Don't forget to enter the giveaway here! - gleam.io/lHKTz/tiny-terrain-giveaway Tiny Terrain direct link - miniaturemarket.com/taking20 Grab rewards at WelcomeAdventurers.com
Taking20 Hey another AMAZING program I use to organize my campaign is called "Bibisco" its FREE and its meant to write books but the functionality for campaign writing is unbelievable! You can seprrate it into "Chapters" which I use to separate large story archs so I can select the main plot we're running through atm. Then inside those chapters you make "Scenes" these are text areas where you can write and name, and you can fill out major events of the plot all in separate scenes, then you can even drag and move them around. There is a tab to fill out main characters, it has like 300 different questions about personality and random flavor questions your players can answer and write in to help flesh them out, though I only did a few dozen important ones. You can upload photos of those characters, write in motivations and goals, pretty much everything. Then their are secondary characters, it has far less but i use this to make monster stat blocks i know i will use, and name the character "Enemy: Beholder" etc, or I put in NPC's info. It's got tabs for world building and location making and I just love it! Ontop of that if you are ever in any scene or writing area you can click a button in the box that lets you pull up literally any other scene or information you have already filled out, that lets me keep open my plot scene describing events and also on the side have the monster and its stat block pulled up simultaneously for reference, or have a major NPC pulled up with backstory and motivations so I can stay on character. It's very easy to learn and it has become a god send! I would highly suggest giving it a look if you haven't already! :)
What I personally like really much is the DMMuse Bookshelf Generator: www.dmmuse.com/#/library It basically just gives you a list of book titles that you can use to tell your players whenever they're looking through the book collection of someone. Another cool tool is the Medieval Fantasy City Generator: watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generator I've got no problem building up my own dungeons, but I always struggle with visual representation of cities, so the Medieval Fantasy City Generator is a great tool for me. You can decide if the city has a port, how big it should be, how diorganized the streets are... whatever you can think of... and the tool generates you a whole new city. Even with some key structures already named and keyed. But that's not all, you can then even start to mess with this automatically generated city by pulling on its city walls, adding or deleting parts of the buildings, or rearrange the run of the roads and/or streams, if there are any. Last but not least: tabletopaudio.com/ Tabletopaudio is a nice tool to bring a bit of ambient music to your gaming table. All tracks have a theme, some are "only" ambient sounds, others are minimal music, and others yet are a mix of both. They're generally low key enough to not overwhelm everyone at the table with their sound, but will add a nice flavor to every situation. The best use would be to create a few lists in advance and save them, because right now it's not yet extensive enough with it's keyword filter to get everything you need with only a few key strokes, but it's still a really cool tool to set the mood. It also comes with multiple sound boards, where you can add specific environmental sounds whenever needed. Only problem right now is, that you can't regulate the volume of the sound board(s) and ambient music at once, which basically means that you need to decide which one you want to use.
I've got to say, Cody. Your channel has been a welcomed breath of fresh air as I have been getting back into D&D. Since I'm one of those old veteran tabletop gamers and kinda being stuck with a bunch of new players that are just so... technology dependent, your channel has helped me bridge the generational gap.
You say “technology dependent” I say “technology adept”. I can get a battle mat, create any magnitude of maps using Dungeonfog/Inkarnate and then use a projector to put the map on the table for little to no $$. You can create endless landscapes for your players to roam. It’s cheaper and far more creative than purchasing physical pieces. You also don’t run the risk of losing anything but your minis, and it’s fun for your players to see the different terrain.
Sour Patch Kids! They are my go to monster mini for my chessex map. I don't have a collection of minis. The players have minis for their characters, but the monsters are usually sour patch kids, gummy worms, or something yummy. The joy of getting to eat your kill.
I have started using miniatures on a tv. Found a very inexpensive 40"LED. Used the wall mounting holes to bolt on some legs, set it face up on the table. Run Roll20 through HDMI using maps I make in DPS. Took a few tries but I found the right map size and zoom scale to create 1" squares. It works amazingly well. I can simply make different maps for each room if the dungeon is too large. I too love the Battlemats, but this adds so much color and the players very seriously love interacting with the TV. Also provides a great surface to roll dice on! Game on!
One Note is possibly my most used tool outside of paper and pencile. Even better once I found out that Wacom Tablets work on it letting you physically write on typed notes and maps.
I have a surface pro 4. I found OneNote and I will never go back. I love picking it up and drawing on it. I also use it for initiative and HP tacking too.
I don't have the Chessex map anymore because OneNote has a tiled square background option like the map does (which you can zoom in/out with like you do on phones). I use my surface book & pen with OneNote and just draw out the random encounter maps on the fly. My players love being able to mark and erase all over the map when discussing things.
That's exactly why I love my surface pro so much xD, however, I keep mine in my hands and just use it for notes or initiative. We play on a big table and it's a really small screen for 5 people to be looking at and interacting with. We actually don't play with a battle map at all, and most of the time it works well for our group.
