕͂͛̒́̑̉̓͌͆́ͅi̴ ̧̡̙̣͇̣̲̯̰̠͒͆̏̏̓̊̅̈́̉̂̍͛̐͒́ͅt̸̹̼̃̇̾̌͑̌̆͝͝͠h̸̛̛̓͂̑̋̚͠ ̧̝͍͎̥͓͌̀͒ ̶̺͚̖͛̃͗̽̆̀͋͗̃̐̋̽͘͜͜m̴̛͎̠̹̟̠̀̓̈̄̓̕̚͝a̵͊͑̄̅̃͊̉̓̏̄͂̕͝ ̧̨̡̟̙͖̙̩͔̤ͅz̵̥̱̘͈͆͛̒͌͐̈́ź̴̡̛̛͖̫̙͚̯̜̣̺̝̩̩̲̐̈̅̋̈́̕͜͝k ̷͈̻̯̳̱̥͂̒̊ͅa̴̙̮̤̜͗͌̀̐͘͘ ̶̰͍̘̲͇̰̻̖̺̬̺̻̟̼̋̂̂͑ͅḁ̶̩̻͓̝͓͑̋́͊̒͝ͅw̶̛͕̪̃̈́̉̇͂̽̃̋͝͠ ̳̲̻a̵̞͓͓̋̂̽̃̀͊̈́̅̕ṇ̵̹̌̾̀̎̿̐͐̈̔͝͠͠ ̷̫͖̭̻̱̬̮͔͕̜̤͉̐͌̎̈́͆̌̚͜͠ķ̶̲̥̭́͒̿̈̔́̋͊͌͘̕i̶̎͒͑̒̄̾̌͘͝ ͚̱̭̞̱̥̣̱͈͓̅̇̒̀͊̆ ̷̧̧͎̖̱̱̩͕͙͓̝̋͐͂̋̓́́̀̈́͠ủ̷̬̽͘͠h̶̻̰̬̞͂̌̅̍̐n̴͕̩̹̅̉̈́̈́̈́ ̙̲̖̳̺í̸̭̬͍͌̅́͑͗̂ş̶͈͍̬͕̮̫̮͍̺̻̮͓̐̐̾̃̚ͅh̶̜̞̀̐̿͋́̈͋͋ '̶̧̧̢̡̺͓̞̪̫̫̱̥̀̽̇̚ͅͅͅp̶̺̘͈͕̼̟̞̰̝͓̈́̈́͗̎̅̇̒̒͘͘h̶̋͗̉̈ ̢̞͇̗̣̜̺̺̝̱̫́̈́̔̈́̑̉̇̈́́̄͝i̴̛͎̹̪̠͉̮̇͒̇́̇̋̓̆́͜͜͝l̷̈̽͂̀͝ ͈̜̖͓͔̠̗̳̖̣̿̀̌͗͝f̵̧̧̨͇͚͍͓̲͉̲͔̪̣͍͇̋̈́̋̌̾̽̇́͒̕g̶̛̅̀͋̕͠ ̨̝͚̥̘̲̺͓̼̪͎͖̗̱͐͂͐̇̚̕͜͝͝s̵̖͓̖͈̱̣͔̘̩̰̈́̈̐͛̇̋̐͑͑̈́̀͗͘̕͠ ̨͍̩͕͕h̵̛̛̺̜͇̓̀̈̔̒̍̌͆̿̕ͅ.̴̧̛̮̥̞̝͚̫̳̰̈́̓́̈́̾͒̈͛͑̇̂̇̎̚ͅ ̧̯̩̲

[JNAProductions]

Can't put cantrips in the ring.

RAW rituals or the like are less clear on how they work. Crawford (https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/901875657432371200) has said the intention is that it requires the expenditure of a spell slot but nothing has made it into the Sage Advice Compendium. Personally I'd be inclined to let it work but have them fill up spaces equal to the level of the spell as normal.

They're not putting cantrips in-they're putting spells they can cast at-will via Invocations in.

