When multiclassing into wizard

[ironkid]

Do you magically get a book with your six starting spells? Or do you have to buy the book and the magic ink (300pg woth of it!) to transcribe your six spells? :vaarsuvius:

[Sigreid]

Somewhat DM dependent, but my group goes with your first spell book being a class feature and just assumed to be put together behind the scenes before you multi-classed.

[CheddarChampion]

RAW you get the spells immediately... This suggests you get a book for free.

As for the ink, only extra spells you copy require expensive ink. Ones you get from levelling up as a wizard don't require ink. Same deal with your first level of wizard.

[RogueJK]

Yes, you automatically get a spellbook with 6 spells, without having to buy it. Per Jeremy Crawford: https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/983491341052071936


The wizard's Spellcasting feature says you have a spellbook with six 1st-level wizards spells in it of your choice. That means you have a spellbook with those six spells in it. Work out with your DM how you acquired that wondrous book.

The spellbook is granted as part of your Spellcasting class feature from your first level of Wizard, not just the class starting equipment (in which case you wouldn't get it when multiclassing).

Also keep in mind that a spellbook can be anything, even a loose collection of haphazard notes. It doesn't have to be a semi-fancy bound book worth 50gp like the spellbook entry in the Equipment section. From the PHB:


Your spellbook is a unique compilation of spells, with its own decorative flourishes and margin notes. It might be a plain, functional leather volume that you received as a gift from your master, a finely bound gilt-edged tome you found in an ancient library, or even a loose collection of notes scrounged together

[Segev]

Having it be loot you picked up or stole would be fitting, in a sense, especially if you want to elbow into the warlock's "weird forbidden knowledge" territory to explain the sudden insights into magic without going full-on pact magic.

Maybe a Rune Knight multiclassing might have the runes on his sword also be spells he can study to prepare.

Or a Warlock actually got the book as a gift from his Patron to expand his studies. Either it's also his Book of Shadows, or it's a separate gift from his Boon.

[solidork]

If you know you're going to be multiclassing ahead of time, work it into your roleplay. Get a book and start taking notes about magical things you encounter. Take notes about how you think spells might work. Experiment with magic items you acquire - just what makes this +1 sword better than a non-magical one?

[Sigreid]

If you know you're going to be multiclassing ahead of time, work it into your roleplay. Get a book and start taking notes about magical things you encounter. Take notes about how you think spells might work. Experiment with magic items you acquire - just what makes this +1 sword better than a non-magical one?

This matches with my vision of what a spell book should be. I don't personally envision it as a clean list of formulas, but a chaotic mix of observations, research notes and theories. To me a wizard's book isn't a Betty Crocker book on baking magic, but a map to the wizard's mind, understanding and research.

[Dork_Forge]

I rule that you have to purchase a book, if it came part and parcel with the first level feature then they wouldn't have included it in the starting equipment (and Wizard's don't need the bump of not having to buy their book). Crawford's ruling sounds like he realised that the feature didn't call out you needed to supply your own book for multiclass purposes, and pulled a ruling from the magical place a lot of his rulings hail from.

[Segev]

I rule that you have to purchase a book, if it came part and parcel with the first level feature then they wouldn't have included it in the starting equipment (and Wizard's don't need the bump of not having to buy their book). Crawford's ruling sounds like he realised that the feature didn't call out you needed to supply your own book for multiclass purposes, and pulled a ruling from the magical place a lot of his rulings hail from.

Eh... this logic doesn't track.

If he realized that the feature didn't call out that you needed to supply your own book for multiclass purposes, ruling that the feature does what it says it does (rather than what he realized it didn't say anything about) is not pulling a ruling from a "magical place." It's just reading the RAW and saying, "Yep, according to what's written here, you get it as a class feature."

[Sigreid]

Overall, I don't think it makes that much difference whether you make them buy the book or not (unless your campaign is really stingy), but making them pay for their first spells would be unfair in IMO.

[Dork_Forge]

Eh... this logic doesn't track.

If he realized that the feature didn't call out that you needed to supply your own book for multiclass purposes, ruling that the feature does what it says it does (rather than what he realized it didn't say anything about) is not pulling a ruling from a "magical place." It's just reading the RAW and saying, "Yep, according to what's written here, you get it as a class feature."

So all Wizards start the game with two spellbooks?

A more sensical reading imo would be that the class entries don't factor in multiclassing and the feature is referring to the fact that you have a spellbook at 1st level from your starting equipment.

It ultimately doesn't really matter, but I feel no need to ease up on the gold cost of being a Wizard and if you're MCing into it you're not going to be flat broke.

[ff7hero]

So all Wizards start the game with two spellbooks?


The well prepared ones do.

[Segev]

So all Wizards start the game with two spellbooks?

A more sensical reading imo would be that the class entries don't factor in multiclassing and the feature is referring to the fact that you have a spellbook at 1st level from your starting equipment.

It ultimately doesn't really matter, but I feel no need to ease up on the gold cost of being a Wizard and if you're MCing into it you're not going to be flat broke.

I am not defending his reading/ruling, only the accusation that he pulled it from some "magic place." His reading/ruling is a natural one based on the text present. I'm sure others can come up with other natural readings, or with more elaborate logic to try to be more precise. But I don't think this one was pulled out of a "magic place."

[Edea]

Whatever your DM says. Multiclassing's already an optional variant; most of the rest of the game rules are written without even considering it.

From what's said on p.164 of the PHB, there's precedent for an assumption to be made that the spellbook's part of the Spellcasting feature (and thus present), in spite of it also being listed as starting equipment (which would otherwise mean it wouldn't be present).

[SLOTHRPG95]

Yes. If you're at a table that allows multiclassing and requires no RP justification, then to quote a certain Bard, "BOOM! Instant knowledge." If you're at a table that allows multiclassing but only w/ clear RP justification, then getting your spellbook should be part of the process of gaining the knowledge required to become a wizard.