Cards aren’t common in RPGs because I guess they’re expensive to print. Those games that do contain cards these days are being marketed towards people who buy board games and will pay board game prices for a RPG, like WFRP 3e.
Lace and Steel’s core mechanic for fighting (and sorcery, and repartee) uses a card deck. I’m running a L&S game in just over 2 weeks. Problem is, no cards.
No problem. Drivethrurpg has the L&S Player’s Pack with printable cards. But how do I make the cards? My printer won’t handle card stock.
I did think about using blank playing cards and a sharpie. (Incidentally the same supplier does blank d6 which I considered for a system – at the moment, I don’ t have time).
Then the nice people at The Gameskeeper suggested Deck Protectors.
These are for your rare MtG cards or whatever. So I printed out my sheets of cards – ‘scuse the mess:
I used MtG commons as stiffeners (what else am I going to do with a dozen Craw Worms?)
The deck protectors have one side black and slightly textured. I put the MtG cards in face-down, providing a nice dark border for the card.
Job done.
The cards shuffle very nicely; they’re stiff and easy to handle. This opens a lot of possibilities for designing new card systems. Hurrah!
Dunno how much the deck protectors cost, but there are a few places online where you can order custom-printed cards to your own design (front and back) for not too many quids: if you find yourzelf needing larger quantities making.
2 quid for 50.
The cheap online printers tend to do business cards – not sure how durable they’d be for repeated shuffling etc.
Proper bridge or poker sized custom cards tend to be expensive – say 20 quid for a set, but cheaper for several – mainly for corporate hospitality gifts.
(Also an excellent opportunity for sexism:
http://www.ivorygraphics.co.uk/custom-trumps.asp)