@JeremyECrawford Cleric Spellcasting feature says you can prepare spells up to your spell slot level
Pact Magic gives you higher level spell slots
can a level 1 Cleric/5 Warlock prepare Animate Dead?
since Warlock has no spellcasting feature, doesnt use multiclass prep rules
— Recueillir (@Recueillir) December 13, 2017
Multiclass spellcasting. You determine the spells you know/prepare for each class individually, pretending you have just that class. The slots you get from the multiclassing rules don't apply. You have 1 level in cleric? You prepare cleric spells as a 1st-level cleric. #DnD https://t.co/EmoIuEiurb
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 13, 2017
“If you multiclass but have the Spellcasting feature from only one class, you follow the rules as described in that class.”
Warlock doesn’t grant the Spellcasting feature, so it’d follow the Cleric “spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.”
Is that still wrong? Keep reading, starting with the next sentence: "Spells Known and Prepared. …"
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 13, 2017
“If you have the Spellcasting feature from more than one class, use the rules below.”
In this case, I wouldn’t have the Spellcasting feature from more than one class, so the rules below for Spells Known and Prepared wouldn’t apply. Keep going, all the way down the page. You'll get to the "Pact Magic" section, which tells you how Pact Magic interacts with Spellcasting. It has no effect on what you can prepare.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 13, 2017
The spellcasting feature doesn’t mention where the spell slots have to come from. Now that you've re-read the multiclass rules, let's go to the cleric. The first sentence of "Preparing and Casting Spells" reads "The Cleric table shows how many spells slots you have to cast your spells …" That initial text sets the stage for what follows in that rule.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 13, 2017
“The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.”
The text in Preparing and Casting Spells doesn’t explicitly state that it only applies to Cleric spell slots though.
I don’t feel like the first line restricts you in that way.When writing that rule, I began it with that sentence for a reason: to contextualize everything you read after it in that rule. Sentences in our rules are not meant to interpreted in isolation from each other.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 14, 2017
I have explained how the rule I wrote is meant to function. If you would like it to work differently in a home game you're DMing, I encourage you to create a house rule.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 14, 2017
I understand that this clearly is not intended, but I think that the rules on it are unclear. Thank you for the feedback.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 14, 2017
Thank you for taking the time to talk about these minor semantics with me. You're welcome!
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) December 14, 2017