Spell Lists: Opinions Wanted!

[Klaus]

Hi, y'all!

I'm posting this here to keep it separate from the announcement thread over at the Publishers Forum...

Fiery Dragon just posted web-enhancements for BattleBox, in the form of spell lists for each core class in PDF format. Since I designed them with practicality in mind, I wanna hear any opinions people might have.

Here are the common characteristics:
- Each spell list contains short descriptions of the spells, akin to the PHB ones;
- Each spell level has a box to write down the applicable Save DC;
- Each spell list fits in a single page, except for the Sorcerer (2 pages), Wizard (2 pages) and Paladin/Ranger (one page for both).

After this, each spell list is geared towards each class' needs:
- Bard and Sorcerer lists have a box next to each spell to mark off Known Spells;
- Cleric, Druid, Paladin and Ranger have multiple boxes to mark off Prepared Spells;
- The Domains list have a box next to the domain name to mark off accessible domains, then a box next to each spell to mark Prepared Spells;
- Space has been provided for stats of Familiars (Sorcerer and Wizard), Animal Companion (Druid and Ranger) and Special Mount (Paladin);
- Sorcerer spell list (separate from the Wizard for the first time) is listed alphabetically, and "wizard only" spells were excluded;
- Wizard Spell list divides each spell level by school, then provides multiple boxes to mark off Prepared Spells and a space to mark off (I tend to use a "*") Known Spells.

Just head over to http://www.fierydragon.com/Products/prod-bbox.htm , download the lists and let me know what you guys think! This kind of feedback is extremely useful to me!

 

[DanMcS]

What I like to do with spell lists is make a single line description of them, something like:
Daze (Enc): Humanoid creature of 4 HD or less loses next action. VSM, Short, Will neg, SR.

Everything you need to use the spell in one line.

I don't know how useful the full wizard spell list is, since half or better of the spells on there my character will never know, but a list like the one above that I could cut and paste from to make my own, personalized list would be swell, too.

 

[Spatula]

Claudio, very interesting. This is something that has been of interest to me, and I have several different similar lists that I've collected from around the internet.

I like that the your lists are very compact. However, the cost of that is that they are not a very good reference IMO. The other spell lists that I've seen have casting times, durations, type of save allowed, SR, etc. - basically everything from the spell "header." Which means that those lists are much bigger, of course. It's a trade-off, but IME I've found that it's very handy to not have to go look up a spell just to learn how long it lasts, or its range. But like I said, it's a trade-off.

Now, there are some things that I have found wanting in every spell reference list that I have seen so far. One is: Space for new spells! It's not at all unusual for a character to have a spell or two from a splat book, or perhaps even one he's researched on his own. But there's never any designated space to put those spells on the reference sheet, which means you have to pencil them in in the margins. Or just throw the sheet out, since it no longer represents what spells you know. This is so easy to fix, too - all you need is some blank spots for each spell level.

Number Two is metamagic. How to clearly represent that your wizard memorized an empowered fireball in a 5th level slot? This is a much trickier problem and I'm not sure how to deal with.

Something else that I've seen on other spell sheets that perhaps you could find room for are: How many spells per day of each level does the caster get? and, what are the caster's ranges for Close, Medium, and Long spells?

Just something to think about.

 

[Spatula]

I don't know how useful the full wizard spell list is, since half or better of the spells on there my character will never know, but a list like the one above that I could cut and paste from to make my own, personalized list would be swell, too.

http://www.geocities.com/toytools/dnd/
Scroll down to the bottom for spell lists in Word, that you can chop up and personalize. They're for 3.0, but there are links to 3.5 versions made by other people.