I tried various tricks but Add space between paragraphs of the same style seems to be strictly based on style name. Consequently, I had to work around it to simulate the automatic built-in drop cap.
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Insert>Frame in the paragraph to be decorated with a drop cap
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In Type tab
- set Size (width and height) to minimum and check both Autosize boxes
- set Anchor To paragraph
- adjust Position horizontal Left and vertical Top, both to Paragraph text area (drop-down menus at right)
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In Wrap tab, select Parallel and adjust Spacing to define the gap between your drop cap and text; you’re likely to set Top and *Left to zero and Right and Bottom to some small distance
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Suppress default border from Borders tab (or define one to your taste)
Type the character or word to become your drop cap inside the frame and remove it from the running paragraph.
Tune the appearance of the dropcap by adjusting the attributes of the paragraph style inside the frame. By default, this style is named Frame Contents but you are encouraged to define your own. Alternatively, you can define a character style for the first character in case you want very elaborate formatting inside your dropcap frame. The dedicated paragraph style option seems to me the right track.
Note: the built-in dropcap feature automatically adjusts the size of the dropcap until the paragraph exceeds the line limit. This effect is not present in my workaround. So, you’ll have to play manually with font size.
Aesthetically, it is more pleasant to have space between paragraphs rather than a “heavy” block. I don’t use the no space between same style paragraphs because it is not versatile enough. What I’d really prefer would be the definition of inter same-paragraph spacing in addition to above/below the group rather than no space at all. Remember than the invention of “illumination” in the Middle Ages, i.e. wasting expensive paper space for areas void of writing, was the beginning of artistic and nice looking books.
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