That seems both perfectly to me as a DM, and allowed by RAW.

[Contrast]

It's a common house rule that only spells with a casting time of one action or less can be put into the ring.

Casting from the ring takes an action, and so otherwise (for example) a Tiny Hut can be an in-combat spell...

I don't see where it says casting it from the ring takes an action. It just says you can cast the spell - I would assume all normal requirements for casting time would remain in effect.


They're not putting cantrips in-they're putting spells they can cast at-will via Invocations in.

That seems both perfectly to me as a DM, and allowed by RAW.

Re cantrips - yeah I got that I was just being comprehensive. The issue with allowing straight RAW is that:


The level of the slot used to cast the spell determines how much space it uses.

If no spell slot is used then the ring can theoretically contain infinite charges of those spells if you allow it to work as written. If you think that's OK then no worries but good to be clear about what exactly we're discussing. I think thats a bit much so would limit as I said in my post.

[JNAProductions]

Fiendish Vigor explicitly says it's cast as a 1st level spell.

Edit: If there is an invocation that doesn't specify a level, then I'll just treat it as cast at its lowest level. You might not be able to stick it in by RAW, then, but it's an easy and intuitive houserule.

[Contrast]

Fiendish Vigor explicitly says it's cast as a 1st level spell.

Edit: If there is an invocation that doesn't specify a level, then I'll just treat it as cast at its lowest level. You might not be able to stick it in by RAW, then, but it's an easy and intuitive houserule.

Which means it definitely meets the criteria to be cast into the ring as a 1st through 5th level spell.

What it does not do it help clarify how much space it takes up in the ring. If it said 'the level at which the spell is cast determines how much space it uses' it would take up 1 slot. But it says the level of the slot used to cast the spell. Which in this case is nothing because no slot was used to cast the spell.

It's the same with ritual spells. They are cast as spell level <whatever the level of the spell is> but they explicitly expend no spell slots and spell slots are the mechanic the ring uses to identify space stored.

Regardless it sounds like we agree that spells should be allowed to be ritual cast/invocationed/whatever into the ring and that they should fill up spaces equal to the effective level they're cast at, we just disagree if its RAW or not which honestly isn't all that important a difference in the grand scheme of things :smallbiggrin:

[Keravath]

As Warlocks level, the slot level of the spells they cast also level up. Usually, this is a good thing!

But my Warlock just found a Ring of Spell Storing, which can hold up to 5 levels of spells (max 5th level).

My Warlock is currently 7th level, which means he's casting his spells as if they were using a 4th level spell slot.

Let's say I wanted to load the ring with five 1st level spells, or two 2nd level spells and a single 1st level spell. Can a Warlock downcast their spells at their original levels or would I be limited to casting all my spells using a 4th level slot, thus preventing me from ever having more than one spell stored in the ring?

Unfortunately, no. RAW, warlock spell slots are always the highest level possible and all spells are then cast at this level.

My 8th level warlock decided to multiclass into one level of sorcerer after he found a ring of spell storing for exactly this reason. The level of sorcerer gives a number of useful spells (and some cantrips) and the first level spell slots needed for the ring. So I now I have a ring with some mixture of shield/hex/absorb elements which I can cast myself (depending on your party you may not be able to rely on the generosity of other folks filling the ring for you).

That said, in any specific game (if it isn't AL) then ask the DM how he wants to play it. Some will allow you to cast a spell at whatever level you want and some won't.

[Joe the Rat]

Can't put cantrips in the ring.

RAW rituals or the like are less clear on how they work. Crawford (https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/901875657432371200) has said the intention is that it requires the expenditure of a spell slot but nothing has made it into the Sage Advice Compendium. Personally I'd be inclined to let it work but have them fill up spaces equal to the level of the spell as normal.

And that's the RAW vs RAI right there.

On Cantrips - I hadn't really considered them, but push comes to shove, I'd probably allow a casting to be stored as a first level spell.