I used to use homebrewery for homebrew but recently switched to gmbinder. It’s has more features, and has near identical “code” for formatting. It even has a feature that allows you to fix any issues you may have if you copy the source code from homebrewery. 11/10 would recommend
Did you know you can actually import a generated map from Donjon into Dungeon painter studio? It's a pretty sweet feature I think. You still need to add details and whatnot, but yeah those two tools work great together. Great video brother!
Like What's he gonna say? Mason's tools are useless? All clerics need the brewer's tools? Cobbler's tools are op on long journeys? I can't wait for that video
Wanted to take a minute to thank you for this video. I use Table Top Simulator on Steam for D&D and the map building tool is exactly what I needed to bring more immersion into my games.
Liked, subscribed, and commented! Man, this video is more helpful than any other I’ve watched on the topic. It’s so hard to find specific stuff like this, and even harder to learn to use it without a visual reference. Thanks for the great tips!
Awesome, awesome, AWESOME suggestions!!! Especially the Kobold Fight Club!!! I’ll be 53 in January and am NOT that techie, but our two boys ARE, which makes it challenging to keep up “on the fly” with deviations from the campaign. I’ve already had to “beef up” stats in certain encounters, to prevent their party strength to go to their head. This is like having a campaign combat assistant immediately on hand! Thanks again!!!
Hey dude, I found your channel a couple days ago and just wanted to say that I'm absolutely loving your content. It's very helpful and you have a really inviting sort of presence, for lack of a better term, that just makes your videos really nice to watch.
I just subbed. This is a Fantastic channel. I ran a zombie apocalypse campaign a while back, and wanted to share a trick that worked out beautifully. I knew I wanted loot to be sparse and valuable. So I took about two index card 'decks' (packs?) and wrote out about 70 trash items that had nothing but a little touch of the civility before the outbreak. Then about 40 cards of food. Then about 30 cards of General equipment and potions. 20 cards of good magic items and the last 10 being above par magic items. Then, as each day went by, I removed items that were more useful. I used it as loot and foraging. The players didn't have to keep track on their sheet what they had, just use the cards. Put ticks on the food as it was eaten. Throw out the potions when they were used. While technically more paper, it was a lot less 'paperwork'. It was funny on day 11, when they found a bag full of gold coins and as an almost knee jerk, handed it back saying they didn't need it. But having the players get a short stack of items to sift through helped add to the feel of the game. Don't know if this helps, but I figured I'd post it. I would love to see a KYPW Zombies, while I'm talking shambling hordes.
A wonderful list of tools any DM or GM can use! Even in my 14 years of playing I guess there is still more to learn! I appreciate how you are honest with your sponsorship's and how you blend chose tools that can be used to enhance traditional play style as well as online play. Keep up the good work.
I've had my cheese mats for almost 20 yrs, have both the 3x4 one you showed and the 4x8foot one for when we had our large group with 9 PCs, they are awesome!!
Some fantastic tips and resources, thank you! About to be taking the helm as DM for first time among my small table of friends who just started playing about 9 months ago, so these suggestions will be a huge asset to me! Highly enjoy all your videos, and a huge fan of the Save or Dice escapades as well!
I know some people don't dig it, but I really love D&D Beyond. If you are the DM and purchase the digital books, then start a campaign with sharing turned on, none of your players have to invest in getting any of the material--they have full access to everything you bought. It's helped me get new players into D&D, as they can poke around the PHB at their own pace and search everything. It's also great for keeping track of your character for those who tend to lose or forget their character sheets, and lets me, as a DM, look at their characters without having to be the one physically holding on to a bunch of stuff.
Great video! I use most of these tools myself on a regular basis and I still got some nice tips out of this video. (Like linking pages to other pages in One-Note, and DonJon's Magic Shop Generator. I didn't know about either of those things.)
One thing I tried recently when laying out the schema for a potential dungeon, was to build it in Minecraft. You don't necessarily have to do the whole thing, you could just do the bits that you are not too sure about. Use torches and things to see how the lighting might work, what the players might see. If you play Minecraft anyway you can knock out some stuff very quickly. There are mapping tools out there as well I believe which means you could capture what you have created. Alternatively walk through your Minecraft dungeon whilst capturing it. It works surprisingly well as a proof of concept for dimensions, feel and flow.
Minecraft is actually kind of brilliant on some ways, you already have a perfect scale, each block is roughly equivalent to the same in a grid on a map. Works well for measuring areas out.
I watched your video on dungeon painter studio back when you posted it and purchased the software. Biggest feature of DPS that you did not mention was the ability to import and convert donjon dungeons into the program. Thanks for this video as well. Some nice tools.
Thank you for the OneNote. I have it but never used it. I'm going to use this not only for d&d but for school as well... this is the greatest thing I've ever seen.
I dont know why I havent seen these sites before, theses are great and I appreciate you sharing these, the amount for number crunching I have to do in my head will lessen considerably. Thank you.
