Design and Illustrations
We have finished writing and playtesting our adventure! The only step left is to design a pretty document and find some nice maps and illustrations.
Designing the PDF
The simplest thing you can do is to just export the google docs file you have used to write this adventure (by clicking File > Download > PDF Document).
If you want a bit fancier design, the easiest way to create a good looking PDF is to use Homebrewery - an app that automatically styles your adventure using appealing fonts and backgrounds.
Another good app is GMBinder, you can see the tutorial on using it to design adventures here.
If you are interested in learning a more powerful and flexible tool and designing the document yourself, I highly recommend Affinity Publisher. It's inexpensive, relatively easy to use (although it does require some design skills), and incredibly powerful. Here are some tips on using it to design your adventures.
Illustrations
If you're not planning to publish your adventure and just want to share it with your friends and run it for your players - you can use any illustrations you can find on the internet (using ArtStation, Pinterest, or Google image search).
If you're planning to publish your adventure, you have to be mindful of copyright.
You can use the following websites to find some free art you can use in your adventures:
Some good premium stock image websites:
You also can personally message artists on ArtStation and ask them for permission to use their artwork in your adventure (for free or for some amount of money).
If you have a bigger budget, you can hire artists on Fiverr or Upwork to do custom artworks for you.
Maps
You can find a lot of amazing maps on /r/dndmaps and /r/battlemaps (make sure that you have the author's permission to use the maps in your adventure).
You can also create the maps yourself using amazing apps like Dungeon Draft and Inkarnate (maps you create using these tools can be used in commercial products).
Activity
- Find the illustrations for the most significant locations and characters.
- If you need maps - try making your first one and share it in
#illustrations-and-maps. - Try using adventure formatting software to format your adventure and export a PDF.