Although playingDungeons and Dragonsis some of the most fun a group of friends can have, it can also be a lot of hard work, especially for Dungeon Masters looking to run the best sessions they can. For players, there can often be notes to keep, plot threads to track, and a wealth of NPCs to remember as they attempt to survive the rigors their DM is bound to put them through. Note-taking can end up being a major part of any campaign on top of the math required when making calculations whenever a die is rolled.
All of this tracking comes to the forefront when playing the game entirely analog, with the table being quickly filled with stacks of paper, especially behind the DM’s screen, andDMs can often be caught running through folders trying to find the one piece of information about a random goblin stuck in a well. This goes doubly for online play, which is infamous for being difficult to run compared to in-person play despite growing in popularity during Covid and lockdown.
10Rasterbator Is Perfect For Preparing Maps To Print
It Is Technically For Posters
Although probably not a tool most would think of when preparing for a session,Rasterbatoris perfect for printing battle maps for an in-person session. It allows players to put inan image of their battle map and then choose how many A4 sheets it would be in size. Rasterbator can then separate the image into those A4 sheets as PDFs so that they can be printed individually, which is perfect for many household printers and is a good way of printing massive maps without hiring external services.
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Rasterbator can use JPEG or PNG files that are below 20 MBs in size, and states on its website that any image more than 8192 pixels wide or high will be downsized.ForD&Dbattle maps, or any TTRPG battle maps for that matter, this should be more than enough, especially because most maps won’t be larger than A2 or A1 if the group is using officialD&Dminis or similar minis at the same scale. It’s ultimately a great way of getting maps without paying for 3D assets.
9Inkarnate Is The Perfect Tool For Crafting World Maps
The Free Version Is Great In A Pinch
For those who don’t have the time, confidence, or artistic inclination to draw their own maps from scratch,Inkarnateis perhapsthe best world map-making tool on the internet. It offers more freedom than a world map generator, although it still requires time to craft something worthwhile, with users able to determine the placement for cities, country borders, roads, mountains, and all sorts of other options. The free version is somewhat restrictive, but there’s enough there to get started.
If DMs don’t have time to create their own map, consider trying Azgaar’s Fantasy Map Generator.
Inkarnate is a tool that is probably better for homebrew campaignsrather thanmodules set in the Forgotten Realmssince those already have world maps, but there are other uses for the tool too. While world maps are the focus, users can concentrate on making country maps or maps for specific regions. There are also options to change the aesthetic of the map to match the campaign being run, and the results are something that DMs can show their players with pride.
8Dungeon Scrawl Is Useful For Making Battle Maps
Even The Free Version Has Plenty Of Tools
Any DM who has tried to run a campaign online likely knows the pain of searching the internet for the perfect battle map for that specific scenario.Dungeon Scrawlprovides the perfect answer to this, provided that DMs have the time to sit down and craft their own maps. As with almost any website, there is a free and paid-for version, andwhile there are restrictions on the free version, there are a lot of tools that a user has without paying a dime.
Not only can users make maps as big and as detailed as they want,but they can also choose the aesthetic of the map to fit whatever scenario the players find themselves in. DMs can add little accessories to their maps, choose the roughness of a room’s outline, and easily export an image for printing or saving to use on a digital tabletop. If paired with Rasterbator, Dungeon Scrawl could be the perfect tool for both online and in-person sessions.
7Fantasy Name Generator Does What It Says On The Tin
Great For NPCs And Locations
Fantasy Name Generatoris exactly what it sounds like.It generates names that fit a fantasy environment, whether for characters, shops, towns, or anything else. It is perfect for DMs trying to populate their worlds with named NPCs and place names, but it is also perfect for players trying to find character names. Not only can it be used for player characters, it can also be used for backstory character names, and even if the names generated aren’t used they can still inspire more personal names later on.
Although it’sthe perfect tool forDungeons and Dragons,Fantasy Name Generator is also perfect for different kinds of campaigns. There are dozens of universes that the generator can create names for and is equally useful for making names forRPGs likeFalloutandDragon Age. Names from this generator will fit any campaign that a Game Master wants to run, from more gothic horror settings to even sci-fi universes.
6DnD5e Wikidot Has All The 5e Information Players And DMs Need
A Database With Almost Everything
Although theofficialD&Dbooks have some amazing artand are always nice to have, the prices can quickly add up if players want to use material outside the core books, likeTasha’s Cauldron of Everything.DnD5e.Wikidotis perfect as a free alternative,acting as a database for everythingD&D5e for a player’s perspective. It doesn’t have the art or the presentation of the official books, but has all the information that a player would need.
