Help:Categorizing spells

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Spells

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Although the following list is not exhaustive, generally an article about a spell should be categorized according to:

General

All spells should belong to Category:Spells. Subcategories should also be included, as outlined below, but this general category should contain all articles on spells within the project.

School

Spells are divided up into magical schools based on how they work mechanically. While game mechanics are generally not welcome in the bodies of articles, they function well as concrete definitions for categories. Every spell should be categorized by its school, such as necromancy, illusion, conjuration, and enchantment. Using these examples, one would categorize an article in each group (respectively) as Category:Necromancy spells, Category:Illusion spells, Category:Conjuration spells, and Category:Enchantment spells.

Subschool

Spells are sometimes further divided up into subschools of the nine schools of magic; this is indicated using parentheses after the school, for example, Conjuration (Summoning), where "Summoning" is a subschool of Conjuration. Every spell should be categorized by its subschool if it has one, such as Charm or Summoning. Using these examples, one would categorize an article in each group, respectively, as Category:Charm spells and Category:Summoning spells.

Descriptor

Some spells have additional categories built into their mechanics which describe how they function. If a spell contains a descriptor, that should also be reflected in its categorization. For example, a spell with the Compulsion, Death, or Mind-affecting descriptor would belong to Category:Compulsion spells, Category:Death spells, or Category:Mind-affecting spells, respectively. A spell may belong to as many descriptor categories as it has descriptors.

Spell level

As with school, spell level is an easy way to categorize spells by relative power, similar to how creatures are categorized by challenge rating. A spell's level should thus be noted through inclusion in a category. A 1st level spell would belong to Category:1st level spells. Some spells have different levels depending on the caster's class. In these cases, a spell should be included in the category for each spell level at which it can be cast.

Class

Spells should also be categorized by the classes who can cast them. These categories take the following format: Category:Cleric spells, Category:Druid spells, Category:Sorcerer/wizard spells. A spell should belong to the category for each class listed as possible casters.

Domain

Generally listed along with a spell's caster classes, a spell's domain should also be noted in its categories. Fireball, for example, is granted by the Fire domain, and should thus be categorized in Category:Fire domain spells.

Miscellaneous

Some spells have a specific connection to a particular deity, region, race, or other flavorful element of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting and should be noted in the spell's category. Thus, a spell unique to the nation of Osirion would belong to Category:Osirion in addition to those categories specific to articles on spells as outlined above. Similarly, a spell granted to followers of Abadar would belong to Category:Abadar.

Unsure about Categories?

If you have written an article and are unsure about which categories to apply, or simply want your categories double checked, then please feel free to add this text at the bottom of your article in this format:

[[Category:Please check categories]]

This will flag to others that the article's categories need checking or adding. We hope that, soon thereafter, another wiki member will be along to help.