D&D 5E The format of the spell list in the PHB is just plain awful.

[Gilbetron]

I think the spell list is great - alphabetical, without extraneous content. I can't stand anything but alphabetical, though. Level-based, or class-based organization drives me crazy.

 

[Stormonu]

I'm OK with the detailed spell descriptions being strictly alphabetical, but the class summaries up front should include spell school and a brief spell description to save flipping back and forth. The 3.5E PHB got this right.

This PHB is missing a lot of user-centered design features. A feat table with summaries and tab markings by chapter on the outer edges of pages are two other things I would like.

Yeah, it kind of drove me nuts they had a summary table for the classes, but skipped it for races, feats and even spells. The books consistancy is uneven. In places its like the authors deliberately scrambled information to make it feel more 1E/Gygaxian.

 

[Evenglare]

Then it's not an offence at all given they all have the Schools listed on them

Everyone of them is written like

Beacon of Hope3rd-level abjuration

I'm going to need pictures because I must have gotten a faulty copy. Mine has no spell list for eldritch knight, so I have to pick only evocation and abjuration spells from the wizards spells list. So when I go look at the list it just lists the NAME. If yours is formatted to say NAME - LEVEL - SCHOOL then I need to get my money back. If it's not like that, then you need to admit there is a terrible problem. Seeing the name of a spell tells me absolutely nothing about it, I have to go through EVERY spell on that list and pick the evocation and abjuration ones. It's seriously one of the worst oversights in the book. I'm so happy that there is a spell sorter out there, but the point is there shouldn't even be the need for something like that.

 

[Tormyr]

http://5espellbook.azurewebsites.net/

You can print out a spellbook or spell cards which can fit in one of those plastic sheets that can hold 9 cards. You can print out all your spell cards and then place your prepared spells in the plastic sheet. The spell cards or spelll book entries have the full text for the spell. It saves a lot of typing.

 

[Evenglare]

http://5espellbook.azurewebsites.net/

You can print out a spellbook or spell cards which can fit in one of those plastic sheets that can hold 9 cards. You can print out all your spell cards and then place your prepared spells in the plastic sheet. The spell cards or spelll book entries have the full text for the spell. It saves a lot of typing.

This is great stuff thanks for pointing it out! Is this legal? I mean if it were 3.5 sure, but since it's 5e have they actually said what we can and can not make/copy/reproduce? I'm not trying to call it out, I'm legitimately curious if they have said anything, I've been waiting on some sort of confirmation.

 

[Tormyr]

This is great stuff thanks for pointing it out! Is this legal? I mean if it were 3.5 sure, but since it's 5e have they actually said what we can and can not make/copy/reproduce? I'm not trying to call it out, I'm legitimately curious if they have said anything, I've been waiting on some sort of confirmation.

IANAL: It is not, but it will last as long as Wizards does not shut it down. It is a wonderful time saver at the table, and I will keep on using it. I and all the people at my table have a PHB.

 

[Sailor Moon]

I just want to who looked at this and said "yep, looks good to me" and sent it on to print.

I'm not convinced it was a throwback to old editions, I think they just made a bad decision.

 

[Li Shenron]

Spell indexes should look like this:


Wizard Spells

1st Level

Alarm (abjuration) You set an alarm against unwanted intrusion. pg. 211
Burning Hands (evocation) Thin sheets of flame burst from your hands. pg. 220​

ect...

With the proper spacing and tabs of course

Apart from the page number, this is what the 3e spell lists looked like, and I thought everybody loved those one-line descriptions...

So the 5e PHB doesn't have such one-liners in the spell lists? That sucks big time.

If we went with everyone's suggestions, we'd have 47 pages of spell list. KISS principle with no redundant info works fine for me.

The problem is that from what I've seen so far in the previews, 5e books have much larger fonts than 3e books, and a lot more white spaces.

It's a very good fact that 5e doesn't need as much rules text as 3e. But the space saved could have been used to improve usability of the books, not to increase the fonts and blank space so that it looks like 5e books are as big as previous editions.

 

[Joe Liker]

I just want to who looked at this and said "yep, looks good to me" and sent it on to print.

I'm not convinced it was a throwback to old editions, I think they just made a bad decision.

Sorry, I have to disagree. I'm fine with it the way it is.

Anyone who plays a spellcasting class needs to look up each and every spell on the current level of his class's list and read the full description at least once. Making decisions based on one-line summaries is not a good idea. Over the years, I've seen a lot of players do a lot of stupid things because they went off of the summary instead of the full description.

Once you've read the full descriptions, you don't need the summaries anymore because you generally know what each spell does. If you need details, you should always be going back to the full description, not a summary page.

I will admit that I wouldn't have minded a mention of school on the spell lists, at least for wizards, but that information is not necessary for any other class, so I'm fine with it being left out for brevity and consistency.

 

[Kalshane]

Count me among those annoyed with the organization. Having schools in the spell list (at least for Wizards) would be hugely beneficial.

Trying to stat up an Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster is a frustrating amount of flipping back and forth.

Having classes listed in the spell descriptions are more of a nice-to-have as I frequently see a spell and go "That's kind of neat. Who can cast that?" but it's not a game-breaker.