Daggerheart Campaign PDF Generator

This project provides a modern workflow to create beautiful, two-column PDF documents for tabletop RPG campaigns (like Daggerheart) using Markdown. It uses a custom LaTeX template, Pandoc Lua filters, and an organized folder structure to make the process easy—even for users with no LaTeX experience.

See the example module!

Features

• Write your campaign in Markdown: Easy, readable, and portable.
• Automatic conversion to PDF: Produces a professionally styled, two-column PDF.
• Custom quotes and boxes: Use simple Markdown syntax to create visually distinct sections.
• Custom adversary and environment blocks: Add adversaries and environment using simple Markdown/YAML blocks.
• Image support: Effortlessly include images—single column.
• Cross-platform scripts: Run on Windows, Linux, or Mac with a single command.

Folder Structure

├── fonts/                           # Custom fonts for use in documents
│   ├── Montserrat-Regular.ttf
│   ├── Montserrat-Light.ttf
│   └── ...                          # Other custom fonts
├── tex/                             # LaTeX templates and auxiliary files
│   ├── adversary.tex                # Definition of the adversary box/command
│   ├── environment.tex              # Definition of the environment box/command
│   └── template.tex                 # Common configuration (packages, styles, etc.)
├── filters/                         # Lua filters for Pandoc
│   ├── filters.lua                  # Main or utility filter
│   ├── divs.lua                     # Filter for adversary and environment generation
│   ├── headers.lua                  # Filter for headers generation
│   ├── images.lua                   # Filter for adversary box generation
│   └── tables.lua                   # Filter for custom tables styles
├── output/                          # Generated files (PDFs, etc.)
│   ├── main.pdf                     # Generated PDF output
│   └── example.pdf                  # Example PDF output
├── images/                          # Image files for use in documents
│   └── ...                          # All project images
├── main.md                          # Main Markdown document (content)
├── example.md                       # Example Markdown document
├── generatepdf.bat                  # Windows script to generate PDF
└── generatepdf.sh                   # Linux/macOS script to generate PDF

Setup

1. Install Pandoc (Make sure Pandoc is available in your system’s PATH.)
2. Install LaTeX
   • Linux: Install TeX Live or another LaTeX distribution.

     sudo apt install texlive-xetex
     

   • Mac: Install MacTeX from tug.org.
   • Windows: Install MiKTeX from miktex.org.
3. Install pandoc-latex-environment filter
   1. Install pipx if you haven't already.
   2. Run the following command to install the filter:

   pipx install pandoc-latex-environment
   

4. Clone this repository or download the files to your local machine.

Writing Your Campaign

Write your content in main.md using standard Markdown.

Use the following YAML at the top of main.md to set the title, subtitle, and author:

• Set toc: true to enable a table of contents.
• Do not remove the mandatory fields for the LaTeX environment.

---
title: Title of the Campaign
subtitle: Subtitle of the Campaign
author: Name of the Author
toc: false
# Mandatory fields. Please do not remove.
pandoc-latex-environment:
  squarebox: [squarebox]
  roundedbox: [roundedbox]
---

Adding Images

• Place your images in the images/ directory.
• To add images, use the following syntax:

![](images/filename.ext)

Adding Full-Page elements

• Be cautious with full-page elements, as they will break the two-column layout and start a new page.
• To add a full-page element, use the fullpagestart and fullpageend commands:

\fullpagestart

This is a full-page element. It will take up the entire page, breaking the two-column layout.

| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 | Header 4 | Header 5 | Header 6 | Header 7 | Header 8 | Header 9 |
|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
| Item 1   | Item 2   | Item 3   | Item 4   | Item 5   | Item 6   | Item 7   | Item 8   | Item 9   |
| Item 4   | Item 5   | Item 6   | Item 7   | Item 8   | Item 9   | Item 10  | Item 11  | Item 12  |
| Item 7   | Item 8   | Item 9   | Item 10  | Item 11  | Item 12  | Item 13  | Item 14  | Item 15  |

