Thread by @LordVonBre

So, I have some #DnD #dnd5e thoughts:

TL;DR: MAKE SPELL LISTS FOR YOUR SETTING! 🎨
They are great at tying mechanics and flavour together, while also giving you a greater understanding of the setting you are in. They require a bit of work though.

Long 🧵👇

So, a short explanation for the uninitiated:

In D&D each player character has a class. Some classes have access to magic spells. Which spells are available to you is dictated by a class spell list.

Any given spell is associated with one or more spell lists. So there is some overlap, but each spell list defines the capabilities of its corresponding spellcasting class.

With its recent #OneDnD playtest document, WotC has shown among other things the return to only three spell lists: Arcane, Divine and Primal. The Idea here is that multiple classes draw from the same spell lists instead of each having their own.

Now, I don’t know if people got upset about this, I try to stay away from discourse, and the discourse that reached me wasn’t about that.

But as we observed each class needing their own spell list, wouldn’t this shift from personal to general affect balance?

The Dungeon Master’s Guide has the answer: No, not really.

On page 287 it warns about giving warlocks access to spells that you don’t want them to cast a lot, but otherwise? Spell lists have “little effect on a character’s power”.

We know that isn’t *quite* true; especially in the case of paladins and rangers, spell lists can be a limiting factor. But from a balance standpoint? Looks like it is more important how much a class CAN cast spells, rather than WHICH spells exactly.

With that in mind, what drew me immediately to the Arcane/Divine/Primal-Split was the in-universe explanation given for it: Arcane magic seeks to manipulate the ambient magical energies, Divine magic represents influence from the outer Planes, and...

...Primal magic draws upon the power of the inner and elemental planes.

That means: You can understand what these concepts mean and do, *by looking at their respective lists*. And this is powerful. At least I think it is.

As I am currently exploring more campaign ideas than normal (big campaign is ending) the gears started turning when looking into some scenarios. So ofc I hyper focussed for a day or two and divided all official spells in four spell lists (Nothing I could do 🤷🏻).

And let me tell you: I learned so much about my setting, how magic works in it, what each force can do and how it approaches things.

Here is how you can do it:

Most important thing: Get some Strong themes.

Setting themes comes first. Think about what major things influence magic and how it is drawn upon.

I think custom spell lists work best when there is only a handful of them. Instead of 9+ lists, all tied to classes (more if you allow homebrew), settle for ca. 4 or 5, according to your setting.
Lets say, for example, the sun and moon are major forces of magic in your setting.

So you make a Sun-List and a Moon-List.
Great! But what does that mean?
What does sun magic do, that moon magic can’t and vice versa? Setting themes is more than visuals: You need to know what each force represents, at what it excels, and where its limits lie.

When you only have a handful of lists, where each spell goes tells you a lot. So before you make a balance pass, go over the spells and assign them by flavour alone. And with each spell you can make four kinds of statements:

1. If a spell appears on all lists, it may reveal some inherent nature to magic. (Also, if you believe a spell should be shared by all lists, just put it on all lists)
2. If a spell appears on all lists but one, it highlights a particular blind spot for this kind of magic.

3. If a spell appears on roughly half of the lists, it may express a dichotomy between two camps. What connects those that have the spell? What connects those that don’t? Where lie the common differences between the havers and the not–havers?

A spell that’s only found on one list stresses the unique strengths of one particular type of magic.

i. E.: We defined our sun magic as revealing, searing and lending presence, and our moon magic as knowledgeable, transforming and secretive. *See Invisibility* makes a strong entry in the sun list. *Alter Self* and *Disguise Self* are definitely associated with the moon list.

They make sense as unique spells (only found on respective list), but maybe the Godly Magic (List) stole from the moon and the sun. So finding both *See Invisibility* and *Disguise Self* on the gods-accociated list tells us about what the gods valued most when raiding the stars.

Although we are pretty deep already, I have not revealed the most important tool you have when making these lists: Reflavouring 🌶️

Just because certain spells have an inbuild flavour in description and, more importantly, name, doesn’t mean their effects aren’t perfect fits for certain lists. Back to the example: We want to make a statement about what heavenly bodies can do, that other magic sources cannot.

*Guiding Bolt* has great mechanics for both lists (”knowledge” reveals weakness) but the optics only fit one. Instead of juts putting down “Guiding Bolt” on the Moon lists, I’d write “Guiding Bolt (Secret Seeker)” on the list.

It is a tool you might need to rely on heavily, but in my tests only a few spells per level needed a second name. Also, if after your first pass you see the need to add certain spells to certain lists, a reflavour might save you time constructing/searching new spells.

This isn’t really a science, so play fast and loose with it, but here is an excerpt of my notes (potential spoilers for my players I guess?) (Please don't crunch this too much Twitter 🙃)

There is an argument to be made that the class spell lists are a better expression of what a class is and does. But as it stands, I have 4 lists, each doing heavy lifting in storytelling and character expression. I vastly prefer it to the 9 lists all bound to class. 🪄

Now, a few things to keep in mind should you want to try this: First of, you should revisit expanded spell lists. By their nature, they were designed to expand the options of spellcasters of a certain class.

When using custom spell lists it is very much possible that these lists do almost nothing for a character now. Additional spells that are always prepared/known without taking up resources shouldn’t require a change.

In a way, it’s free (magical) real-estate, and even if every single spell on them is on the list a character is using, always having these spells is useful.

Second: You should think about which spell lists replace those mentioned in items, class features and other things not directly tied to a spellcasting feature. Do you have a list for a Favored Soul Sorcerer to draw on, since the cleric list doesn’t exist anymore?

Do the spell restrictions on Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights still make sense? What spells should a wizard be able to copy into their spellbook?

Third: Do you allow free choice of list, or do you assign certain lists to certain classes? As it stands, #onednd seems to go for the latter route, although at this point this is just speculation. I think the former makes more sense in the world I am building, ...

...but for that I would need to revisit multiclassing, how and if you can change your spell list, and what implications that should have. Additional work I can post about, once I found a satisfying solution, but work nonetheless.

And with that, I think, I typed enough. What do you think? Is the work worth it? Or do you like class spell list as they are? Whenever I build a D&D fantasy now, I will think of spell list now. I hope I could inspire you to do the same! ✨🎨✨