At-the-table Spell List

[weckar]

I - like I presume many people - like to have a full spell list for my character with spell descriptions at the table. Now, as I don't like having to re-type every spell exactly, I used to copy the spell descriptions from [redacted]. Now that that is no longer possible, I wonder if anyone knew of a tool that could help me for this purpose?

[AngelOfFaith]

I think the problem is that third parties don't have the rights to the descriptions of the spells. I think you can find spell lists with the names of the spells - I'm sure there is one with all the core spells somewhere on the net - but just the names and maybe a few words of reminder text. I do believe that is the reason some d&d info sites were shut down. That said there probably is something for your phone if you can deal with not having these things on paper.

[Flickerdart]

Open book. Take photo with phone. Close book.

[Brogen]

http://www.d20srd.org/ has all the core spells available (searchable too!).

[atemu1234]

I type up the spells on my laptop and make a quick-reference index Microsoft Word document.

[Scipio_77]

I type up name, duration, range and effect size. The rest I try to know by heart, as this generally makes for far better casting.

[(Un)Inspired]

I type up the spells on my laptop and make a quick-reference index Microsoft Word document.

Same here. I like to include book and page numbers it case DMs want to look up anything I'm using.

[Andry]

I know this might be taboo to all you techies out there. It is old fashioned but how about bring books to the table?

[Scipio_77]

I know this might be taboo to all you techies out there. It is old fashioned but how about bring books to the table?

It works if you have a lot of books, but often you have a limited supply and sometimes people want to read it at the same time (typically PC caster + DM).

[(Un)Inspired]

I know this might be taboo to all you techies out there. It is old fashioned but how about bring books to the table?

It just takes up so much space to have that many books at the table at once.

[Telonius]

For Wizards and Sorcerers, it's not all that hard. Just keep a short list with the names sources, and page numbers for the spells, in case you forget.

Clerics, Druids, and some of the other "you can prepare every spell on the list" classes are a lot worse, since every adventuring day, you can have pretty much anything you like. For those, I'd just keep a (somewhat longer) list of the spells you'd typically be preparing, and a few more "situational" spells if you happen to be fighting undead, or evil outsiders, or whatever.

[LoyalPaladin]

Our table uses spellforge. I am unsure where to get a copy of it now, but it works really well.

[Ketiara]

Open book. Take photo with phone. Close book.

LOL! I've been contemplating the problem the OP's been having, and it never occurred to me to take a pic and sort them properly on my ipad or computer or whatever... man I feel stupid now :D

But thanks, now I can prepare properly for my game next Saturday!

[Elkad]

I've got a spell sheet pdf that lists core spells by level, with a short description of each (1 spell per line). Not sure where I got it.

http://i.imgur.com/ZcDIe57.png

But it would be nice if I could build a custom sheet with non-core spells without having to type the whole thing.
Eliminate spells not in my book, add spells from other books, preferably with a bunch of checkboxes.

Ideally it would allow you to have several memorization templates too, so you could have several standard spell loadouts. Travel, Dungeon, Hanging around Town, etc. Just click the button and it changes to that set of spells memorized for the day.

[Ketiara]

heroforge spellforge google that and download the excell sheet and you will get all that

[LoyalPaladin]

heroforge spellforge google that and download the excell sheet and you will get all that
Maybe it is just me. But I haven't been able to make their site (http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/default35.asp) work in forever.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Clerics, Druids, and some of the other "you can prepare every spell on the list" classes are a lot worse, since every adventuring day, you can have pretty much anything you like. For those, I'd just keep a (somewhat longer) list of the spells you'd typically be preparing, and a few more "situational" spells if you happen to be fighting undead, or evil outsiders, or whatever.

For these dudes I keep several "standard spells prepared lists" just to speed up play with short descriptions of each spell, along with a book name and page number. This tends to tag enough of the good spells that I don't have a serious issue.

[Elkad]

heroforge spellforge google that and download the excell sheet and you will get all that

Well SpellForge is neat. It's also terribly slow. I just spent ENTIRELY too long adding Blockade to it, since I couldn't find it on the list. And then it threw an error when I re-indexed (using Excel '13). Which may have broken it.
Good thing I'm just sitting at work marking time for the weekend.


Maybe it is just me. But I haven't been able to make their site (http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/default35.asp) work in forever.

Internet Archive has it. https://web.archive.org/web/20131013024310/http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/downloads/SpellForge_3.5_4.5.0.zip

[ILM]

I've just populated a spreadsheet with essential info over time. I have a master list, and each character has his own selection of spells known. (edit: up to 400+ now - still feels like I haven't scratched the surface)

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee281/zeqlon/Sans-titre-1-1.jpg

Excel nerds unite!

[LoyalPaladin]

Internet Archive has it. https://web.archive.org/web/20131013024310/http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/downloads/SpellForge_3.5_4.5.0.zip
Ooooooooo. Goodies :D

[StoneCipher]

I've just populated a spreadsheet with essential info over time. I have a master list, and each character has his own selection of spells known. (edit: up to 400+ now - still feels like I haven't scratched the surface)

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee281/zeqlon/Sans-titre-1-1.jpg

Excel nerds unite!

I do you one better and I make an access database that is a population of all known spells (or in cases of clerics and druids, favorite spells) and then I have a form that I check off what spells I want to prepare and it makes a report based on that and has a bunch of other neat features such as Save DCs, SR:Yes/No, and the amount of dice I need to roll.

