clutter in SRD damage spells
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:18 pm
Always thought the Player's Handbook wasted too much space on spells, even though they're probably one of the things I like most when I got into the game. I'm curious if anyone has ever figured out exactly how much space would be saved if the damage spells in the SRD were removed in favor of a few page menu style attack spell constructor?
The menu takes inputs for selecting targets and area of effect (spread, ball, burst ...), energy type (lightning, radiant), saving throw type (none, half, null), range (touch, short, long), duration (instant) and To-hit vs auto-hit (magic missile vs. flame blade) and some meta-magic feats like (Identify Friend or Foe). Damage scales with CL and Slot used to cast the spell. Every D&D damage spell off the top of my head is just a permutation of these same inputs, except in certain cases where a spell was a sacred cow. I'm looking at you, magic missile.
I ran some queries against Andragor's SRD database and the spells section (including headers) looks to be approximately 120,000+ word, including the source reference. Note: The numbers below include a count of the internal fields and HTML output for each spell. I could create a view that only includes exactly what the PH would have printed if anyone is really interested in a more accurate count.
The menu takes inputs for selecting targets and area of effect (spread, ball, burst ...), energy type (lightning, radiant), saving throw type (none, half, null), range (touch, short, long), duration (instant) and To-hit vs auto-hit (magic missile vs. flame blade) and some meta-magic feats like (Identify Friend or Foe). Damage scales with CL and Slot used to cast the spell. Every D&D damage spell off the top of my head is just a permutation of these same inputs, except in certain cases where a spell was a sacred cow. I'm looking at you, magic missile.
I ran some queries against Andragor's SRD database and the spells section (including headers) looks to be approximately 120,000+ word, including the source reference. Note: The numbers below include a count of the internal fields and HTML output for each spell. I could create a view that only includes exactly what the PH would have printed if anyone is really interested in a more accurate count.
Nearly 25,000 words are wasted on describing damage spells:all the spells wrote:$ sqlite3 dnd35.db "select * from spell;" | perl -lpe 's|<.+?>||g' | sed 's#|# #g' | wc -w
259051
For reference, here is the magic missile entry:just spells with XdY Damage in the description wrote:$ sqlite3 dnd35.db "select * from spell where description REGEXP '\dd\d.*damage';" | perl -lpe 's|<.+?>||g' | sed 's#|# #g' | wc -w
53457
EDIT: My math is probably shit.$ sqlite3 dnd35.db "select * from spell where name like 'magic missile';"| perl -lpe 's|<.+?>||g'
422|Magic Missile|magic missile|Evocation|None|Force|None|Sorcerer/Wizard 1|V, S|1 standard action|Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)|Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart|None|None|Instantaneous|None|Yes|1d4+1 damage; +1 missile per two levels above 1st (max 5).|None|None|None|None|
A missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes its target, dealing 1d4+1 points of force damage.
The missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a creature can't be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by the spell.
For every two caster levels beyond 1st, you gain an additional missile-two at 3rd level, three at 5th, four at 7th, and the maximum of five missiles at 9th level or higher. If you shoot multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll damage.
|None|None|None|None|None|None|None|None|
Magic MissileEvocation [Force]Level:Sorcerer/Wizard 1Components:V, SCasting Time:1 standard actionRange:Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)Targets:Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apartDuration:InstantaneousSaving Throw:NoneSpell Resistance:YesA missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes its target, dealing 1d4+1 points of force damage.The missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a creature can't be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by the spell.For every two caster levels beyond 1st, you gain an additional missile-two at 3rd level, three at 5th, four at 7th, and the maximum of five missiles at 9th level or higher. If you shoot multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll damage.
|SRD 3.5 SpellsM-O