Making your own power cards

[tristan_tewksbury]

...I'm running Linux and thus MSE (and associated tools) aren't an option right now...

I am running MSE on Linux using Wine. Except for a single error message when the application first starts, there are no other issues with it. Works perfectly for me. Having said that, I should add that I do not actually print from MSE either on Windows or Linux. My printer has a strange printable area, so I export the images, then use OpenOffice to lay out the cards 8 to a page and print that way.

 

[Alphastream]

Regarding printing and pdf vs MSE, this is covered fairly well in the Wiki.

(I will update the Wiki to contain a link to the UCS project. We should probably have the UCS also link to the Wiki).

 

[SlimJim]

Here it is! SlimJim's fully operational Power Card Creation Toolkit! Instead of MSE, I use Photoshop. So, to use this card kit, you must have Photoshop.
View attachment Z-Card System.zip - Comes with complete instructions on how to use everything in the kit.
Screenshot of a power card
HP tracking card
Character card
Character skills

 

[tecnowraith]

No, no, no. MSE looks to have been created by a European because it defaults to A4 paper size. If you force that through, it will cut off the bottom of your cards. When you tell it to print and it brings up the print dialog, select preferences and change your paper to letter (or whatever size you're actually using). That should fix you right up.

Ahhh no wonder... That worked thanks.

 

[Duniagdra]

Apologies.

The UCS is in beta. It's got a few problems. The DEFAULT set, for instance does not allow you to view or edit the cards (with this release, anyway).

So, yes, you need to load someone's template to view the cards. DennisB's set was done in Beta 2. If you'd like to use his template, you need to open his STYLE file and change the following:
change 'class race' to 'classification'.
change 'power type' to 'type'.
change 'card name' to 'name'.

Once you save this, it should load just fine in MSE.

Unfortunately, this is what happens with Beta software / projects - things are changed and break.

Once we release the first actual 'working' version you shouldn't see issues like this cropping up.

-- Hirahito

I made the changes you suggested to all but card name. I was unable to find that entry anywhere in the file. After doing so, all errors went away, but the cards come up blank. nothing but the template comes up.

Hi, All

My Template and Sets have been updated to Version 1.04

Template
First... there is no version 1.02 or 1.03
Added 4 new icons
Small addition to code

Sets
Added 'Martial Power' book (Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Warlord, Paragon, Epic)
Updated Artificer set to use new icon for a short rest

Same for your cards. The template loads, but that's it.

 

[misalo1]

I made the changes you suggested to all but card name. I was unable to find that entry anywhere in the file. After doing so, all errors went away, but the cards come up blank. nothing but the template comes up.

Same for your cards. The template loads, but that's it.

Did you make changes to my template?
Which of my sets are you have trouble with?

 

[Duniagdra]

Did you make changes to my template?
Which of my sets are you have trouble with?

All I did was download the two compressed files you had in your thread for the template and all sets I think it was, then loaded them (decompressed of course) into MSE2/data. The template works, I can change through the different styles, but I find no cards. It's the same thing with Dennis as I mentioned above. Very confounded, since I thought it was straight forward. I've used MSE before and had no trouble using card sets.

 

[misalo1]

All I did was download the two compressed files you had in your thread for the template and all sets I think it was, then loaded them (decompressed of course) into MSE2/data. The template works, I can change through the different styles, but I find no cards. It's the same thing with Dennis as I mentioned above. Very confounded, since I thought it was straight forward. I've used MSE before and had no trouble using card sets.

I load mine by clicking on the set itself.

Other loads I've tested:

1. MSE2 Opening Screen -- using the 'Open Set' option. Locate the sets on your Hard Drive and click on any of my sets.

2. MSE2 File Menu -- Open (Crtl-o). Locate the sets on your Hard Drive and click on any of my sets.

Hope this helps.

 

[dzokvic]

Alright, here is a preview of the latest revision of my template. Since all of the changes are not evident in these samples, I will give you a qiuck list of changes since 1.0.

• There are now 5 fields on the left hand side, each of which can be individually toggled and filled with whichever information the player desires. Currently available are action type, defense, and attack bonus. Damage and possibly damage types will be included shortly.
• The information in the attack vs. defense field has been replaced with an icon showing the defense. Since the attack bonus is on the card, it seemed irrelevant to also include the attacking stat. If this is something people would like changed, I can work on icons for the attack stats as well, and put them in one of the other fields.
• The entire design has been tightened up in order to give more space for power text.
• Flavor text has been removed. My reasoning here was that at least in my games, players re-flavor the majority of their powers anyway, so having the text on the bottom of the card was pointless, and a waste of space.
• The icon sets have been redone. I am now using a mixture of the standard burst and blast icons, some of Grandpa's excellent icons, and the defense icons I have done myself. Let me know what you think.
• D&D Fonts Lolth and Mentor now used for the headings and power text respectively.

Now I just have to finish it up, and figure out how to actually make an MSE template out of my working PSD. Feedback always welcome!

 

[Timba]

They are much beter than I ever hoped and these icons are wonderful!!! Where we can download these PSD-s from?