[jedipotter]

Index Cards are the way to go. The Old School way is to just write out the spell.

Though in the 21st century you can type and print them up too. I like the Pile of Doom myself. Some players I have seen:

Color code things: like attack spells in red, defense in blue, and green or miscellaneous.

One of my players punches holes and makes little flip books.

Tabs on every corner that say something like ''1 Evo'' or ''2 Div''.

[Elkad]

I do you one better and I make an access database that is a population of all known spells (or in cases of clerics and druids, favorite spells) and then I have a form that I check off what spells I want to prepare and it makes a report based on that and has a bunch of other neat features such as Save DCs, SR:Yes/No, and the amount of dice I need to roll.

Dude, share!

[TypoNinja]

I know this might be taboo to all you techies out there. It is old fashioned but how about bring books to the table?

My problem with this is that there are spells in 50 different books. I can only carry so much, yes my spell compendium goes in the book bag, but its only most spells, not all.

[Petrocorus]

I've just populated a spreadsheet with essential info over time. I have a master list, and each character has his own selection of spells known. (edit: up to 400+ now - still feels like I haven't scratched the surface)

Excel nerds unite!

Excel is love, Excel is life.


My problem with this is that there are spells in 50 different books. I can only carry so much, yes my spell compendium goes in the book bag, but its only most spells, not all.

This is why i'm more and more into PDF. You can carry your whole library on your netbook / tablet. And if the OCR is well done, you can easily search for spells, feat, itels, etc...
This and the fact that i don't have extra-dimensional bookshelf at home.

[TypoNinja]

Excel is love, Excel is life.



This is why i'm more and more into PDF. You can carry your whole library on your netbook / tablet. And if the OCR is well done, you can easily search for spells, feat, itels, etc...
This and the fact that i don't have extra-dimensional bookshelf at home.

Yea, my DM managed to break a cheaply constructed bookcase with his book collection, its got a distinct lean to it. I think its literally being held up by his fridge.

The PDF's are handy for weight to info ratio I agree, however they still present you with the problem of lacking a unified source. If I'm picking spells, or don't know what book the spell is in I'm still just going down the list and guessing book by book.

I actually bought a netbook just for D&D, its a life saver, party loot, initiative, damage tracking, adventure notes. I love the thing. Highly recommend to anybody whos on the fence about how useful it can be. Also, netbook over tablet. You are talking notes a lot, the keyboard is important. Also love the netbook because its smaller than a D&D book, so it fits in the book bag easily, and doesn't hog huge amounts of table real estate.

[Eanow]

So, this is for Pathfinder, but it's what I've been using: Spellcards (https://sites.google.com/site/ikolianspellcards/)

I've got cards for the spells I use, and I found it's really helpful for cleric- I just shuffle through my set of cards, pick out the ones I want to use that day, and as I cast them I discard them into a pile. I've got extra modifier cards for metamagic and preparing the same spell multiple times which helps me track them. Now, I rarely have to crack the book since I have the important details of each spell on a poker-card sized reference which doubles as the physical tracking system.

I've been working on them since February, and recently concluded a kickstarter campaign for providing them to others. Right now, I have the Core Rulebook spells done (these are the ones available) but I've finished the APG, UC, UM, and some of the ACG spells. If you'd like a set, you can get them print-on-demand from The Game Crafter: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/pathfinder-core-rulebook-spellcards

[icefractal]

I used to use spell cards. But that took up too much room, and took too long to pick spells using. Now what I do is:
1) Make a short list of spells that are actually useful, even for a Cleric/Druid. The majority of spells are chaff.
2) Record them in a condensed format, where most spells only take one line.

Example (2nd level spells for a Druid):
Barkskin 10Lm 2 + L/3 bonus to natural armor.
Bite of the Wererat personal, Lr +6 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +3 natural armor, Weapon Finesse
Blinding Spittle close, ray -4 to attack roll; Target blind until they wash eyes with water.
Bull’s Strength Lm +4 to Strength.
Creeping Cold close, 3r Target takes 1d6 cumulative cold damage / round (Fort half).
Embrace the Wild personal, 10Lm Gain blindsight 120’, or low-light vision and scent.
Gust of Wind 1r, line 60’ Creates a 50 mph blast of wind. See text.
Halo of Sand personal, 10Lm +L/3 deflection bonus to AC.
Lesser Restoration ritual 3r Dispels all ability score penalties or cures 1d4 ability damage.
Also cures fatigue and reduces exhaustion to fatigue.
Mass Snake's Swiftness medium, radius 20’ Targets can immediately make a melee or ranged attack.
Nature’s Favor Lm Target animal gains +L/2 luck bonus to attack and damage.
Resist Energy 10Lm Resistance 20 to one energy type (30 at 11th).

This particular format is based around being exception based (MtG style, not 4E style), and using some new keywords to make things more condensed. But you can use whatever format works for you.

These ultra-condensed descriptions don't include every single detail. For most spells and most situations, they have enough, but if things get into a rules argument, you may need to consult the full description. It's more of a tool for selecting which spells to prepare/cast, but at least 90% of the time it's all I need.

[ericgrau]

Take notes and summarize the critical details: major numerical details and a 1 sentence summary. Bookmark the book, or buy a legal pdf and copy paste. I like the photo idea. Maybe you could clear out your photos, then take a big picture of the number 1 for level 1 spells, then take a picture of the spells, then take a big picture of the number 2, etc. So when you browse through thumbnails you can quickly jump to a certain spell level if you want.