Adobe InDesign CC 2015 - Manual (Page 311)

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Styles
Last updated 6/6/2015
3 Specify the number of drop-cap lines and characters, and then choose the character style.
4 If the drop cap is aligned too far away from the left edge, select Align Left Edge.
Selecting this option uses the original left side bearing of the drop-cap character rather than the larger value. It’s
particularly useful for drop caps formatted in sans serif fonts.
5 If the drop cap character overlaps the text below it, select Scale For Descenders.
6 Click OK.
If you want to apply a different nested style to any characters after the drop cap, use the New Nested Style option. (See
Create nested styles .)
Create nested styles
You can specify character-level formatting for one or more ranges of text within a paragraph or line. You can also set
up two or more nested styles to work together, one taking over where the previous one ends. For paragraphs with
repetitive and predictable formatting, you can even loop back to the first style in the sequence.
Nested styles are especially useful for run-in headings. For example, you can apply one character style to the first letter
in a paragraph and another character style that takes effect through the first colon (:). For each nested style, you can
define a character that ends the style, such as a tab character or the end of a word.