Custom Trading Card Wording Ideas for Friends and Fictional Characters

Good trading card wording follows one formula: make it short, specific and slightly exaggerated. Take one true thing about the person or character, then describe it as if it were a superpower. This guide gives you ready-to-adapt lines for every text field on a custom card, for real friends and for characters you've created, plus tips for writing your own.

The three rules of card wording

1. Specific beats clever. "Always brings snacks to the cinema" is funnier to a friend than any generic joke, because it's true.
2. Short beats complete. Card text is small. Aim for under ten words per ability and one sentence of flavour text.
3. Mix the tones. One silly line and one sincere line make a card feel personal rather than a roast.

You can type and preview every line in the Collector Card Maker as you go, which is the quickest way to see whether a line fits.

Card names

A card name can be a real name, a nickname or a title. Titles work best when they follow a pattern.

Pattern: [Name], [Title]

• Priya, Keeper of the Group Calendar
• Marcus, Grillmaster Supreme
• Wei Ling, Finder of Hidden Cafés

Pattern: The [Adjective] [Role]

• The Unstoppable Plus-One
• The Reluctant Morning Person
• The Very Organised Chaos

Pattern: [Role] of [Place]

• Spreadsheet Wizard of Level 12
• Karaoke Legend of Room 3
• Night Market Navigator

Abilities and moves

Each card has two abilities with a damage value. Treat ability one as the everyday skill and ability two as the signature move.

For friends

For coworkers (keep it kind)

A card for a teammate makes a cheap, personal extra for a gift exchange. The Office Secret Santa guide covers choosing the main gift.

For fictional characters you've created

If you write stories, run tabletop games or design characters, a card is a quick way to sum one up. Base the abilities on the character's role in the story:

Use your own characters and worlds rather than ones owned by a studio or publisher.

Weakness, resistance and retreat cost

These short fields are where the best jokes go. Write a single word or a short phrase.

Weakness

• Friends: Spoilers, group photos, "quick" errands, cold food
• Coworkers: Reply-all, 8 a.m. meetings, printers
• Characters: Iron, bright sunlight, their own past, rival's insults

Resistance

• Friends: Peer pressure, rain, terrible movies
• Coworkers: Scope creep, office air-con
• Characters: Fire, fear, magic of the old kind

Retreat cost

• "One bubble tea"
• "A long apology"
• "Never retreats"
• "Two days of sleep"

Card class, profile line and edition

Use these fields to fill in the card's world.

• Card class: A playful category, such as Snack Strategist, Weekend Adventurer, Code Whisperer, Forest Ranger or Starship Mechanic
• Profile line: Facts in one line, such as "Joined the team 2023 · Marketing · Plays guitar badly" or "Born in the Northern Isles · Age unknown · Owes everyone money"
• Edition: The occasion, such as "Birthday Edition", "Farewell Edition", "Christmas 2026", "Graduation 2026" or "Chapter One"
• Card number: A meaningful number, such as a birthday, a jersey number or how many years you've been friends

Flavour text

Flavour text (US: flavor text) is the short quote or description that gives the card its voice. It works best as one of these four types.

A quote they'd say

• "I'm five minutes away." (They are not five minutes away.)
• "We should do this more often."
• "It's not a phase, it's a personality."

An observation about them

• Has never once left a party early.
• Reads the ending first and regrets nothing.
• Every group has one. Ours is the best.

A sincere line

• The friend who shows up, every time.
• Proof that the best people are the ones you meet by accident.
• Leaving the team, never the group chat.

A line from the character's world

• "The forest remembers every promise."
• "She came back with the map, but not the crew."
• "Some lanterns are lit only once."

Three full cards to adapt

Farewell card for a coworker

• Card name: Daniel, Fixer of Broken Spreadsheets
• Card class: Office Legend
• Ability one: Formula Rescue, finds the error in seconds (60)
• Ability two: Calm Under Deadline, makes Friday launches feel easy (110)
• Weakness: The office printer
• Flavour text: "Leaving the team, never the group chat."
• Edition: Farewell Edition

Birthday card for a best friend

• Card name: Jess, Queen of the Spontaneous Plan
• Card class: Weekend Adventurer
• Ability one: "Let's Just Go", turns a quiet Sunday into a road trip (50)
• Ability two: Always There, answers on the first ring (130)
• Weakness: Early alarms
• Flavour text: "Twelve years of friendship and still no plan B."
• Edition: Birthday Edition

Original fantasy character

• Card name: Ren of the Lantern Road
• Card class: Wandering Guide
• Profile line: Fox-eared traveller · Speaks to rivers · Never sleeps indoors
• Ability one: Lantern Path, lights the way through any forest (60)
• Ability two: River Bargain, trades a secret for safe passage (100)
• Weakness: Iron
• Resistance: Cold
• Flavour text: "Follow the light, but never ask where it came from."

Making a card for an animal instead? How to Make a Trading Card for Your Pet turns pet habits into abilities.

Write your card

Pick one true detail, exaggerate it a little and keep it short. Then open the Collector Card Maker, add your photo or character art, and type your lines straight into the card.