Better Level Up Process
PlannedWe're a new group, and have reached 2nd level! The process to level up characters is not easily discoverable, and requires a lot of guidance through the process. Having a checklist or guided process for this common character activity would be extremely helpful.
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I noticed that if Manual HP entry is selected, not only is there no alert to remind you to add HP when you level up, it would also be nice if it kept a record of all the rolls you made from level to level, so you could rest assured that you've remembered to increase them. Even if it was just a field to write notes on and manually record your rolls from level to level. But a series of fields that added up would be even better. -EDIT: Just noticed another comment already suggested this, I forgot to read :D In any case, I concur.
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This applies both to Level Up and to general spellcaster management, but the Spell Management popout on the character sheet really needs work.
For instance, when leveling up, it would be nice it you were somehow prompted to pick you new spells "known" or "in your spellbook". There have been a couple times where we decided to level up at the end of a session, and of course, picking new spells always takes me forever, so I will contemplate the new spells for awhile, then decide to come back to that later. But 'later' may be a week later, and it isn't obvious when you open the character sheet if you have claimed your new spells or not. I have to keep referring the the Wizard section of the rules to make sure I haven't added too many to my spellbook.
It also isn't obvious when you don't have your full complement of spells prepared.
For instance on my cleric/wizard, when I hit "Manage Spells", the pop-up on the right shows gray bars with drop downs for Prepared Spells with a number in parentheses indicating how many are prepared. Instead of just saying (7), it could show (7 out of 8) and I would know instantly that I can prepare one more for either one or both classes.
Also, including the cantrips in the number of prepared spells is a bit misleading and confusing. As a 3rd level wizard, I know I can prepare 7 spells, but the gray bar shows Prepared Spells (10) including my cantrips. I don't need to know how many cantrips are prepared, or if anything, need to see those as a separate number (to manage gaining new cantrips over time).
Another minor quibble: it is too easy to accidentally "remove" cantrips from the spellbook. Technically, they really aren't even in the spellbook, so they should probably be dealt with a bit differently, even though I am sure that the programming mechanics are much easier to simply treat them as spells.
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Leveling Up should use the UI-concept called a 'wizard'.
That said, there should be a manual way remaining to tweak the various levers. I have found instances where my players did not have time to complete leveling-up before our next game and were willing to roll for their new HP and lose out on extra spells or whatnot until the following session (so as not to hold-up THIS game).
Also, I think a player engaged in a campaign, who edits their character in any fundamental way -- a notification should be sent to the campaign's DM.
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Definitely agreed! A good example to look at for how to do this right is the COMP/CON app for Lancer (v2 is currently only available as a web app here: https://compcon.app/). It clearly takes you through the process step by step, telling you exactly what you need to do and when you've made all the necessary choices.
The character creation process is quite good, so it's a shame that leveling up is so... awkward. Especially for spellcasters, whom it doesn't prompt when they get additional spells (or can prepare more). There should be some indicator somewhere that the necessary choices have not yet all been made...
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