Thank you so much, I just started using OneNote, having watched this. I was just at the point of getting really frustrated with all the hyperlink stuff, you have made my day!
Love the Chesex maps, I've been using them for table top since the mid 80s. I have several different sizes. For initiative, we used a magnetic dry erase board with names on magnets and set them in order. Now my games are all remote with a VTT. I also bought the Dungeon Studio after see your vid on it last week.
If you are not experienced using Chessex maps, a tip is to clean the map after every session. Don't leave the drawing on there for next time you play in a couple weeks, as it won't clean off properly.
Chris Honkala Another tip for chessex maps is to use ultra washable crayola markers. It takes a little longer for the ink to dry (like 20 seconds compared to the near instantaneous wet erase markers), but it always washes off with little to no effort and you can use the color red again. :)
Great video! I have been using OneNote for years, and I couldn't live without it. Every one of my campaigns is packed in it, for every game system that I run. I can't recommend it enough!
Great video. I would like to mention that Kobold Fight Club has a lot more under the hood than just an XP calculator. It has an initiative generator and HP tracker portion under Run encounters with run improved inititive. Super easy to track initiative, HP, etc.
I like having a dice tower for my dnd games. It seems unnecessary, but it is really useful when you're rolling the dice to keep them from knocking over your miniatures or terrain pieces, or falling on the floor. Mine is homemade out of a thin craft wood, but it could easily be made out of a stiff cardboard. It's got 3 layers of slopes that allow them to get a really good roll, all encased within outer walls, with an opening at the bottom. And it also has smaller walls at the bottom to hold the dice in so they don't fly everywhere. I think you can buy them online as well. Whether you buy one or make one, it's a really great way of keeping track of dice so they don't knock your pieces over or get lost.
One Note has been a godsend for keeping notes as I go throughout my day and inspiration strikes me. Open the app on the phone and boom. Saved. No longer do I have to try to remember that stuff till I get home. Hopefully the giveaway gives the winner to at least specify if they play PF/5e or SF/etc. since I exclusively play 5e sci-fi terrain stuff would be given to my 40k playing friends.
Omg this video is a godsend! All the tools are great, and I'm kicking myself for not thinking of using OneNote sooner. That's already made everything about my sessions easier to manage.
-Fantasy Name Generator is excellent. So many choices for flavorful names. -Individual initiative is more trouble than it's worth. Think up the monsters' actions. Have players declare actions. Then use simultaneous resolution. So much better. -Donjon is French for "keep" as in castle. And it's an awesome site for random generations.
My group is still pretty new. So were just using some minis from a b&m miniature market nearby and a dry erase mat that I'm honestly not a huge fan of but it's good enough for now. Also a printer is a great thing to own when you want to make physical maps.
love Onenote for keeping track of campaigns (player's perspective), give the party + DM access to it, and it allows the DM to know where we're at with what we know, dont, and have outstanding tasks helpful shortcuts [CTRL + 1] = checkbox - make sure we check that we've completed plot hooks [CTRL + 2] = Star emoji we track: story time / plot NPC's met exp recieved items collected kill counts Nat 20's & Crit Fails shopping list (and things we want so we can jot bits down outside of game time)
Much appreciated on this! Been looking for something to manage my online campaign since its a bit harder to present "eye candy" to my players. Much love brotha
I use all of these tools already, except the chessex map, they are all fantastic. The reason I don't use chessex is because I lay my TV on the table with the maps of DPS on it, put a hard plastic on top of it and put the minis on top. Looks fantastic. I have some generic maps in case players go to strange places (always) and just use a dry marker on top of the plastic for more details. Works really well.
I primarily use Roll20, having all needed assets on my computer. I upload what I need, map out the dungeon, then use the GM layer for both explanations and hiding things like traps and monsters.
Just a minor point with the Chessex mat is that if you use a marker that you have trouble removing from it, rubbing alcohol works great and will not damage the mat in my experience.
As a new starting out DM (my group is about to start ToA) and novice to DnD 5e... This seems quite promising in terms of keeping things organized. Ive already set up Excel for keeping track of my monsters and other various things dealing with numbers and calculations. ~Subscibed
A good thing that I noticed is that you can actually link to a page in another notebook. This means, that you can have a notebook for each player, with stats etc, that you share with that player, and then you can also have links in your DM notebook, to the player's notebook!!
First time here! Love the friendly but focused presentation, and the tools are all definitely useful! Thanks a bunch for putting this out there, lookin forward to watching more ^_^
I use the random name generator of Behind the Name a lot. Great thing about that one is that you can choose from multiple real-world languages and it also generates a life history of a character that you can adapt for your Setting.
I enjoy the idea of using one note to catalogue info. But anyone looking for a fool proof initiative system, use Excel. As a DM it has kept initiatives so smooth. It's easy to track monster health and you can use the 'sort data' tab to add drop boxes to sort your initiatives from largest to smallest. It's also great for keeping track of all your players passives which allows me to get the base info to the right players.
