Druid Spell List?

[missmvicious]

A player in my 3.5 campaign is playing a Druid, but he's a noob and is really struggling with the spell selection. He never remembers to prepare his spells, always has to read what his spell does before using it, and is just struggling all-in-all.

I can tell that he's getting frustrated. I want to simplify his life without buying some spell cards (especially since the game gets cluttered enough without adding unnecessary hard copies of stuff everywhere), so I've been making my own PDF Druid Spell compendium... complete with notes on how many of each spell level he can use at his level. That way, he can quick scroll through the PDF on his laptop and reference the spell he needs, make sure he has the components, and blam. Blow up another NPC. But this is tedious, and technically, not my job. But I feel for him, because I know his schedule is hard, and he still finds time twice a week to make for 2 different D&D campaigns (one mine, one my wife's).

I'll build this thing if I have to, but I'm beginning to wonder... has anyone else done this before? Is there a spell compendium or something I can download? It has to include all the pertinent info: Spell name, level, components, casting time, duration, area, range, saves, and a description of it's effects and damage (if applicable). So essentially, it needs to say what is already in the PHB, but just the spells pertaining specifically to Druids.

Do precious gems like that exist in the universe?

[nedz]

I'm sure that there's a Druid handbook somewhere on this forum.
You could point him at that, but perhaps he doesn't have the time to read it ?

Ultimately he has to learn how to play the character, you cannot do that for him. Maybe he should start with just a few spells he knows.

What level is he playing ?

[missmvicious]

We started at level one, but it's a stat crunching campaign, so he's going up almost a level per session. He's almost at level 4 now.

Everyone else is getting it, but he's falling further behind. He's a great role-player and made a fun character. We all love it, so I hate to let simple game mechanics be the reason he drops out. 3.5 can be overwhelming, to say the least, and everyone else who is new to D&D or at least unfamiliar with 3.5 picked non-magic users. We have a fighter (4e player giving 3.5 another stab), a ranger (1st-timer noob), a wizard (3.5 experienced enough) and him.

I've learned a lot about building easy-to-use, streamlined characters for 3.5. But I had time to do it; we had small group campaigns, with patient co-players who were willing to help me answer all my questions, and I grew as a player from campaign to campaign. But this is my last 3.5 campaign to DM, and I'm pretty sure we won't play another 3.5 campaign again (since all my friends have made the switch to 4e.) So I'd like to be able to circumvent the learning curve for spell-casting in 3.5 as much as possible for him.

[noparlpf]

This (http://aristocracy.dyndns.org/nerd/3.5//DnD%203.5%20-%20Druid%20Spells.pdf) seems to list the PHB spells, but unfortunately doesn't give complete info on anything.
You should suggest to him that he go through the PHB and copy every spell he wants to use, and then he should read them a few times before the game. Alternatively, if prepared casting from the full list is too much to handle, try the spontaneous variant so he has fewer spells to juggle.

[thuigsinn]

There is this (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=17733&it=1) for $5. It's only SRD spells, but if he's already struggling this should be just enough.

[missmvicious]

Yeah, SRD should be enough for him. That's exactly what I'm looking for, actually. Thanks!

I'm not buying it for him though. I draw the line there. But at least I can show him where he should spend his own money.

[Bloodgruve]

I know you said that you don't like spell cards but maybe that is what he needs? I do everything on computer but I've dropped a lot of cash on the physical books. Something about having the resource hardcopy in front of you to really sink into it. We have a player in our group that has a hard time with his spells. We printed up spell cards (photoshop'd over some MtG cards for artwork) and they really helped him. Also setup his summons and animal companion so he could easily see the options in front of him.

GL
Blood~

[suhkkaet]

We have a player in our group that has a hard time with his spells. We printed up spell cards (photoshop'd over some MtG cards for artwork) and they really helped him. Also setup his summons and animal companion so he could easily see the options in front of him.

GL
Blood~

This is really a solid idea. I know it might be a lot of work, but perhaps you could make it a co-operative thing? Ask him to first find the spells he likes the most (or uses the most), and start with those. As time goes on, add more cards with quick information (and source etc.) - even if he's got a busy schedule, this should be something he could do with as little a few minutes (max) per spell. As an added bonus, you/he can add personalized descriptions etc., as well as a "best used"-clause. :P
Edit; Oh, and this works especially well for self-made spells, where you might have the entire thing in digital form.

I encourage my players to do this, because it speeds up gameplay. Both because neither me nor the player need to look up a spell and then find out whatever, and because it limits the amount of spells one needs to contemplate casting.
This works especially well with the Wizard, and can be made into a physical "spell book", where the wizard PC puts in his spells (although, that might just be me liking the whole "bringing physical things to enhance immersion", like having a few GP-sized coins, "old" maps, etc. to hand the players).

The cards approach also works with rules that your players use a lot, like, for eksample, feinting or tripping.
Of course, as the players gain more experience, the cards get less use - but then they can be used when a new player enters the game, or when your old players decide they want to try DMing their own game (with their own group)

[ClothedInVelvet]

Why not have him sit in front of d20srd.org?

You can open up the druid spell list and look at it by level to get the name of the spell and a brief description, then click on it to see the full text.

It's free, unless you want to download it for offline use ($10). Good investment.

[Medic!]

http://dnd.freeminded.org/tables/DnD3.5Index-Spells-Druid.pdf

^ this is what I use every time I don the green and leafy, complete with full spell descriptions in a concise format, components, casting times, the whole nine yards. Even has a table for summon nature's ally lists and a summary of different conditions (shaken, exausted, all that good tasty stuff)

[missmvicious]

Thanks, ClothedinVelvet and Medic!

The link for Freeminded was very similar to what I was already putting together myself. So, it's perfect. And the SRD link is pretty helpful for everyone. After all, the Ranger will start getting a spell list of her own soon.

Now I can give him some $0 options for him to play with, and he can chose what he likes best, and he can keep it all on his laptop without cramping up the little bit of room we have on the floor.

My hat's off to whomever put those documents together... wherever they may be. It's a tedious job, and I'm glad somebody did it. I got halfway through the 1st level spells before I started questioning whether my existence was this sad or not.