The example: paladin 5 / sorcerer 3
This page opens with a paladin 5 / sorcerer 3, a popular smite-and-spell build, under the 2024 rules. The sorcerer counts with all 3 levels, and the paladin counts with half of its 5 levels. The 2024 rules round that half up to 3, so the spellcaster level is 6: four 1st-level slots, three 2nd and three 3rd.
Switch Rules to 2014 and the same character drops to spellcaster level 5, because the 2014 rules round the paladin’s 2½ down to 2: four 1st, three 2nd and two 3rd-level slots. Same character, one 3rd-level slot fewer.
Change the classes and levels at the top to your own. The proficiency bonus follows your total level, and the spell save DC and attack bonus are worked out for each class from its own spellcasting ability: Charisma for the paladin and the sorcerer, Wisdom for clerics, druids and rangers, Intelligence for wizards.
Who counts how much
| Class | Counts toward spellcaster level |
|---|---|
| Bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, wizard | every level |
| Paladin, ranger | half the levels (2014: rounded down; 2024: rounded up) |
| Warlock | none: Pact Magic slots stay separate |
| Barbarian, fighter, monk, rogue | none |
The Multiclass Spellcaster table
The same table appears in both SRDs. Slots per spell level for each spellcaster level:
| Level | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| 2 | 3 | ||||||||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | |||||||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||||||
| 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 11–12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 13–14 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 15–16 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 17 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Adding a warlock
Warlock levels are left out of the count. A sorcerer 6 / warlock 2 keeps the sorcerer’s four 1st, three 2nd and three 3rd-level slots, and on top of them two 1st-level slots from the warlock table. They sit on a row of their own in the sheet: Short rest refills only that row, Long rest refills every row.
What to do with the slots
Tick a slot when you cast with it, and press Long rest at the end of the day. Spells you know or prepare still come from each class on its own: a paladin 5 / sorcerer 3 can cast 3rd-level spells with its 3rd-level slots only if one of the classes gives it a 3rd-level spell, otherwise those slots power its lower-level spells. Download PDF prints the slots as circles to fill in at the table.