Man, this forested road map you made is awesome. I would be awesome if you made a video recording the process of you making one of those maps, cause I bought DPS but my maps aren't nearly as good, and I'm stumbling with the program tools yet, even after seeing your videos about the basics of how to use it. Thumbs up if anyone also thinks this is a good idea.
4:46 In D&D and other fantasy RPGs, hexes are great for outdoor encounters, large battles, aerial combat, and waterborne encounters for the same reason.
I use most of the same stuff. I like that OneNote can sync so you can use it on any device or make changes on the fly. I don't run games at home anymore (the store is better located for my players, one even walks) and this way forgetting something does not stop my ability to play. My map lives in my car, even going with me to work. You never know when there will be a chance to play. Of the things i don't use: Tiny Terrain < Definitely something to consider. It will probably look better than my scratches on the mat. Dungeon Painter < I am getting this, I have been using auto-shapes in MS Office. Sane Magic Item Prices < I add what feels right and don't base things on prices that much. Initiative Box < One of my players has made a "plant" for this and we have pegs with names on. Everyone can see whose turn it is. Not sure if it plays into it, i don't like to hide or fudge dice rolls but have only had 3 TPKs to date.
The version of OneNote you're using seems to be different from OneNote on Windows 10. I cant make tabs, but I can make sections, then pages within each section, but I was hoping for tabs! Although it's basically the same thing.
For the Chessex mats you can buy the vis-à-vis markers, or you can save some money and get Crayola washable markers. We just got some, and they mark a little less boldly, but clean up easier, and don't stain your hands for days.
That initiative box is still more complicated than it needs to be. Here's what I do: All my monsters go on fixed initiative. 10+DEX mod. Every round, every time. Fighting skeletons? They go on 12. When players roll for *their* initiative, all they're looking to do is beat my number. Those that roll or beat a 12 are in group A and they get to go before the skeletons, *in any order they want*. Those that didn't beat a 12 are in group B and they go after the skeletons, in any order they want.
Popcorn initiative. Roll to see who goes first. They choose who is next. No one can go twice without everyone going at least once. Exceptions for creatures like Hydras and Ettins for flavor. I've never gone back. It speeds things up so much and keeps everyone engaged. It becomes a race to get the double. When to choose the NPCs to go, so that the monsters don't get a turn, restart, and all go again. If I know my fighter hasn't gone yet, whether we eat the double or try holding out to the end is a lot of fun.
I do the same. Also usually do it with opposed skills too. Also named Mondays get +12 and bosses get 14 or 15. Makes the monsters feel consistent, and players are rewarded for rolling high instead of getting lucky if a monster rolls 1 or unlucky if a monster rolls a 20.
I like using the Initiative! app on ipad for tracking initiative. i can get everything set up before (usually as I am building my dungeon) for each room. If i need to make changes in game it doesn't take too long and when it comes time all I have to do is add the actual number.
For initiative I use a little homemade excel file. I just have to enter each creature id and what everybody rolled and it calculates the initiative. Just pressing the sort button put everyone in the correct order and I can keep track of who is next with a radio button next to their names. It also shows all the relevant stats one might need during battle. Things like HP, movement speed, saving throws, weapon damage, spells, abilities, ... I can even enter the damage each creature gets each round and it calculates whether the creature should be bloodied or death. It gets all its info from a database on an other page, which I can fill as I see fit.
I use Initiative Tabs. I've taken 3x5 Note Cards, cut them in half long-wise, folded that over so it's a little tent, and wrote each player name, AC, Passive Perception, and All Stat Bonuses. I just line 'em up along my GM Screen in order, and have a few blanks for the mooks. I use the Matt Mercer method of finding out who rolled what, "25-20? 20-15? 15-10?" etc. I also let players know "X, you're up, Y, you're on deck" so they can be thinking about what they're doing. That Dungeon Painter program shall be mine come next payday. Oh yes, it shall. It has become precious to me...
Really great stuff here. I like what they have at Mini Market, definitely going to be adding to my fat-dragon terrain with this. And I’d agree that the single most used thing we have is a good hex/grid mat. Keep up the great work!
I suggest you something about iniziative. I do my "home" campaign with my PC right next to me. I simply use a Excel sheet, in which I write in the first column the PCs names and in the 2nd column the iniziative score. Then, applying a simple filter, Excel change the order of the PCs from the iniziative score higher to the lower. It's easy, quick, and there is no possibility to make mistake.
I use Google Sheets for Initiative, because of the numbers on the side. I just ask for numbers, plot them into the boxes beside the corresponding number and then you're good to go. Easy to negotiate ties and new add ins.
Fun fact, the word "donjon" originally meant "high tower" or "keep" in french but it was also the most secure place to hold prisoners. One way in, one way out. Then the word got bastardized and we ended up with the English word dungeon.
I love those tools. Actually use most of the ones you mentioned, helps a lot! The initiative box stuff though, maaan I'm very excited to test it out in my home games, awesome idea!!
