Reference Cards & Decks

Reference Cards let you extract the most GM-useful information from your generated content — creature stat blocks, NPC roleplay guides, magic items, and traps — and organize them into printable decks you can bring to the table.

Quick Start

Open any saved NPC, encounter, plot, or map from your content library.
Click Extract Reference Cards on the detail page.
CritForge automatically pulls out all extractable entities (creatures, NPCs, magic items, traps) and creates individual cards.
Go to Reference > Card Library to view your cards.
To build a print deck, go to Reference > Print Deck, select cards from the library panel, and arrange them in the deck panel.
Click Print to send the deck to your browser's print dialog.

Card Types

CritForge extracts five types of reference cards:

Type	What it contains
Creature	Full stat block — AC, HP, speed, abilities, attacks, and special traits
Stat Block	Combat-ready NPC stat block with actions and reactions
NPC	Roleplay guide — personality, voice notes, secrets, and motivations
Magic Item	Item name, rarity, properties, and attunement requirements
Trap	Trigger, detection DC, effect, and disarm DC

The Card Library

Reference > Card Library is your central card collection. From here you can:

Search and filter by name or card type
Select multiple cards using checkboxes for bulk actions
Delete cards you no longer need
Refresh out-of-sync cards when the source content has been updated (cards that need a refresh display a warning badge)
Print selected cards directly from the library

Cards are automatically flagged as out-of-sync if you edit the source content after extraction. You can refresh them individually or in bulk — and any card you've manually edited is protected from automatic overwrites.

Building a Print Deck

Reference > Print Deck gives you a two-panel workspace:

Left panel — your full Card Library, with search and filter. Cards here can be dragged directly into the deck.
Right panel — your current deck. Drag cards to reorder them. Give the deck a name and optional description before saving.

To assemble a session deck:

Name your deck (e.g., "Session 7 — The Thieves Guild Heist").
Drag cards from the library into the deck, or use the checkboxes and Add to Deck button.
Reorder by dragging the grip handle on each deck entry.
Click Save Deck to preserve the arrangement.
Click Print to open the browser print dialog. Cards are formatted for standard paper — typically 3 cards per row, 3 rows per page.

Extracting Cards from Content

The Extract Reference Cards button appears on NPC, encounter, plot, and map detail pages. It only appears for content types that have extractable entities.

First extraction — runs automatically and shows a count of what was found.
Cards already exist — a toast notification tells you how many cards exist and offers a Refresh action if the content has changed.
After extraction — a View in Library link appears next to the button for quick navigation.

Extraction is non-destructive. Running it again on the same content updates changed fields but preserves any edits you've made manually to individual cards.

Tips and Best Practices

Extract immediately after generating. The best time to extract cards is right after you review and save a piece of content, while the details are fresh. This way your library builds up naturally as you generate.

Build session decks the day before. Spend 5 minutes in the Deck Builder before each session. Pull the creature cards for the likely encounters, the NPC cards for key characters, and any relevant magic items or traps. Print and you're ready.

Use NPC cards for roleplay, stat block cards for combat. NPCs with roleplay and combat roles generate both card types. Keep the NPC card face-up during social scenes (personality, voice, secrets) and swap to the stat block card when combat starts.

Manually edit cards for table notes. Cards you've manually edited are flagged with a "modified" indicator and are never automatically overwritten during a refresh. Use this to add your own notes — a villain's real name, a secret the party discovered, a trap the rogue already disarmed.

Print in landscape for readability. Most browsers default to portrait. For creature stat blocks with long ability lists, switching to landscape orientation in the print dialog gives each card more room and reduces truncation.

Save decks by campaign arc. Instead of one giant deck, keep focused decks per arc or location. A "Dungeon Level 1" deck and a "City NPCs" deck are easier to grab quickly than a single deck with 60 cards.