The DM’s Grimoire

Created by [Arjun Gupta] • Started on June 26, 2025

A fantasy‑themed macropad for Dungeon Masters to control sound, story, and combat at the table.

Total time spent: 8.5h - 9h


June 26: Planning the Macropad

I sketched out my vision for the DM’s Grimoire today—9 spell‑like keys RGB mood lights, and a Pi Zero 2 W brain. Brainstormed feature list and started rough layout sketches. Also watched a bunch of tutorials on how to do this.

initial sketch

Total time spent: 2h


June 28: CAD Top Plate Prototype

In Onshape, I built the top plate: a 3×3 switch grid with cutout. Figured out switch spacing and screw hole placement. Struggled with making the screw hole stuff.

Config

Total time spent: 1.5h


June 29: Engraving + Size

Fixed sizing of CAD, Adjusted the mount to be perfectly flush with the case surface + engraved my name Back of pad

Total time spent: 1h


June 30: PCB Schematic & Layout

Created schematic in KiCad: 9‑switch thing, data line for WS2812. Laid out PCB footprint and aligned header pins. Realized I messed up the routing completly. learned how to route thanks to youtube, exported properly

Schematic

PCB screenshot

PCB render

Total time spent: 2.5h


July 1: Repo Setup & Documentation Prep

Pushed to github, Exported front/back pad renders and schematic. Waiting on parts, in the meantime planning how to code the firmware to intergrate with my D&D elements. Did research on communication protocols over bluetooth to control various elements (sound effects, lighting change, etc). Future steps, add in dungeon elements to the case.

Front of pad

Back of pad