Miniature market has great terrain, but most of the stuff on my table is homemade. Like you said, there are so many great crafting channels here on TH-cam. Excellent video overall, I love the initiative box. I will probably use this method in my games!
I love my chess ex....it’s such a cool textured map. I just found on Fathead... Graphed Dry Erase flathead.... 52”x79” white dry erase, 1” graph imbedded. I plan on cutting it down and laying it on a large background image (on the back). Then putting a clear vinyl over that. So on the back I will have a grass/dirt pic dry erase. With the extra fathead that I cut off, and I am going to cut into shapes (buildings, carts, crates and barrels etc. Draw the pics and put on back with clear vinyl. So I can either use the pic/clear vinyl side or draw on top of the fathead side (carpet, tomb, pond, etc).
I use Realm Works, Its System agnostic so it works for every kind of game. It lets you create a massive database for your game. I have been not only adding info from my homebrew D&D world I've been using for 30 years, but also adding in information from all 5 editions of D&D so I don't have to look stuff up. It Links to pdfs, videos, and audio as well.
I have several poster sized maps collected from the days when Dragon Magazine was still in print and would occasionally include such goodies as a bonus. I've had them lamented to protect them, but find that they along with my grid mat are easier to carry around by putting them in a shipping tube, which are fairly inexpensive at any office supply store. ;-) All around great video as usual!
The thing I don't like about Chessex is that the mats are not clear ... so if I wanted to print out something on my printer at home that doesn't have squares on it, I could just throw a mat over it ... But, great video man! Really helpful!
A really good way of doing initiative is flach cards. Characters write their names in permanent marker then in the designated top corner they right their initiative number then hand them to the DM and he stacks them highest to lowest with the enemies mixed in there. Obviously not usable if it's an over the internet game in which your suggestion would be much better.
Not that I've ran anything as a DM but I always figured an easy way is to write 1-25 vertically, then whoever rolls what, just write their name down (character or real life name) and weave your monster rolls in between. so you could have like 1) Bob . . . 10) James . . . 14) monster 1 15)monster 2 . 17) Alex Then when bob has his turn you just scroll down and it's James next etc
Lots of new stuff to add to my collection and use, also i had no idea donjon had so much extra stuff only ever used it for the dungeon creater/randomizer!
Tipp for Photoshop: After entering your text, press ctrl+enter (the one all the way to the right) than you don't need to hit that hooksymbol with your mouse. Maybe it helps maybe not you decide.
As for mini terrains, have you ever checked out Dwarven Forge? Got to say I have never heard of Kobold Fight Club and will be checking that out. And had forgotten about Donjon. Thanks for reminding me. And I haven't said before but Thanks for all you produce and do I'm really liking it.
i love ya cody :D ive been trying to get stuff together to do a discord dnd group with some of my younger friends, and i used to use one note all the time i didnt know it was (kinda) free now :o! this is going to make this sooo much easier my word document was getting so long and now i can make sure im not over running them in encounters!
Twine is a good program to use for notes. It is a hyperlinking storytelling program. I repurpose it to be session notes that I can do some very basic coding for and jump from room to room or area to area depending on what the players do. It is free and the stories can be posted on Twitter for easy phone access for you. That being said, if your players follow you on social media, you may have to create a second account for it so they don't accidentally sneak a peek. If you want to do some slightly more advanced coding you can import lists and maps from other places pretty easily. Also Twine also provides tutorials on how to use the program as well so it isn't as intimidating. But story notes for a 50 room dungeon can be linked together in a web much like how they are on the map.
I like using PCGen. You do have to pay money to add new systems, and it's per system, but there's a lot of capability there. It does have a flaw in that it tends to lag, and can be slow to add new material, but if you're a little savvy you can certainly add new material yourself without too much trouble.
ikea glass desktop, grid system, 50 bucks each and very solid with green tint. A large bag of dice and tokens, great as familiars, monsters and the like. Essential oils box, tons of little compartments for storing figures etc, doubles as a lap desk when you need more horizontal space. Felt the lid for a dice tray that holds your phb and character sheets when you travel. edit. One Note is also on Android so tablet friendly and if you have a surface you can draw and wirelessly broadcast.
Elbow grease and imagination. Got those? Okay, Congratulations you're a world class dungeon master. Been DMing for 26 years I can tell you all good DM has to do is inspire his players, and the only rule in table top gaming worth following is have fun.
A basically free and super flexible alternative to miniatures (which are really expensive where I live) is to just print out paper circles with images on them. It really goes a long way towards making the scene much more detailed with very little effort, and what creature or object can you not find a suitable image of on google images in 10 seconds tops? This is basically as flexible as drawing except you don't need to be good at drawing / spend a lot of time on it. Especially for things like monsters this is pretty great. Only downside in my experience is that office paper is very flimsy. If you want to be able to re-use these and build up a collection for the future I recommend either finding a printing service that can print them for you on a thicker paper stock, or just ghetto it and paperglue them on some discarded cardboard-type material you have laying around.
