Automatic 3.5 Druid Spell-book! What features would you want? Give me your feedback!

[TomeGnome]

I've been making an automatic google sheet for my spells to accompany my 3.5 character. There were plenty out there for wizards, but I couldn't find anything decent for druids. Be aware, this is largely designed for Spell Point variant rules. I've put in a lot of time, and here are its features so far:

Separate tabs along the bottom for:
Stats
* This is where you input basic data (more or less just your level and relevant mental stat)
* WotC's tables are on this tab, copied in to pull data from for functions and for visual reference

Prepared spells
* Spell slots separated by level
* Dropdown menus for each slot to select spell of appropriate level
* Basic information pulled from selected spell into same row once selected
* Easy to follow instructions for how to add additional spell slots and copy relevant functions
* Summon Nature's Ally permanently listed for each spell level as a spontaneous cast
* Hover-over to display the names of summons for each level of Summon Nature's Ally

Buffs
* Dropdown menus: number of party members you will be buffing for each buff
* Dropdown menu: number of hours buffs will be maintained for
* Shows how many spell points/how many castings necessary to maintain each buff for above selections
* Highlights row of in red if it cannot be cast or sustained for the desired duration

Separate tabs for each level of spells:0-9
* Basic information copied, paraphrased and/or organized from SRD
* Numeric data automatically updates as you update your level/wisdom
* Hover-over to show special components (XP, divine focus, materials, etc) for each relevant spell
* Hover-over to show full description of spell as listed in the manual/SRD (Or click the cell to sustain the display)

What else do you want to see in a spell book? If there's enough demand, I might make a public document to copy and edit.

[weckar]

Prepared spell dropdowns could be tricky if you want to include the possibility of metamagic...

[TomeGnome]

Hmm... Fair point. That isn't an issue with the spell point variant rules since you don't really prepare spells in slots so much as choose which spells you will have "prepared" from which to cast freely for the day. Metamagic is applied at will as long as you deduct the extra spell points from your total.

Spreadsheet formulas can theoretically do anything you need them to do, but it's gonna get super complicated super quick, especially if someone applies multiple feats to the same spell. I'll have to work on this.

Good feedback. Things to think about. Keep it coming!

[ComaVision]

How about some preset spell lists? Like Blasting, Crowd Control, Utility? Would be helpful for beginners or someone in a rush.

[TomeGnome]

How about some preset spell lists? Like Blasting, Crowd Control, Utility? Would be helpful for beginners or someone in a rush.

Hmm... I foresee a few issues.

The number of spell slots isn't consistent from level to level, and I don't think functions can add more rows automatically. I could have separate tabs with pre-made "recipes" for like.... "15th level storm druid" or "1st level support healer" that is separate from the tabs already made, but at that point, I feel like we're cluttering up a spreadsheet to save time on something that a player already should have done. Even if they're a beginner. :p

It's not a bad idea, it's just already a very full spreadsheet and that wouldn't save you that much time in the long run.

[TomeGnome]

Prepared spell dropdowns could be tricky if you want to include the possibility of metamagic...

Challenge has been accepted and I have already tackled the most complex part of fixing this issue. I need to go through and fix a lot of the formatting for the spells as they're entered so that the functions will read them properly, but in theory when that's done, all you need to do is toggle on/off each metamagic feat, and it will give you the adjusted spell level, and either tell you whether or not it's possible to apply the feat to the spell, or it will adjust any relevant values. From there, it's just some magic with drop-down menus to allow them to be accessed via the prepared spells tab.

The only thing it doesn't automatically calculate for you is the difference on "Empower" since the modified value is dependent on the die roll itself, so the spreadsheet just uses regular expressions to insert the text "x 1.5" into the appropriate place in the existing text string.

(So many nested IF functions! Jeebus!)