How do you use spell cards?

[azmodean]

I just ran across Teresa Torres' spell cards and I was wondering how best to make use of them. Is there a printable, perforated index card product out there I could use? Failing that, is there some way to run posterboard-thickness paper through a regular inkjet printer so I could print the cards on rigid and durable stock at least? And as a last resort, does kinkos or some other small buisness-oriented printing shop have an affordable way to do this?

 

[Staffan]

In my experience, inkjets rarely have trouble with paper as heavy as 300g (ordinary office paper is 80g - it's grams per square meter). That should be plenty thick enough.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Most printers have an adjustable feeder (often manual feed) that allows smaller than 8x11 papers. I just feed in my index cards one at a time.

Kinkos, affordable? Yeah right...

 

[eris404]

You can get perforated cardstock (for business cards and index cards), but there's no guarantee that they will align properly.

I printed a set on regular paper as a test to see if I'd like the cards or not, and if you're careful, they do fine for a while. Then I switched to cardstock and uh, printed them out at work. The ones I used were double-sided, so it was cheaper and easier to use the printer here.

If you have questions about your printer specifically, check your manual or the company's web site to be sure it can handle the kind of paper you want to use. I'd avoid using Kinko's, because my experience with them has been very bad. Not only do they cost a lot, but the print jobs weren't any better than what I could do at home.

 

[The It's Man]

I've bought the spellcards from The Other Game Company at RPGNOw, used normal paper and put them in the plastics that you can buy for Magic-cards and such (just €1.00 for 100).

 

[Nyarlathotep]

I've bought the spellcards from The Other Game Company at RPGNOw, used normal paper and put them in the plastics that you can buy for Magic-cards and such (just €1.00 for 100).

That's what we did too. Now I've got a couple of 3" binders full of cards that I never use

 

[Jarrod]

You can use pretty heavy stock in an inkjet as long as the paper doesn't make a 180 degree turn, like most HP printers. I've got a pack of 110lb paper (Office Max-esque) that works pretty well.

As for cutting the cards up -- get your hands on a guillotine. At least that's what I call it. The flat base with a blade hinged at one end. Perfect for chopping up 5ish sheets at a time. Or a straightedge and sharp knife.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I just ran across Teresa Torres' spell cards

Holy cow, those are nice. God, I love the Internet.

 

[derbacher]

I also use the cards from ToGC, both the complete spell and complete monster sets (all thye spells and monsters in the SRD). Bought 110 weight cardstock in 4 pastel colors and white, printed them on my HP Photosmart 7350, and have loved the conveience of using them. I lay out the cards I will need for all my NPC's so I never have to look up a spell. My players have their own sets (all legal under the ToGC license, what a great deal! ), and I've never had spell use go smoother.

 

[ecliptic]

I wish someone who could out with a program so I can type up my own spell, or a spell out of a book I have. I want all the other spells I have access to on cards.