TheStigma maybe you could glue them to water bottle caps? Then they're easy to move around on a map and they won't get torn up so bad... I guess it really depends how big you need the representations to be though.
I take various bottle caps, soda, water, Gatorade and even some really large ones(various sizes can be used to simulate various sized creatures), fill them with air dry clay which can be bought really cheap and then hot glue the printed off circles to the top. The clay adds some weight, it's not much but it can make a difference for groups like mine that like to take the game to picnic tables at the park, so only strong gust of wind will really move things around, and the paper is just some generic off the self Walmart cardstock. Cost maybe 5(probably less) bucks usd for a ream of cardstock of this quality. Trick is to maximize the number of tokens on the page per print, while keeping them to scale.
I’ve never used Kobold Fight Club. May need to check it out even though I don’t worry about balanced encounters. OMG DonJon is pronounced like Dungeon? I had no idea and never made the connection. I use this site frequently.
Don't forget to enter the giveaway here! - gleam.io/lHKTz/tiny-terrain-giveaway
Tiny Terrain direct link - miniaturemarket.com/taking20
Grab rewards at WelcomeAdventurers.com
Taking20 having issues submitting, I filled out the form and it won't let me submit it. Keeps getting hung up on the date for some reason
Taking20 Hey another AMAZING program I use to organize my campaign is called "Bibisco" its FREE and its meant to write books but the functionality for campaign writing is unbelievable! You can seprrate it into "Chapters" which I use to separate large story archs so I can select the main plot we're running through atm. Then inside those chapters you make "Scenes" these are text areas where you can write and name, and you can fill out major events of the plot all in separate scenes, then you can even drag and move them around. There is a tab to fill out main characters, it has like 300 different questions about personality and random flavor questions your players can answer and write in to help flesh them out, though I only did a few dozen important ones. You can upload photos of those characters, write in motivations and goals, pretty much everything. Then their are secondary characters, it has far less but i use this to make monster stat blocks i know i will use, and name the character "Enemy: Beholder" etc, or I put in NPC's info. It's got tabs for world building and location making and I just love it! Ontop of that if you are ever in any scene or writing area you can click a button in the box that lets you pull up literally any other scene or information you have already filled out, that lets me keep open my plot scene describing events and also on the side have the monster and its stat block pulled up simultaneously for reference, or have a major NPC pulled up with backstory and motivations so I can stay on character. It's very easy to learn and it has become a god send! I would highly suggest giving it a look if you haven't already! :)
Davisiim Davisiim hey I had problems too, i realized I was doing Month/Day/Year, its DAY/MONTH/YEAR with "/" in between
Donjon is an old spelling for Dungeon but is pronounced the same way. Keep up the good work.
What I personally like really much is the DMMuse Bookshelf Generator: www.dmmuse.com/#/library
It basically just gives you a list of book titles that you can use to tell your players whenever they're looking through the book collection of someone.
Another cool tool is the Medieval Fantasy City Generator: watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generator
I've got no problem building up my own dungeons, but I always struggle with visual representation of cities, so the Medieval Fantasy City Generator is a great tool for me. You can decide if the city has a port, how big it should be, how diorganized the streets are... whatever you can think of... and the tool generates you a whole new city. Even with some key structures already named and keyed. But that's not all, you can then even start to mess with this automatically generated city by pulling on its city walls, adding or deleting parts of the buildings, or rearrange the run of the roads and/or streams, if there are any.
Last but not least: tabletopaudio.com/
Tabletopaudio is a nice tool to bring a bit of ambient music to your gaming table. All tracks have a theme, some are "only" ambient sounds, others are minimal music, and others yet are a mix of both. They're generally low key enough to not overwhelm everyone at the table with their sound, but will add a nice flavor to every situation. The best use would be to create a few lists in advance and save them, because right now it's not yet extensive enough with it's keyword filter to get everything you need with only a few key strokes, but it's still a really cool tool to set the mood. It also comes with multiple sound boards, where you can add specific environmental sounds whenever needed. Only problem right now is, that you can't regulate the volume of the sound board(s) and ambient music at once, which basically means that you need to decide which one you want to use.
I really appreciate how transparent you are when it comes to sponsors. All your videos are so professional and well done!
I've got to say, Cody. Your channel has been a welcomed breath of fresh air as I have been getting back into D&D. Since I'm one of those old veteran tabletop gamers and kinda being stuck with a bunch of new players that are just so... technology dependent, your channel has helped me bridge the generational gap.
You say “technology dependent” I say “technology adept”. I can get a battle mat, create any magnitude of maps using Dungeonfog/Inkarnate and then use a projector to put the map on the table for little to no $$. You can create endless landscapes for your players to roam.
It’s cheaper and far more creative than purchasing physical pieces. You also don’t run the risk of losing anything but your minis, and it’s fun for your players to see the different terrain.
