Clarification on Multiclassing and Spell Progression

[Snownine]

I am trying to wrap my head around how spell progression works for multi classed characters. I have not had to deal with multiclassing much in the game we play outside of martial classes so these rules are still new to me. I have a player who wants to start as a wizard 2 sorcerer 1. As I understand it reading the PHB, he would get level 2 spell slots as he is a 3rd level caster however he would not actually know any 2nd level spells as he would need to have at least 3 levels in wizard or sorcerer to qualify for them. Is this the correct interpretation?

[Composer99]

Correct - you got it!

[Snownine]

Correct - you got it!

Awesome, thanks for the quick reply!

[Man_Over_Game]

Just remember these rules:

If it's casting from level 1 (except Artificer), it's a full caster level.
If it's casting from level 2, it's 1/2 caster level.
If it's casting from level 3 (a subclass), it's 1/3 caster level.

Warlocks are not considered "casters" for the sake of determining Caster Levels (their spell slots are treated separately).

While spell slots are combined, the spells you know from each class are treated separately.

Magic Initiate is weird, in that you can only spend a spell slot on the spell you learn from it if it's from a class that you have levels in, but the use of the spell that you get from the feat isn't a spell slot (just a 1/day use).

[Greywander]

I am trying to wrap my head around how spell progression works for multi classed characters. I have not had to deal with multiclassing much in the game we play outside of martial classes so these rules are still new to me. I have a player who wants to start as a wizard 2 sorcerer 1. As I understand it reading the PHB, he would get level 2 spell slots as he is a 3rd level caster however he would not actually know any 2nd level spells as he would need to have at least 3 levels in wizard or sorcerer to qualify for them. Is this the correct interpretation?
As Composer said, you are correct. You should be able to figure most of this out by just reading the book, but we've all been victims of skimming over important sections and coming away with the wrong interpretation.

You combine all your spellcaster levels to find your total caster level, then look it up on the table to see how many spell slots you get. This happens to match exactly with the spell slots full casters get, so a wizard 2/sorcerer 1 would have the same number of spell slots as either a wizard 3 or a sorcerer 3 (since both wizard and sorcerer are full casters). However, you can only learn spells as if you only had the one class, so a wizard 2/sorcerer 1 only knows the spells a wizard 2 would know and that a sorcerer 1 would know. They do not know the spells that a wizard 3 or sorcerer 3 would know, even though they have a total caster level of 3. A common multiclass combo is cleric 1/wizard X, but even though you'd eventually get 9th level wizard spells, you'd be stuck with 1st level cleric spells.

Another thing to note is that your proficiency bonus scales with character level, not class level. A fighter 5/wizard 4 still gets a +4 proficiency bonus, even though their individual class tables show them as having +3 and +2, respectively. This is because they're still a 9th level character, and all 9th level characters have a +4 proficiency bonus.

Other things to note are that Extra Attack from different classes does not stack; I recommend replacing a redundant Extra Attack with a minor bonus such as a +1 to one ability score so that it doesn't feel like a wasted level. Unarmored Defense also doesn't stack, and this goes in general for anything that sets your AC to some value; you can use either AC calculation, but not both at the same time. A shield adds a bonus to your AC, but armor, natural armor, and Unarmored Defense all override your base AC calculation.

Oh, going back to magic, although your wizard 2/sorcerer 1 doesn't know any 2nd level spells, they can upcast a 1st level spell using a 2nd level slot. So you could, for example, upcast Burning Hands for extra damage. Also, Pact Magic ignores the multiclassing rules; warlock levels don't count as caster levels. You can, however, use your pact magic slots just like any other spell slot, even for things like paladin smites or the sorcerer's Font of Magic (to regain sorcery points).


Just remember these rules:

If it's casting from level 1 (except Artificer), it's a full caster level.
If it's casting from level 2, it's 1/2 caster level.
If it's casting from level 3 (a subclass), it's 1/3 caster level.

Warlocks are not considered "casters" for the sake of determining Caster Levels (their spell slots are treated separately).

While spell slots are combined, the spells you know from each class are treated separately.

Magic Initiate is weird, in that you can only spend a spell slot on the spell you learn from it if it's from a class that you have levels in, but the use of the spell that you get from the feat isn't a spell slot (just a 1/day use).
To add on to this, you round partial caster levels down, except for artificer, which you round up (a consequence of getting spellcasting at 1st level instead of 2nd). Half caster classes also end up with 5th level slots, while 1/3 casters end up with 4th level slots. Currently, the only 1/3 casters are EK fighter and AT rogue.

Some classes also get bonuses that only apply to the spells from that class. For example, certain 8th level clerics get Potent Spellcasting, adding their WIS mod to cantrip damage, but only for cleric spells. If you multiclass into wizard, you don't get to add your WIS mod to the damage of your wizard cantrips.

[Snownine]

As Composer said, you are correct. You should be able to figure most of this out by just reading the book, but we've all been victims of skimming over important sections and coming away with the wrong interpretation.

You combine all your spellcaster levels to find your total caster level, then look it up on the table to see how many spell slots you get. This happens to match exactly with the spell slots full casters get, so a wizard 2/sorcerer 1 would have the same number of spell slots as either a wizard 3 or a sorcerer 3 (since both wizard and sorcerer are full casters). However, you can only learn spells as if you only had the one class, so a wizard 2/sorcerer 1 only knows the spells a wizard 2 would know and that a sorcerer 1 would know. They do not know the spells that a wizard 3 or sorcerer 3 would know, even though they have a total caster level of 3. A common multiclass combo is cleric 1/wizard X, but even though you'd eventually get 9th level wizard spells, you'd be stuck with 1st level cleric spells.

Another thing to note is that your proficiency bonus scales with character level, not class level. A fighter 5/wizard 4 still gets a +4 proficiency bonus, even though their individual class tables show them as having +3 and +2, respectively. This is because they're still a 9th level character, and all 9th level characters have a +4 proficiency bonus.

Other things to note are that Extra Attack from different classes does not stack; I recommend replacing a redundant Extra Attack with a minor bonus such as a +1 to one ability score so that it doesn't feel like a wasted level. Unarmored Defense also doesn't stack, and this goes in general for anything that sets your AC to some value; you can use either AC calculation, but not both at the same time. A shield adds a bonus to your AC, but armor, natural armor, and Unarmored Defense all override your base AC calculation.

Oh, going back to magic, although your wizard 2/sorcerer 1 doesn't know any 2nd level spells, they can upcast a 1st level spell using a 2nd level slot. So you could, for example, upcast Burning Hands for extra damage. Also, Pact Magic ignores the multiclassing rules; warlock levels don't count as caster levels. You can, however, use your pact magic slots just like any other spell slot, even for things like paladin smites or the sorcerer's Font of Magic (to regain sorcery points).


To add on to this, you round partial caster levels down, except for artificer, which you round up (a consequence of getting spellcasting at 1st level instead of 2nd). Half caster classes also end up with 5th level slots, while 1/3 casters end up with 4th level slots. Currently, the only 1/3 casters are EK fighter and AT rogue.

Some classes also get bonuses that only apply to the spells from that class. For example, certain 8th level clerics get Potent Spellcasting, adding their WIS mod to cantrip damage, but only for cleric spells. If you multiclass into wizard, you don't get to add your WIS mod to the damage of your wizard cantrips.

I appreciate the information, I already knew all of that stuff though. The only thing I wanted to be sure on was the thing I asked in my first post as a player of mine thought you got the spells since you had spots for them and I did not think that you did based on my reading of the PHB, that was why I was looking for some confirmation. I really appreciate you folks taking so much time to help people out. That is why these are my favorite RPG forums.