DM Quick Start

Get from install to “spells appear in a player’s Spell Book” in five steps.

Requirements: Foundry VTT 13.351+, dnd5e 5.3.0+.

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1. Install

Install the module through the Foundry setup screen or via manifest URL. See Installation and Settings for details.

Once enabled in your world, Spell Book adds:

• A Spell Book button on each actor sheet.
• A Spell List Manager button in the footer of the Compendium sidebar tab (GM only).

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2. Open the Spell List Manager

Open the Compendium sidebar tab and click Spell List Manager in the footer.

The manager is a draggable window with a detach button in its header (pops the manager out into a standalone OS window; dialogs opened from the manager follow along).

On first open the module indexes every compendium spell. A progress toast ticks as the fetch completes — this is a one-time cost per session.

Full walkthrough: Spell List Manager Interface Overview.

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3. Make Lists Available to Players

[!IMPORTANT] Spells do not auto-populate on character sheets. You must make a list available to each spellcasting class using one of the two options below, or player spell books will appear empty.

Option A: Add to Spell Registry (recommended for stock lists)

In the Spell List Manager header, tick Add to Spell Registry on each list you want to act as the global default for its class or subclass. This:

• Adds the list’s UUID to the REGISTRY_ENABLED_LISTS world setting.
• Calls dnd5e.registry.spellLists.register(uuid) immediately, so newly added spells show their class label on item sheets right away — no reload needed.

Disabling the toggle removes the UUID from the setting but cannot undo contributions already pushed to the registry; a world reload is required to clear those. A notification explains this when you disable a list.

Use this path when you want one list per class or subclass applied globally.

Option B: Assign Per Class via Spell Book Settings

For campaign-specific or per-character lists, have each player open Spell Book Settings (the cog icon in their Spell Book header) and select the list for each class:

• Class Spell List — the class’s primary list.
• Subclass Spell List — the subclass list. This is now explicit; the module no longer tries to infer a subclass list from the registry.

Per-actor Spell Book Settings overrides the registry, so you can combine both: the registry provides the default, Spell Book Settings overrides per actor.

• Create lists: Creating New Spell Lists
• Modify existing lists: Modifying Existing Spell Lists
• Assign lists to classes: Class Rules

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4. Review Global Settings (Optional)

Open Game Settings > Configure Settings > Spell Book. You do not need to change anything to get started. A few worth knowing:

• Notify GM on Spell Changes (NOTIFY_GM_ON_SPELL_CHANGES, default on) — whispers the GM when a player prepares more cantrips or spells than their class allows. This does not block preparation; it is a soft notification only. Exposed as a boolean checkbox in per-actor Spell Book Settings as well.
• Spellcasting Rule Set — Legacy (2014) or Modern (2024).
• Consume Scrolls When Learning — default on.
• Deduct Spell Learning Costs — default off.

Full reference: Installation and Settings.

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5. Players Open Their Spell Book

Players click the Spell Book button on their character sheet. Their spells come from:

1. The class / subclass list registered in step 3A, or
2. The list they assigned in Spell Book Settings (step 3B), which takes precedence.

If a player’s book is empty, confirm one of the two options above is set for their class, and that the class has a customSpellList assigned (the subclass list is optional).

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Troubleshooting

If something looks wrong, use the SpellBook Troubleshooter to generate a diagnostic report.

Programmatic access to spell data, list registration, and actor Spell Book state is documented in the API Reference.