Dungeon Fantasy RPG template formatting

Stormcrow · 08-23-2017, 05:22 PM

I haven't held a copy of the Dungeon Fantasy books, but I did freeze-frame SJG's unboxing video where you can see the wizard template, just to see the new format everybody's raving about. It seems the primary point of interest is that trait choices now get listed in two columns and in the accent color of the page.

I thought I'd try to reproduce that in Microsoft Word, and it ain't easy! The page itself is in two columns, and the trait choices are in two columns. In Word, you can't have columns within columns, and you can't have columns within text boxes. Tables don't work, since they don't flow, and some entries take more than one line, so unless you want to hand-arrange every entry, and redo the whole thing if you find you forgot something, they're no good. Things are similar with tabs. (This format is undoubtedly much easier in desktop publishing software.)

I finally found a solution: create two empty text boxes side by side in the column, each half the width of the column. Select the left text box, then in the box formatting ribbon, click Link, then click the right box. They're now linked for flowing text. Enter the traits one on a line. Once they're all entered, raise the bottom of the left box and let the text reflow until they're even on both sides. Then raise the bottom of the right box by the same amount.

Doing this seems to constrain the following line outside the text boxes to the width of the left text box. I haven't figured out what to do about this (any ideas?), though an extra carriage return returns the line length to the full column, so you can add an extra, very small, line.

Will there be a formatting guide for Dungeon Fantasy authors, I wonder?

08-23-2017, 05:22 PM	#5
Stormcrow Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ronkonkoma, NY	Re: Dungeon Fantasy RPG template formatting I haven't held a copy of the Dungeon Fantasy books, but I did freeze-frame SJG's unboxing video where you can see the wizard template, just to see the new format everybody's raving about. It seems the primary point of interest is that trait choices now get listed in two columns and in the accent color of the page. I thought I'd try to reproduce that in Microsoft Word, and it ain't easy! The page itself is in two columns, and the trait choices are in two columns. In Word, you can't have columns within columns, and you can't have columns within text boxes. Tables don't work, since they don't flow, and some entries take more than one line, so unless you want to hand-arrange every entry, and redo the whole thing if you find you forgot something, they're no good. Things are similar with tabs. (This format is undoubtedly much easier in desktop publishing software.) I finally found a solution: create two empty text boxes side by side in the column, each half the width of the column. Select the left text box, then in the box formatting ribbon, click Link, then click the right box. They're now linked for flowing text. Enter the traits one on a line. Once they're all entered, raise the bottom of the left box and let the text reflow until they're even on both sides. Then raise the bottom of the right box by the same amount. Doing this seems to constrain the following line outside the text boxes to the width of the left text box. I haven't figured out what to do about this (any ideas?), though an extra carriage return returns the line length to the full column, so you can add an extra, very small, line. Will there be a formatting guide for Dungeon Fantasy authors, I wonder?