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DnD5e Wikidot is well laid out and, although all the information can be overwhelming for newcomers looking at the front page for the first time, everything is relatively easy to find.Players have all the information they need to make characters, including the popular homebrew content, like the Bloodhunter class or Gunslinger subclass. It is also a great place to look for character inspiration since the Unearthed Arcana section will likely have classes that most have never heard of.
5D&D Beyond Is The Official Tool For Dungeons And Dragons
Amazing If Paying For It Isn’t An Issue
There probably isn’t aD&Dplayer alive who hasn’t heard ofD&D Beyondby now. Its popularity has made it an official tool in recent years, andit has the display and ease of use to be a good representation of what aD&Dtool should be like. It’s good-looking, tracks everything that a player would need to track, and the UI is customizable to make character sheets more personal to that specific player character.
There are some downsides to D&D Beyond, however. Although it has all the official content,these are often locked behind paywalls, and it can be costly to use the service. Then again, since it is an official tool with ample funding behind it, it is probably the best for keeping track of characters and can double as a database for everything that both a player and DM need, provided that the content has been purchased.
4Tabletopaudio Has Music And Ambiance Alike To Set The Mood
Perfect For Immersing Players During A Session
Immersion is usually one of thetop objectives of many DMs, alongside having fun, of course.One of the most underrated tools a DM can use to boost immersion is ambiance and music to set the mood, and one of the best places to find the right kind of sound isTabletopaudio. Tabletopaudio has a massive collection of music and ambiance that will fit any kind of setting, whether that’s the more traditional fantasy genre or gripping horror.
Tabletopaudio has enough variety to work for any kind of campaign, fromCall of CthulutoStarfinder, and links can be used with Discord bots for online play.
3Worldanvil Is One Of The Best Tools For Worldbuilding
And It Is Great For Keeping Notes As A Player
Worldbuilding is often a thankless and arduous task, but it’s a necessary one for those looking to make as immersive a world as possible. With the amount that usually needs to be written, it can be difficult for some DMs to keep track of all their notes and lore, especially if a campaign stretches on for months on end.That’s where world building services come in, andWorldanvilis perhaps one of the best forD&Dcampaigns in particular.
Although it is probably more useful for homebrew campaigns, it is also great forkeeping track of NPCsfor module campaigns.It helps immensely with organization, although it should be noted that the free version only allows for two hundred articles. Still, it is a service worth using, even for players, since Worldanvil offers a character making service for campaigns, including character sheets, a place to write the backstory, and an area to keep notes.
2Alchemy Is A Great Digital Tabletop For Immersion
But A Lot Of Content Is Locked Behind Paywalls
For those looking to keep online play as immersive and seamless as possible,Alchemyis an online tabletop that should be considered.It is one of the best-looking online tabletops around with an emphasis on immersion, and DMs are able to integrate audio and moving visual elements. It is also sleek and often less distracting than other online tabletops available on the market, including dice rolling and camera integration.
Alchemy is meant to streamline the playing process and players can roll straight from their character sheet.
One issue with Alchemy is that a lot of it is locked behind paywalls. If a DM wants to do more than three campaigns, then they will need to pay for a premium, butD&D5e comes with a free account, making it perfect forDungeons and Dragonsspecifically. For those who have struggled with keeping their players' attention during an online session or have foundmaking their campaign immersivean obstacle, Alchemy is an online tabletop worth checking out.
1Roll20 Is Both A Digital Tabletop And a D&D Database
An All Purpose Vital Tool For Any Tabletop
If people have played any kind of tabletop RPG online before, they have likely heard ofRoll20. It isthe most popular option for playing TTRPGs online due to its ease of useand the amount of content available as part of the site. Although there is a paid-for version, the free edition has everything both a DM and player need to get started, including a die roller, camera functionality, and Discord integration.
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One of the most underrated aspects of Roll20 is that it also acts as a vast database forD&Dcontent. Players and DMs alike can look up any information they want onD&Dand a Roll20 article on just that will likely be one of the top search results. Not only doesRoll20 have almost all the information needed for aDungeons and Dragonscampaign, it also has similar information for a variety of other TTRPGs, such asCall of Cthulu,and has earned its place as the go-to online tabletop service for most players.
