Spell List Suggested Improvements

NOTE - while FEATS use a short DESC and have an option (only via homebrew I think) to use a far longer BENEFIT field, I don't believe that spells have this functionality. To gain from this, we'd need a code update to output either the DESC or BENEFIT for Spells (as a seperate option than for feats), and to actually get anything of value, LST editors would have to code up seperate BENEFIT for each spell with a lengthier description. Is that of value?

Homebrewers might think so, but I doubt it would find much use in the official release sets, so be a low priority feature request to be honest. LegacyKing 20:16, 10 February 2012 (EST)

JIRA raised to allow BENEFIT to be used on SPELLS as well as Feats, gives homebrewers the option to implement themselves.

Variants

Consider variants: A low level bard with just a handful of spells - could afford to have a full text copy of the book source A medium level wizard with a few dozen spells - would want a 2 or 3 line description for most spells A high level cleric with far too many spells to mention - may just want a one line description for each spell. Is there value in the CODE working with possibly three different levels of description (DESC-SHORT, DESC-MEDIUM and DESC-LONG/BENEFIT)? It would be down to homebrew and lst editors to actually take advantage of this however.

This may be easier solved by merely providing an alternative 'condensed' spell list for those with too many spells, that restricts the output of the DESC to a single line, allowing many spells to be output on one page.

Comparison of Layouts

Current default for 5.17.10 and earlier versions till 5.17.1 for comparison (Could do with a screen shot here)

LEVEL 0 Name Save Information Time Duration Range Comp. Source oooooAcid Splash 1 standard action Instantaneous Close (30 ft.) V, S PHB35e: P.196 School: Conjuration (Creation) [Acid] SR: No Target: One missile of acid Caster Level: 3 Effect: Orb deals 1d3 acid damage.

Before than, Effect was on the Second Line and a lengthy description would be boxed to waste a lot of space. LegacyKing 20:16, 10 February 2012 (EST)

This is 3+ rows - 2 headers and then the description

Drews current 5.17.10 new version: LEVEL 0 Name School Time Duration Range Caster Level Source oooooAcid Splash Conjuration (Creation) [Acid] Standard Action Instantaneous Close (50 ft.) Caster Level: 10 PHB: p.196 Target: One missile of acid; EFFECT: [SR: No] You fire a small orb of acid at the target. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to hit your target. The orb deals 1d3 points of acid damage. [V,S]

This is 2+ lines, one header and an extended description, with some fields moved from the header onto the desc line.

Requested Updates

Updates to the 'standard' spell sheet:

For each LEVEL heading 'LEVEL x', add:

Default casterlevel
Concentration check
Spells (of this level) castable per day

For each SPELL entry

position the [V,S,M] components field (in bold) as a prefix to the description, to aid in searching for specific types (non-somatic spells when silenced for example)
- Done LegacyKing 20:16, 10 February 2012 (EST)

Spell Resistance - as Suffix or to desc? But not *between* 'effect:' and the actual desc.

 DC - put as suffix to desc? or as prefix? Retain on header line?
 Target - suffix or prefix to desc? retain on header line? bold or italic for string'target:'

Placing the Target Text in the Comps/Source area doesn't work out: LegacyKing 20:16, 10 February 2012 (EST)