Dungeons and Dragons: What is a Coffeelock?

A “Coffeelock” is a multiclass Sorcerer / Warlock. A Coffeelock is built to use the Flexible Casting rules of the Sorcerer in conjunction with the Pact Magic ability of the Warlock.

Flexible Casting

You can use your sorcery points to gain additional spell slots, or sacrifice spell slots to gain additional sorcery points. You learn other ways to use your sorcery points as you reach higher levels.

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Pact Magic
To cast one of your warlock spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a spell slot. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a short or long rest.

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There is no rule in D&D 5e that says you must take a long rest. Therefore a character with Level 2 in Warlock and Level 2 in Sorcerer can regain all their Warlock spell slots after a short rest and then sacrifice them to gain additional sorcery points.

Flexible Casting

Creating Spell Slots. You can transform unexpended sorcery points into one spell slot as a bonus action on your turn. The Creating Spell Slots table shows the cost of creating a spell slot of a given level. You can create spell slots no higher in level than 5th.

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Those sorcery points can then be transformed back into spell slots. The result? Effectively infinite spell slots for the course of an adventure.

Coffeelock Summary

1. Reach level 2 Warlock and level 2 Sorcerer.
2. Use Flexible Casting to turn Warlock spell slots into sorcery points.
3. Use Flexible Casting to turn sorcery points into spell slots.
4. Take a short rest and refresh Warlock spell slots.
5. Return to step 2 without taking a Long rest.

If you do this every short rest you take then the number of spell slots your Coffeelock has will simply keep on increasing.

Is the Coffeelock multiclass legal in D&D 5e?

It is, although multiclassing is an optional rule which DMs do not have to use.

The Coffeelock build can quickly overshadow the rest of the group and many DMs rule that chained short rests are the same thing as a long rest. This ruling helps balance characters.

In 2015 Jeremy Crawford confirmed this and agreed that the Sorcerer’s Flexible Casting ability is omnivorous.

Crawford is the lead rules designer of Dungeons & Dragons.

More recently, in August of this year, he spoke on the subject again and suggested ‘one way to read the rules’ was that Pact Magic slots could only be used for Warlock powers. This interpretation would also limit the effectiveness of the Coffeelock.

There is also a cost to this niche trick. While having to avoid Long Rests you will also be unable to recover spell slots over 5th level.

Long rest rules

It’s worth noting that the optional book Xanathar’s Guide to Everything has something to say about long rests.

Going Without A Long Rest: A long rest is never mandatory, but going without sleep does have its consequences. If you want to account for the effects of sleep deprivation on characters and creatures, use these rules. Whenever you end a 24-hour period without finishing a long rest, you must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion. It becomes harder to fight off exhaustion if you stay awake for multiple days. After the first 24 hours, the DC increases by 5 for each consecutive 24-hour period without a long rest. The DC resets to 10 when you finish a long rest.”

These rules, as written, also put a serious block on the Coffeelock’s ability to churn up as many spell slots as they want.

Creative Commons credit: Water Mage by Johnny Morrow.