DnD 5e LaTeX Template

This is a LaTeX template for typesetting documents in the style of the fifth edition of the "world's greatest roleplaying game".

Features

• Color schemes, fonts, and layout are close to the core books (but not exactly the same).
• TeX Live includes the default fonts.
• Works with pdfTeX, LuaTeX, and XeTeX.

Installation

There are three options for using this project; choose the one that's right for you.

User install using TEXMFHOME (recommended)

This will install the template for your current user in one of the following locations:

• Linux: ~/.texmf/tex/latex
• OS X / macOS: ~/Library/texmf/tex/latex
• Windows: C:\Users\{username}\texmf\tex\latex

LaTeX will find the package automatically.

1. Prepare your TEXMFHOME directory.

   mkdir "$(kpsewhich -var-value TEXMFHOME)/tex/latex/"
   

2. Download the latest release and extract it in $TEXMFHOME/tex/latex/.

   wget https://github.com/rpgtex/DND-5e-LaTeX-Template/archive/master.zip
   unzip -d "$(kpsewhich -var-value TEXMFHOME)/tex/latex/" master.zip
   cd "$(kpsewhich -var-value TEXMFHOME)/tex/latex/"
   mv DND-5e-LaTeX-Template-master dnd
   

   Alternatively, clone the repo to the same location:

   git clone https://github.com/rpgtex/DND-5e-LaTeX-Template.git "$(kpsewhich -var-value TEXMFHOME)/tex/latex/dnd"
   

Using Overleaf

Overleaf is an online TeX editor -- think about it like Google Docs for TeX documents. This option does not require a local TeX installation and is an ideal approach for one-off projects.

1. Download this GitHub repository as a ZIP archive using the Clone or download link above.
2. On Overleaf, click the New Project button and select Upload Project. Upload the ZIP archive you downloaded from this repository.

Project install using TEXINPUTS

You can also clone a copy of the repository to each LaTeX project. For example, to clone the repository to a lib/ directory in your project:

mkdir lib/
git clone https://github.com/rpgtex/DND-5e-LaTeX-Template.git lib/dnd

LaTeX will not find the template automatically. Set TEXINPUTS when compiling your project to locate the package:

TEXINPUTS=./lib//: pdflatex project.tex

Usage

Class (recommended)

Load the dndbook class in your preamble:

\documentclass[10pt,twoside,twocolumn,openany,nodeprecatedcode]{dndbook}

\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\begin{document}
% ...

Package

You can also load the dnd package directly to use it with another class. Note that the package has only been tested with the book class.

\documentclass[10pt,twoside,twocolumn,openany]{book}

\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage[layout=true]{dnd}

\begin{document}
% ...

Options

The dndbook class also supports all the options of the book class.

bg

Declare how to load background and footer images. This is a key-value option with the following possible values:

• full: Load both background and footer images. (default)
• none: Removes both background and footer images.
• print: Loads only the footer images.

justified

Justify column copy.

layout

Controls whether loading the dnd package also modifies the document layout (geometry, colors, typography, etc.). This is a boolean option with the following possible values:

• true: Modify the document layout.
• false: Do not modify the document layout.

The default value is true for backwards compatibility with early releases. This will change in a future release.

nomultitoc

Disable multi-column table of contents.

nodeprecatedcode

Excludes all deprecated code from the build process.

Dependencies

If you don't have LaTeX installed, we recommend installing a complete TeX Live distribution.

Ubuntu

sudo apt-get install texlive-full

Arch

sudo pacman -S texlive-bin texlive-core texlive-latexextra

OSX

MacTex has its own installer, but you can install it through brew cask:

Full version

brew cask install mactex

Slightly smaller version without GUI

brew cask install mactex-no-gui

Minimal version

Use tlmgr to install packages as needed, see this answer for more information

brew cask install basictex
brew cask install tex-live-utility

After any of this, use the following such that the texlive directory doesn't require admin rights.

sudo chown -R myuser:mygroup /usr/local/texlive

For more information about MacTex permissions, see the following StackExchange post

Known issues and solutions

Stat block text color does not survive page breaks

This is a known issue in tcolorbox. According to the tcolorbox 4.12 manual (p. 363):

If your text content contains some text color changing commands, your color will not survive the break to the next box.

You can use LuaTeX to compile the document.

lualatex main.tex

Wrapping monsterbox in float disrupts spacing inside stat block

Wrapping a monsterbox (or monsterboxnobg) in a floating figure adds extra space between stat block elements:

\begin{figure}[b]
  \begin{monsterbox}{Orc Warden}
    % ...
  \end{monsterbox}
\end{figure}

Instead, use the tcolorbox float parameter:

\begin{monsterbox}[float=b]{Orc Warden}
  % ...
\end{monsterbox}

Refer to the tcolorbox documentation (section 4.13) for more float parameters.

Contributing

Style

We use EditorConfig to enforce consistent formatting. Install the appropriate plugin for your editor.

Preparing a new release

1. Run ./bin/bump-version to tag the new version.

   ./bin/bumpversion <version>
   

2. Compile the example PDF.

3. Save the first page of the PDF as scrot.jpg.

4. Update the change log for the new release; commit your changes.

5. Push changes.

   git push && git push --tags
   

6. Create a new release and attach the PDF and scrot.

Credits

• Background image from Lost and Taken

License

MIT