Silam
Explorer
Consider Alice, a character who is an Eldritch Knight 7. They get 4 level 1 slots, and 2 level 2 slots. If that character then becomes a Wizard 1, the multi-classing rules say that their slots are now determined by their full Wizard level + a third of their EK level (rounded down). 1 + 7/3 rounded down = 3; which provides 4 level 1 slots, and 2 level 2 slots. And therefore, their Wizard level, which is a full caster class, gives them exactly 0 extra slots.
Consider Bob, another character who is an Eldritch Knight 9. They also get 4 level 1 slots and 2 level 2 slots. If that character becomes a Wizard 1, then the formula gives us 1 + 9/3 = 4; which provides 4 level 1 slots and 3 level 2 slots.
I'm not looking for an explanation of what rounding down means. Obviously I know that. I just find it weird that if we considered the "1/3 rounded down math" on the pure EK7 (Alice, before multi-classing) in isolation, we would arrive at the result that they are a 2nd level caster, and therefore get 3 level 1 slots and 0 higher level slots. But instead of that, the pure EK effectively rounds up their caster level to 3 for the sake of their slots (and spells known). So going from the pure EK to the multi-classed EK/Wizard, the contribution to spell slots from the EK transitions from rounding up to rounding down.
It's not a big deal per say. I don't think it breaks balance or anything. It's just weird that taking a level of a full caster class does not actually improve the character's ability to cast (beyond extra spells known/prepared) for Alice, but it does for Bob. It's also weird that, in a sense, becoming a wizard results in a slight nerf to what the EK in isolation contributes to the build (due to the rounding direction getting flipped).
The phenomenon can be explained away, e.g., "The years of learning magic as a hobby made Alice sloppy, and some of the shortcuts and assumptions accumulated along the way had to be unlearned when wizardry became their main pursuit. Bob on the other hand had no such trouble and the transition into wizardry as a focused endeavour came quite naturally."... but like, why is Alice getting shafted while Bob is just fine? It's just weird, IMHO
Consider Bob, another character who is an Eldritch Knight 9. They also get 4 level 1 slots and 2 level 2 slots. If that character becomes a Wizard 1, then the formula gives us 1 + 9/3 = 4; which provides 4 level 1 slots and 3 level 2 slots.
I'm not looking for an explanation of what rounding down means. Obviously I know that. I just find it weird that if we considered the "1/3 rounded down math" on the pure EK7 (Alice, before multi-classing) in isolation, we would arrive at the result that they are a 2nd level caster, and therefore get 3 level 1 slots and 0 higher level slots. But instead of that, the pure EK effectively rounds up their caster level to 3 for the sake of their slots (and spells known). So going from the pure EK to the multi-classed EK/Wizard, the contribution to spell slots from the EK transitions from rounding up to rounding down.
It's not a big deal per say. I don't think it breaks balance or anything. It's just weird that taking a level of a full caster class does not actually improve the character's ability to cast (beyond extra spells known/prepared) for Alice, but it does for Bob. It's also weird that, in a sense, becoming a wizard results in a slight nerf to what the EK in isolation contributes to the build (due to the rounding direction getting flipped).
The phenomenon can be explained away, e.g., "The years of learning magic as a hobby made Alice sloppy, and some of the shortcuts and assumptions accumulated along the way had to be unlearned when wizardry became their main pursuit. Bob on the other hand had no such trouble and the transition into wizardry as a focused endeavour came quite naturally."... but like, why is Alice getting shafted while Bob is just fine? It's just weird, IMHO
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