Making your own power cards

eloquentaction · Aug 22, 2008

inati said:
This is a sample of the power cards I am making for myself. They are heavily influenced by Ander's cards with a touch of hirohito thrown in for good measure. I like being able to write on my cards, so I left spaces for myself on the card for attack bonuses and damage.

I have no idea how to use MSE, as I haven't really taken the time to tinker with it. Instead, I do my cards in Illustrator and then print them out on card stock and use a paper cutter to cut them to length. I just make cards as I need them in my game, as I have don't have the dedication to enter in that insane amount of info like all you other card makers do

I hope you guys like my work!

I'll make you the same offer I made Dzokvik. If you'd like to provide me with some basic images and look / feel references, I'll throw your style into my version 5 release.

The only caveat is: It's extremely tough for me to modify the text outside of certain parameters.

Look on my website (in my sig, below) for my e-mail address.

-- Hirahito

eloquentaction · Aug 22, 2008

Khaalis said:
Is there any chance you will add the Rituals from the Dragon 366 article?

Khaalis -

I already have your Minotaur and Risi races slated for my Version 5 release, do I have your permission to put all your 4E stuff into my card set?

-- Hirahito

eloquentaction · Aug 22, 2008

AceWasabi said:
These cards are outstanding, what a time saver in so many ways, not to mention that me and my group have come back to DnD after a very long hiatus and these cards soften the learning curve considerably.Thank you guys for all of your hard work.

BTW - This is, by far, the main reason I'm putting this amount of work into the cards.

I have 2 total 'newbs' in my group that have never played DnD before. They actually make decent decisions when they have the cards in front of them and with a small amount of training, they can actually understand At-Will vs. Encounter vs. Daily as well as what skill they can use and why.

Also - the peace of mind I get as a DM watching my players 'tap' their cards after use and then 'reset' them on a short rest or extended rest is also worth it. It's a visual queue that they are not only being honest, but of where they are at, power-wise.

It makes the game play FAR smoother.

Plus, I've referred to my skill cards QUITE often as a DM because I can't remember the exact ruling on a Grab or a Bull Rush (for example).

All in all, I don't think I would ever go back to playing without them; even if I gave up 4E for some reason.

-- Hirahito

Ghaerdon Fain · Aug 22, 2008

Many years ago I was a big WotC "Wheel of Time" player. I created a number of player aids, particularly a DM Screen. I put alot of work into them for my own group and offered them to the community on a dedicated site (GF's Tiny Wheel of Time). One forum member said "I can't thank you enough, you've made my gaming so much better." That praise wasn't solicited, but was greatly appreciated. And to be truthful it meant much.

Everyone who has contributed to this tread and to the MSE and PDF Cards all should recieve our sincerest congratualtions and thanks for their effort!

For those who have embraced 4E or have been on the 4E fence, you've made the game far more enjoyable and playable. Thank you so much ... to every creator... CHEERS!

eleran · Aug 23, 2008

Ander,

I am having a lot of trouble figuring out how to edit your cards. I am trying to make item cards for a few items my players already have and a few I want to include in the next session I run.

The problems I am having are;

1) I can't tell where some things are supposed to go such as action type. Is there a map of the different fields you have in there?

2) after I put in the level of the item I move down to input the action frequency (daily, encounter, etc) and as soon as I click on the drop down button the type of item (waist, arm, etc) and the level of the item disappear and with all those boxes xhoved together it is difficult to get the item type back in there.

3) What are all those boxes along the right hand side? they are short horizontal boxes that open a black outlined block below them when I start typing in them.

4) No matter how hard I try I cannot seem to be able to select the price box and type into it.

I hope you or someone that knows more about MSE than me sees this and can provide some guidance.

Thanx

Mirtul · Aug 23, 2008

JosiahKnight said:
Ahh, gotcha. You're unlikely to see one from me for some time. The files just get updated too quickly for me to be ready to post them. I'm always impressed at how much work people like HiraHITO and Grandpa do on here (not to mention the others here).

P.S. Sorry for the mistype HiraHITO.

Hi I like the design of your item cards but I don't know how to work them without a set file. I tried to create a new set using your template set files but I am getting all sorts of errors while doing so.

Do you think you could create a set file with one magic item in it so I have something copy from while making my own?

Thank you very much

/Mirtul

tristan_tewksbury · Aug 24, 2008

eloquentaction said:
I just released version 4 of my MSE-SET cards.

I love the cards and am amazed at the breadth of cards available in the set.

BTW: The Guantlets of Ogre Power do not have the level listed.

Speaking of Level, the Rituals do not have the level in the same field as the powers. So if you sort by level it does not work for rituals

eloquentaction said:
* There are now five styles: Dzokvik, Basic, Wax, Simple and Flashy.
* Each of these styles allows you at least 15 options on stylizing it, including an option that allows you to turn the background from full parchment, to light parchment to pure white.
* I've included over 15 fonts and each card allows any of these fonts to be used anywhere on the card.
* Each position on the card now has about a dozen colors it supports as well as many of them supporting an 'Auto' which changes based on the card color.

I am in awe of the options you have included. This set was certainly worth the wait!

eloquentaction said:
* The sets have been split into 6; one that includes everything and others that are split as best as I could manage.

I am not sure if this is likely to be an issue for you, but you might want to consider making the split kits available separately. That will cut down on your bandwidth and the download time for your visitors.

Also, if you update only one file everyone does not have to download EVERY file to get the updated one. Again, this saves on bandwidth for both sides.

Just as an example, I am not interested in the ENWorld material. Not that it is bad, just that we are running straight out of the rules for this current campaign. If I could avoid pulling down the ENWorld stuff, it would save a little wear and tear on the inter-tubes

eloquentaction said:
* This set includes:

eloquentaction said:
--- Diseases
--- Poisons

Most of these are simply ongoing damage, and are very situational. I know you have new players and I guess that is why, but why stop with just the few you did use?

As for Diseases, I assume you are not including those that are only in the Monster Manual? I know from my character's personal experience that Filth Fever is an ugly disease that you did not include. These cards are VERY useful, and I hope you include them in the future.

eloquentaction said:
--- 1695 cards, total

OMG!

Ghaerdon Fain · Aug 24, 2008

Hi Hirahito, will you be updating the set to include the latest Star Pack release?

{see http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080822a}

eronian23 · Aug 25, 2008

Hirohito,

When I load up your complete set. I have a problem with the list on the right. I see the following

Action | Frequency | Range/Area | Keywords | # | Original Source

The name of the Items, Power, Skills, etc are not listed there. I cannot sort by name like I did with your original set and I can with Anders set I have on my computer now. Is there a way to put that classification in there before Action to that I get the names again. Makes it really hard to grab a specific power, item, skill, etc if I cannot see the names.

Otherwise your set is the freaking bomb. I love it. Keep up the good work.

Eronian

Kingbreaker · Aug 25, 2008

Any interest in a new icon style?

I've been messing around with powercard designs over the summer, but I just don't have time to edit a new template for MSE.

The basic idea was to - if possible - indicate the class of keyword by the shape of its icon, and the specific keyword by the symbol on the shape. . . which sounds cryptic but hopefully the attachment makes it clear.. . .

Attack ability --> is a banner.

Defense Type --> on a shield

Range info --> symbol on a checkerboard

Accessory --> a hand holding something

Target Type --> a symbol on an archery target.

When possible, the icons have been taken from European heraldry and/or consensus icons drawn from previosu PC authors (Thanks anders and Grandpa!)

The images are HIGH rez raster - 400 dpi - which is probably overkill even for printing from laser.

If there is any interest in these I can post the whole set.

Thanks,

KB