So, I Want to be prepared for as many situations as possible as a DM, and one that just came to mind is if l should allow a player to switch the source of their Cantrips, and possibly add one in the process.
For Example, A Sorcerer just took a level of warlock, and wants to move one of their sorcerer Cantrips to the warlock, (prestidigitation for this example) and choose a new sorcerer Cantrip. Should l allow this, or make them choose a new, warlock cantrip? And if their other warlock cantrip is Eldritch blast, but they want to later take Spell Sniper, but not get any new offensive cantrips, could they make EB their Spell Sniper Cantrip, and choose another Warlock Cantrip, maybe even swapping another Sorcerer Cantrip?
I Want your advice if i should rule "Meh, it's just a cantrip, who cares" or "No, Get a new Cantrip per the rules, you should have waited to get the cantrip if you were planning to get them from other sources."
I know that there are rules for Proficiency swapping (such as if your background gives, say, arcana, but you're a Wizard with Arcana, you can choose a different proficiency,) but could this apply to Cantrips?
(Just remembered that there is a *optional rule that lets cantrips be swapped when reaching ASI levels, but other than the EB, those wouldn't really apply to the above scenario. So should l make them wait to reach ASI levels for each Class, or just let them swap when they Multiclass?)
Personally, I tend to be pretty strict in having classes keep their uniqueness. If players want features from other classes, they can multiclass, take feats, or find magic items that give them more options.
Your hypothetical has this person already multiclassing, though. In that case, I might be amenable - provided the player isn't being a powergamey cheeselord and that it wouldn't end up causing discontent in the group. I'm a pretty RAW DM, but I can be persuaded to dip my toe into Rule of Cool if it makes story sense and the player isn't entitled or adversarial about it.
The longer you DM, the more you learn which things actually matter to game balance and player enjoyment, and you get better at making exceptions/drawing lines to suit your table's needs. Would a request like this annoy me because it clashes with my playstyle? Yeah. Would I make a big deal out of it? Probably not.
It basically sounds like they want to pick a sorcerer cantrip instead of a warlock one and had they leveled sorcerer to an ability score increase they would have been able to as per Tasha's sorcererous versatility swap a cantrip. Similarly had they started a warlock and picked warlock to ability score they would have had the same choice under Tasha's eldritch versatility. So what's really happening here is just a player asking you to smooth out the multiclass process by not forcing them to have a period where they have the same cantrip for two classes until they get an ability score increase to swap it which there is really no mechanical effect to beyond having them be down a cantrip until they level up.
Usually if a feature had given you a cantrip you already had then you'd be allowed to pick another so I think its reasonable to let them swap.
I sometimes allow players to swap out certain abilties. FOr example if they thought a spell worked a certain way but it turns out it didn't. But just switching nilly willy between cantrips as a way to powergame? No. If nothing else it's too much book keeping and it's unfair to the other players.
I allow my players to swap cantrips when they level up, regardless of what class they take I let them swap out cantrips for any class they have, rather then just the class they have levelled in, so in your hypothetical then yes I would allow the player to swap there cantrips about.
I will also allow a player to swap a cantrip if after a while from picking it they are finding it isn't useful/isn't doing what they envisaged it would. That is a case by case basis and applies to pretty much any choice that players make when they level up, If they realise they made a mistake, or something isn't working the way they expected, or they are just not having the fun they thought they would then I have a chat with them and usually let them make changes.
But let me proviso that by saying my players level up very slowly, so we have been playing about 14 months now and they just made level 6. So Cantrip changes in particular are not happening once a month, or every 3-4 sessions.
So, I Want to be prepared for as many situations as possible as a DM, and one that just came to mind is if l should allow a player to switch the source of their Cantrips, and possibly add one in the process.
For Example, A Sorcerer just took a level of warlock, and wants to move one of their sorcerer Cantrips to the warlock, (prestidigitation for this example) and choose a new sorcerer Cantrip. Should l allow this, or make them choose a new, warlock cantrip? And if their other warlock cantrip is Eldritch blast, but they want to later take Spell Sniper, but not get any new offensive cantrips, could they make EB their Spell Sniper Cantrip, and choose another Warlock Cantrip, maybe even swapping another Sorcerer Cantrip?
I Want your advice if i should rule "Meh, it's just a cantrip, who cares" or "No, Get a new Cantrip per the rules, you should have waited to get the cantrip if you were planning to get them from other sources."
I know that there are rules for Proficiency swapping (such as if your background gives, say, arcana, but you're a Wizard with Arcana, you can choose a different proficiency,) but could this apply to Cantrips?
(Just remembered that there is a *optional rule that lets cantrips be swapped when reaching ASI levels, but other than the EB, those wouldn't really apply to the above scenario. So should l make them wait to reach ASI levels for each Class, or just let them swap when they Multiclass?)
Cantrips normally come from different sources - I wouldn't normally allow them to move them between different classes.
There is an optional rule that allows various casters to be able to swap out Cantrips at certain point - e.g. wizards can swap one after a long rest.
Personally, I tend to be pretty strict in having classes keep their uniqueness. If players want features from other classes, they can multiclass, take feats, or find magic items that give them more options.
Your hypothetical has this person already multiclassing, though. In that case, I might be amenable - provided the player isn't being a powergamey cheeselord and that it wouldn't end up causing discontent in the group. I'm a pretty RAW DM, but I can be persuaded to dip my toe into Rule of Cool if it makes story sense and the player isn't entitled or adversarial about it.
The longer you DM, the more you learn which things actually matter to game balance and player enjoyment, and you get better at making exceptions/drawing lines to suit your table's needs. Would a request like this annoy me because it clashes with my playstyle? Yeah. Would I make a big deal out of it? Probably not.
It basically sounds like they want to pick a sorcerer cantrip instead of a warlock one and had they leveled sorcerer to an ability score increase they would have been able to as per Tasha's sorcererous versatility swap a cantrip. Similarly had they started a warlock and picked warlock to ability score they would have had the same choice under Tasha's eldritch versatility. So what's really happening here is just a player asking you to smooth out the multiclass process by not forcing them to have a period where they have the same cantrip for two classes until they get an ability score increase to swap it which there is really no mechanical effect to beyond having them be down a cantrip until they level up.
Usually if a feature had given you a cantrip you already had then you'd be allowed to pick another so I think its reasonable to let them swap.
I sometimes allow players to swap out certain abilties. FOr example if they thought a spell worked a certain way but it turns out it didn't. But just switching nilly willy between cantrips as a way to powergame? No. If nothing else it's too much book keeping and it's unfair to the other players.
I allow my players to swap cantrips when they level up, regardless of what class they take I let them swap out cantrips for any class they have, rather then just the class they have levelled in, so in your hypothetical then yes I would allow the player to swap there cantrips about.
I will also allow a player to swap a cantrip if after a while from picking it they are finding it isn't useful/isn't doing what they envisaged it would. That is a case by case basis and applies to pretty much any choice that players make when they level up, If they realise they made a mistake, or something isn't working the way they expected, or they are just not having the fun they thought they would then I have a chat with them and usually let them make changes.
But let me proviso that by saying my players level up very slowly, so we have been playing about 14 months now and they just made level 6. So Cantrip changes in particular are not happening once a month, or every 3-4 sessions.