Sour Patch Kids! They are my go to monster mini for my chessex map. I don't have a collection of minis. The players have minis for their characters, but the monsters are usually sour patch kids, gummy worms, or something yummy. The joy of getting to eat your kill.
Huh, who knew killing could be tasty.
that is brilliant. Will definitely use this trick, thx :D
"Finally, some good fucking food."
That's brutal. Your players bloodlust must be off the charts.
I have started using miniatures on a tv.
Found a very inexpensive 40"LED. Used the wall mounting holes to bolt on some legs, set it face up on the table. Run Roll20 through HDMI using maps I make in DPS. Took a few tries but I found the right map size and zoom scale to create 1" squares.
It works amazingly well. I can simply make different maps for each room if the dungeon is too large.
I too love the Battlemats, but this adds so much color and the players very seriously love interacting with the TV. Also provides a great surface to roll dice on!
Game on!
I did it once, but used Photoshop, and did FOG OF WAR with layers...
What's DPS that you referred to? I'm looking for a decent way to do digital maps on a TV and then let my players use physical figures.
check ot dynamic dungeons
One Note is possibly my most used tool outside of paper and pencile. Even better once I found out that Wacom Tablets work on it letting you physically write on typed notes and maps.
How do you do that?
I have a surface pro 4. I found OneNote and I will never go back. I love picking it up and drawing on it. I also use it for initiative and HP tacking too.
Toria Framness yes once I find out my art pad let me draw on notes it was all over lol
I don't have the Chessex map anymore because OneNote has a tiled square background option like the map does (which you can zoom in/out with like you do on phones). I use my surface book & pen with OneNote and just draw out the random encounter maps on the fly. My players love being able to mark and erase all over the map when discussing things.
That's exactly why I love my surface pro so much xD, however, I keep mine in my hands and just use it for notes or initiative. We play on a big table and it's a really small screen for 5 people to be looking at and interacting with. We actually don't play with a battle map at all, and most of the time it works well for our group.
I used to use homebrewery for homebrew but recently switched to gmbinder. It’s has more features, and has near identical “code” for formatting. It even has a feature that allows you to fix any issues you may have if you copy the source code from homebrewery. 11/10 would recommend
Did you know you can actually import a generated map from Donjon into Dungeon painter studio? It's a pretty sweet feature I think. You still need to add details and whatnot, but yeah those two tools work great together.
Great video brother!
Absolutely. I've talked about this before in my DPS video, but totally didn't mention it here. Great tip!
Huh... so, I thought this video was going to be about artisan tools....
lol
I was gonna type the exact same thing, lmao
Like
What's he gonna say? Mason's tools are useless? All clerics need the brewer's tools? Cobbler's tools are op on long journeys?
I can't wait for that video
i got 5 minutes into the video before i realized there would be nothing about smiths tools
Quick question. What the fuck do artisan tools actually do?
Wanted to take a minute to thank you for this video. I use Table Top Simulator on Steam for D&D and the map building tool is exactly what I needed to bring more immersion into my games.
Update: My table with the new maps - i.imgur.com/RXQMU6y.jpg
"It's thirty-forty dollars, a little pricey."
Clearly, you've never been a miniatures wargamer. =D
I stll remember dropping 50$ on a squad of 5 space marine terminators
Liked, subscribed, and commented! Man, this video is more helpful than any other I’ve watched on the topic. It’s so hard to find specific stuff like this, and even harder to learn to use it without a visual reference. Thanks for the great tips!
Awesome, awesome, AWESOME suggestions!!! Especially the Kobold Fight Club!!! I’ll be 53 in January and am NOT that techie, but our two boys ARE, which makes it challenging to keep up “on the fly” with deviations from the campaign. I’ve already had to “beef up” stats in certain encounters, to prevent their party strength to go to their head.
This is like having a campaign combat assistant immediately on hand!
Thanks again!!!
Hey dude, I found your channel a couple days ago and just wanted to say that I'm absolutely loving your content. It's very helpful and you have a really inviting sort of presence, for lack of a better term, that just makes your videos really nice to watch.
That Microsoft One Note tip is exactly what I needed, thanks dude!
I never thought about Onenote, thanks so much! I've already started converting my homebrew. I love that it can sync b/w Desktop and Mobile too
I love it for campaign management
I just subbed. This is a Fantastic channel.
I ran a zombie apocalypse campaign a while back, and wanted to share a trick that worked out beautifully.
I knew I wanted loot to be sparse and valuable.
So I took about two index card 'decks' (packs?) and wrote out about 70 trash items that had nothing but a little touch of the civility before the outbreak. Then about 40 cards of food. Then about 30 cards of General equipment and potions. 20 cards of good magic items and the last 10 being above par magic items.
Then, as each day went by, I removed items that were more useful.
I used it as loot and foraging. The players didn't have to keep track on their sheet what they had, just use the cards. Put ticks on the food as it was eaten. Throw out the potions when they were used. While technically more paper, it was a lot less 'paperwork'.
It was funny on day 11, when they found a bag full of gold coins and as an almost knee jerk, handed it back saying they didn't need it.