\fullpageend

Custom Blocks

• Use the squarebox class to create visually distinct boxes in your text:

::: squarebox
**This is a box title**
This is a quote from a character in the campaign. *It should be visually distinct from the rest of the text*, perhaps with a different font or style.
:::

• For rounded boxes, use the roundedbox class:

::: roundedbox
**This is a rounded box title**
This is a quote from a character in the campaign. *It should be visually distinct from the rest of the text*, perhaps with a different font or style.
:::

• For quotes, you can use the > syntax to create a blockquote:

> ***Note***: This is a quote from a character in the campaign. *It should be visually distinct from the rest of the text, perhaps with a different font or style*.

Adversaries

• To display a nice styled adversary box, use the adversary class:
  • The name, type, description, tactics, difficulty, thresholds, hp, atk and weapons fields are mandatory.
  • The experience and features fields are optional.

::: adversary
name: Vampire, The Bloodthirsty
type: Tier 2 Solo
description: A fearsome vampire that preys on the weak.
tactics: Attack from shadows, drain blood
difficulty: 15
thresholds: 16 / 30
hp: 8
srtess: 4
atk: +4
weapons:
  - Fangs: Close | 2d8+2 (Magical)
experience: Bloodthirsty Knowledge +3
features:
  - Blood Drain - Action: Make an attack against a target within Close range. On a success, deal 2 and the target must mark an Armor Slot without gaining its benefit (they can still use armor to reduce the damage)
  - Shadow Step - Action: Move to a location within Close range, ignoring terrain.
:::

Environments

• To display a nice styled environment box, use the environment class:
  • The name, type, description, impulses, dificulty and adversaries fields are mandatory.
  • The features field is optional.

::: environment
name: The Dark Forest
type: Tier 1
description: A dense forest filled with shadows and danger.
impulses: Explore, Survive, Escape
difficulty: 10
adversaries: Goblin Scout, Shadow Beast
features:
  - Dense Trees: Provides cover and concealment.
  - Hidden Paths: Allows for stealthy movement.
:::

Generating the PDF

Option 1: Run the script (recommended)

• Windows: Double-click generatepdf.bat or run it from the command prompt.
• Linux/Mac: Open a terminal, navigate to the project folder, and run:

  ./generatepdf.sh

The script will:

• Check if Pandoc is installed.
• Convert input/document.md to output/document.pdf using your template and filters.

Option 2: Run Pandoc manually

From the project root, run:

1. Run the following command to build the .html file

pandoc main.md --no-highlight --template=tex/template.tex --pdf-engine=xelatex --filter pandoc-latex-environment --lua-filter=filters/filters.lua -o output/main.pdf

Helpful Tips

• Images: Place all images in input/images/ and reference them as images/filename.ext in your Markdown.
• Adversaries and custom blocks: Use the provided YAML/Markdown syntax for easy entry and automatic styling.
• Troubleshooting: If you get errors, ensure Pandoc and LaTeX are correctly installed and that your image paths are correct.
• Sometimes special characters in tables (like #, &, etc.) can cause issues. If you encounter problems, try escaping them with double backslash (\\#).
• Use the example.md file as a reference for formatting and structure, you can the generated output in output/example.pdf. This file is an AI generated module, so it is not accurate or complete, but it serves as a good example.
• If you need to customize the colours or styles, you can modify the template.tex file in the tex/ directory. Look for the % --- Colors --- block to change colors, or adjust any settings as needed.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3 (or any later version). For more details, see the full license text.

This project is not associated with or endorsed by the creators of Critical Role, Darrington Press or any other commercial entity. It is an independent project created for educational and personal use.

This template uses:

• Montserrat font (Google Fonts, SIL Open Font License)
• Merriweather font (Google Fonts, SIL Open Font License)
• Eveleth Clean Regular (commercial font, not included—users must provide their own licensed copy).
  • Add Eveleth-Regular.ttf to the fonts/ directory.
  • If not available, the template will use LeagueSpartan font (Google Fonts, SIL Open Font License) as a fallback.