Indent all lines but first and have raggedright

Question

a line of text\\
and another one\\
\indent line that should be indented \\
and this one should not be\\
\indent but this should

This works fine until i add \raggedright to the preamble. There are various post regarding similar problems but when I try the given solutions I end up with a paragraph where every line is indented. Is there something obvious I'm missing? Essentially I'm trying to reproduce the below layout with the following code

\subsection{Light}
\textit{Evocation cantrip}\\
\textbf{Casting Time:} 1 action\\
\textbf{Range:} Touch\\
\textbf{Components:} V, M (a firefly or phosphorescent moss)\\
\textbf{Duration:} 1 hour\\
You touch one object that is no larger than 10 feet in any dimension. Until the spell ends, the object sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light can be colored as you like. Completely covering the object with something opaque blocks the light. The spell ends if you cast it again or dismiss it as an action. \\
\indent If you target an object held or worn by a hostile creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid the spell.

but when i add \raggedright to the preamble the indent just disappears. Is there a way to add indentation to arbitrary lines and still have a ragged right edge?

Answer 1

Here are two quick ways (see below for a better way):

1. \hspace{1em} following the \\

2. Preferred would be to use a paragraph structure and not use \\ in general. Then you can set \parindent to the indent value.

The MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\raggedright
\begin{document}
\subsection{Light}
\textit{Evocation cantrip}\\
\textbf{Casting Time:} 1 action\\
\textbf{Range:} Touch\\
\textbf{Components:} V, M (a firefly or phosphorescent moss)\\
\textbf{Duration:} 1 hour\\
You touch one object that is no larger than 10 feet in any dimension. Until the spell ends, the object sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light can be colored as you like. Completely covering the object with something opaque blocks the light. The spell ends if you cast it again or dismiss it as an action. \\
\hspace{1em}%
If you target an object held or worn by a hostile creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid the spell.

\subsection{Light}
\textit{Evocation cantrip}\\
\textbf{Casting Time:} 1 action\\
\textbf{Range:} Touch\\
\textbf{Components:} V, M (a firefly or phosphorescent moss)\\
\textbf{Duration:} 1 hour\\
You touch one object that is no larger than 10 feet in any dimension. Until the spell ends, the object sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light can be colored as you like. Completely covering the object with something opaque blocks the light. The spell ends if you cast it again or dismiss it as an action. \par
\parindent=1em%
If you target an object held or worn by a hostile creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid the spell.
\end{document}

The problem with either quick fix is the, as a rule, \\ is a very poor and not recommended way to format lines. The problem with the 2nd \par approach is that each new subsection will have to \noindent all the header information, once \parindent is set to a non-zero value. So I think a third way is best...

A better way would be to cook it into a macro structure, and use the \par approach always (EDITED to permit multi-line header info):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[usestackEOL]{stackengine}
\raggedright
\strutlongstacks{T}
\newcommand\mysubsection[6]{%
\subsection{#1}
\setstackgap{S}{0pt}%
\Shortstack[l]{%
\parbox{\linewidth}{\strut\textit{#2}\strut}\\
\parbox{\linewidth}{\strut\textbf{Casting Time:} #3}\\
\parbox{\linewidth}{\strut\textbf{Range:} #4\strut}\\
\parbox{\linewidth}{\strut\textbf{Components:} #5\strut}\\
\parbox{\linewidth}{\strut\textbf{Duration:} #6}}%
\par\noindent\ignorespaces%
}
\parindent=1em%

\begin{document}

\mysubsection{Light}{Evocation cantrip}{1 action}{Touch}
  {V, M a firefly or phosphorescent moss) with
  a multi-line item tha goes blah blah blah blah}{1 hour}
%
You touch one object that is no larger than 10 feet in any dimension. Until the 
spell ends, the object sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light 
for an additional 20 feet. The light can be colored as you like. Completely 
covering the object with something opaque blocks the light. The spell ends 
if you cast it again or dismiss it as an action. 

If you target an object held or worn by a hostile creature, that creature 
must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid the spell.
\end{document}

Answer 2

Usually \RaggedRight from ragged2e is better instead of \raggedright for long term ragged right typesetting.

It also allows to specify a parindent.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{ragged2e}

\newcommand{\manualsection}[3]{%
  % #1 = title
  % #2 = subtitle
  % #3 = items
  \subsection[#1]{%
    \parbox{\columnwidth}{
      #1\\
      \normalfont\normalsize
      \textit{#2}\\[\smallskipamount]
      #3%
    }%
  }%
}
\newcommand{\secitem}[2]{%
  \textbf{#1:} #2%
}

\setcounter{secnumdepth}{1} % only number sections
\setlength{\RaggedRightParindent}{\parindent}
\RaggedRight


\begin{document}

\manualsection{Light}{Evocation cantrip}
  {\secitem{Casting Time}{1 action}\\
   \secitem{Range}{Touch}\\
   \secitem{Components}{V, M (a firefly or phosphorescent moss)}\\
   \secitem{Duration}{1 hour}}

You touch one object that is no larger than 10 feet in any dimension.
Until the spell ends, the object sheds bright light in a 20-foot
radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light can be
colored as you like. Completely covering the object with something
opaque blocks the light. The spell ends if you cast it again or
dismiss it as an action.

If you target an object held or worn by a hostile creature, that
creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid the spell.

\end{document}