A Shadow Sorcerer learns Darkness at level 3 and can cast it using a spell slot or sorcery points.
A Dark Elf can use Drow Magic to cast Darkness once at level 5, and it recharges after a long rest.
If someone was playing as a Drow Shadow Sorcerer could they potentially cast Darkness using the sorcerer points or spell slot, and then cast it again using their Drow Magic ability? And as a bonus question, could the Shadow Sorcerer cast it more than once if they used sorcery points exclusively?
EDIT: Or have I completely misunderstood how spellcasting works and you can cast the spell as many times as you want as long as you have the applicable spell slots?
You can cast it once per day using the drow feature. And you can cast it as many other times as you want so long as you have the spell slots/sorcery points to do so. Keep in mind it is a concentration spell so you can only have one instance of it up at a time.
You can cast it once per day using the drow feature. And you can cast it as many other times as you want so long as you have the spell slots/sorcery points to do so. Keep in mind it is a concentration spell so you can only have one instance of it up at a time.
And if you had another feature that granted the spell with limited casting quantity, you could use that feature as well. If there was a feat that was similar to magic initiate but granted second level spell, you could take Darkness and cast it using that feature as many times as the feature allows. Additionally, if you multiclassed into shadow monk, you could cast darkness using 2 ki points. The point is that each feature that grants usage of a spell tells you how it is cast, how often it can be cast, and it's considered a different pool unless there are rules that say otherwise.
It is not quite so simple, depending on your class and how you learned the spell.
Each spell that you know has either a casting ability or a class associates with it. The wording in the spell casting class feature says you can cast your sorcerer spells with slots. This (to me) means if you know darkness from your dark elf racial ability, you still have to pick it as a spell known to cast it with slots, but once you pick it you can cast it as many times as you want with slots as long as you use ones of appropriate level/enough sorcery points.
My understanding is if you "Learn" a spell from another source and that spell is on your spell list then you can use your slots for it. Crawford gave us example from a wizard taking magic initiate and learning a first level wizard spell can then prepare that spell. Same would go with a High Elf wizard taking Fey Teleportation learning Misty Step and adding it to known spells. A learned caster such as sorcerer or arcane trickster should be able to cast spells they have "learned" again after the free usage was finished if that spell appears on their own possible spell list.
My understanding is if you "Learn" a spell from another source and that spell is on your spell list then you can use your slots for it. Crawford gave us example from a wizard taking magic initiate and learning a first level wizard spell can then prepare that spell. Same would go with a High Elf wizard taking Fey Teleportation learning Misty Step and adding it to known spells. A learned caster such as sorcerer or arcane trickster should be able to cast spells they have "learned" again after the free usage was finished if that spell appears on their own possible spell list.
Magic initiate is one case from a non-class source that gives a spell a class...
Soo0o you were able to find another one. Drow Magic (the trait the OP's post is about) only tells you that charisma is the casting ability for the spells you get - it does not tell you what class the spells are associated with. Most racial features and feats are the way that I described.
For example,
A Shadow Sorcerer learns Darkness at level 3 and can cast it using a spell slot or sorcery points.
A Dark Elf can use Drow Magic to cast Darkness once at level 5, and it recharges after a long rest.
If someone was playing as a Drow Shadow Sorcerer could they potentially cast Darkness using the sorcerer points or spell slot, and then cast it again using their Drow Magic ability? And as a bonus question, could the Shadow Sorcerer cast it more than once if they used sorcery points exclusively?
EDIT: Or have I completely misunderstood how spellcasting works and you can cast the spell as many times as you want as long as you have the applicable spell slots?
You can cast it once per day using the drow feature. And you can cast it as many other times as you want so long as you have the spell slots/sorcery points to do so. Keep in mind it is a concentration spell so you can only have one instance of it up at a time.
And if you had another feature that granted the spell with limited casting quantity, you could use that feature as well. If there was a feat that was similar to magic initiate but granted second level spell, you could take Darkness and cast it using that feature as many times as the feature allows. Additionally, if you multiclassed into shadow monk, you could cast darkness using 2 ki points. The point is that each feature that grants usage of a spell tells you how it is cast, how often it can be cast, and it's considered a different pool unless there are rules that say otherwise.
It is not quite so simple, depending on your class and how you learned the spell.
Each spell that you know has either a casting ability or a class associates with it. The wording in the spell casting class feature says you can cast your sorcerer spells with slots. This (to me) means if you know darkness from your dark elf racial ability, you still have to pick it as a spell known to cast it with slots, but once you pick it you can cast it as many times as you want with slots as long as you use ones of appropriate level/enough sorcery points.
My understanding is if you "Learn" a spell from another source and that spell is on your spell list then you can use your slots for it. Crawford gave us example from a wizard taking magic initiate and learning a first level wizard spell can then prepare that spell. Same would go with a High Elf wizard taking Fey Teleportation learning Misty Step and adding it to known spells. A learned caster such as sorcerer or arcane trickster should be able to cast spells they have "learned" again after the free usage was finished if that spell appears on their own possible spell list.
Magic initiate is one case from a non-class source that gives a spell a class...
Soooo spell sniper?
Soo0o you were able to find another one. Drow Magic (the trait the OP's post is about) only tells you that charisma is the casting ability for the spells you get - it does not tell you what class the spells are associated with. Most racial features and feats are the way that I described.