this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
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D&D Item Card Template- A LaTeX Template for making simple, effective item cards by me! (kbin.social)
submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
7 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

After starting some earnest homebrewing efforts for magic items in my campaign, I was getting frustrated with the limited options for item cards I could give to my players. I am not great with illustrator/photoshop, have terrible handwriting, didn't particularly like the form-fillable cards I found online, and the homebrewery/GMbinder templates I found are better as pages out of a book than single cards imo. So I decided to make my own item card generator using LaTeX.

This template gives a (semi) form-fillable base that should work for any magic item. All the fields included are toggle-able, so you can select what fields you want to populate, it accepts item art so you can include a visual cue for your players (but still works without it!), and will auto adjust the length of the card so that you don't have to worry about dimensions.

It outputs both a PDF (for printing) and a PNG (with transparent background for digital sharing) so you can choose the format you prefer. It also allows multiple cards of different sizes on a single document in case you want to print out all your items at once. Attached is an example of the png from one of my items (all my item art is ai generated, I can't draw worth a lick).

I am not sure how big the intersection is between fediverse users, DND nerds, and people who use LaTeX is, but I am squarely in that camp. I hope that people find this useful, and would love feedback if anyone has suggestions!

https://imgur.com/a/QIgFZ6n

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

I think they look great but I would have a problem with the variable length. If my DM gives me magic item cards, I will for sure buy a binder with card sleeve pages to put those cards in (no matter if they are cards or just paper). Having the variable length would keep me from doing that. I would prefer the text be variable font size with the card sized fixed to the standard 3 1/2" x 2 1/2".

Edit: I thought more about this and, if the main feature of your design is the variable length, maybe make that more obvious in the title/description. While it might not be to my liking, others may love it. Also consider adding some example 11" x 8 1/2" pages showing the layout you're going for using these cards. Marketing is (almost) everything.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Hey, the printable card setting has been implemented (just waiting for Overleaf to publish it), but I thought I'd show off the result here first:

Printable Card Example

It fixes the card size to a 5:7 ratio, the same as any playing card (usually 2.5×3.5in), so it will fit any sleeve for game cards when printed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Huh, that is a good point, and one I hadn't thought of! Since I share my item art digitally with my players, the variable length was a boon, but you are absolutely right that people might want to sleeve their cards. When I update for V2, I will make that more explicit. I will also make a command that locks the length, but requires more user oversight. I can probably make that setting add a back side to the card to allow for more content that overflows for 2-sided printing!

Thanks for the suggestion!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Regarding not being familiar with LaTeX, I have already successfully used this template alongside chatGPT to convert items from a block of poorly formatted text to a finished card in just a few minutes. All you have to do is feed chatGPT the item's description and the contents of the TeX files contained in the package (itemcard.tex, itemCommands.tex, tcolorboxSettings.tex) and it will do a pretty bang up job of formatting your item to match the template.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for making this! I was looking for something that could do this year's ago, and ended up using a bunch of hacky tools. Will try it out next time I do some homebrew items!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

No problem, I hope you like it! I stared down the same issue and was starting to cobble something hacky together, but decided I would put my LaTeX skills to use for the greater good. Let me know if you end up using it!