But having the players get a short stack of items to sift through helped add to the feel of the game.
Don't know if this helps, but I figured I'd post it. I would love to see a KYPW Zombies, while I'm talking shambling hordes.
I used the Initiative Box running my very first game as a DM this past weekend. It worked so well! Way faster than rearranging names in big list.
A wonderful list of tools any DM or GM can use! Even in my 14 years of playing I guess there is still more to learn! I appreciate how you are honest with your sponsorship's and how you blend chose tools that can be used to enhance traditional play style as well as online play. Keep up the good work.
Very cool tools! I am going to DM for the first time in about 20 years. These tools will be a big help.
OneNote is fantastic, and my Chessex map is basically a requirement. But thanks for the tip on Tiny Terrain! Checking it out now.
Good way to put that... "requirement"...
TOTALLY agree ;-)
I agree, I've been using OneNote and my Chessex mat for while now, but the other tips were new to me and I look forward to using all of them.
i use Crayola brand childrens' super washable markers on my maps. they work great.
I've started 2 new games recently and I used the "Initiative Box" and it is so damn helpful, love it!
This video was fantastic, your list of tools is one of the best I have seen. Thank you for your work!
Danke! Glad you found it useful!
I've had my cheese mats for almost 20 yrs, have both the 3x4 one you showed and the 4x8foot one for when we had our large group with 9 PCs, they are awesome!!
That initiative box is freaking brilliant. I'm using that. Thanks!
Some fantastic tips and resources, thank you! About to be taking the helm as DM for first time among my small table of friends who just started playing about 9 months ago, so these suggestions will be a huge asset to me! Highly enjoy all your videos, and a huge fan of the Save or Dice escapades as well!
I know some people don't dig it, but I really love D&D Beyond. If you are the DM and purchase the digital books, then start a campaign with sharing turned on, none of your players have to invest in getting any of the material--they have full access to everything you bought. It's helped me get new players into D&D, as they can poke around the PHB at their own pace and search everything. It's also great for keeping track of your character for those who tend to lose or forget their character sheets, and lets me, as a DM, look at their characters without having to be the one physically holding on to a bunch of stuff.
Great video! I use most of these tools myself on a regular basis and I still got some nice tips out of this video. (Like linking pages to other pages in One-Note, and DonJon's Magic Shop Generator. I didn't know about either of those things.)
I just started using OneNote for an upcoming campaign and it's fantastic! I would have never thought to use it if I hadn't seen this video. Thanks!
One thing I tried recently when laying out the schema for a potential dungeon, was to build it in Minecraft. You don't necessarily have to do the whole thing, you could just do the bits that you are not too sure about. Use torches and things to see how the lighting might work, what the players might see. If you play Minecraft anyway you can knock out some stuff very quickly.
There are mapping tools out there as well I believe which means you could capture what you have created. Alternatively walk through your Minecraft dungeon whilst capturing it.
It works surprisingly well as a proof of concept for dimensions, feel and flow.
Minecraft is actually kind of brilliant on some ways, you already have a perfect scale, each block is roughly equivalent to the same in a grid on a map. Works well for measuring areas out.
I watched your video on dungeon painter studio back when you posted it and purchased the software. Biggest feature of DPS that you did not mention was the ability to import and convert donjon dungeons into the program. Thanks for this video as well. Some nice tools.
Thank you for the OneNote. I have it but never used it. I'm going to use this not only for d&d but for school as well... this is the greatest thing I've ever seen.
I dont know why I havent seen these sites before, theses are great and I appreciate you sharing these, the amount for number crunching I have to do in my head will lessen considerably. Thank you.
Did you know...? In OneNote, you can do something like "[[Vedia]]" and if it can find the page, it'll create the link for you. :-)
FANTASTIC TIP, the tediousness of referral links was one of the main reasons I didn't use OneNote!
Thank you so much, I just started using OneNote, having watched this. I was just at the point of getting really frustrated with all the hyperlink stuff, you have made my day!
Love the Chesex maps, I've been using them for table top since the mid 80s. I have several different sizes.
For initiative, we used a magnetic dry erase board with names on magnets and set them in order.
Now my games are all remote with a VTT.
I also bought the Dungeon Studio after see your vid on it last week.
If you are not experienced using Chessex maps, a tip is to clean the map after every session. Don't leave the drawing on there for next time you play in a couple weeks, as it won't clean off properly.
Chris Honkala
Another tip for chessex maps is to use ultra washable crayola markers. It takes a little longer for the ink to dry (like 20 seconds compared to the near instantaneous wet erase markers), but it always washes off with little to no effort and you can use the color red again. :)
Great video! I have been using OneNote for years, and I couldn't live without it. Every one of my campaigns is packed in it, for every game system that I run. I can't recommend it enough!
Great video. I would like to mention that Kobold Fight Club has a lot more under the hood than just an XP calculator. It has an initiative generator and HP tracker portion under Run encounters with run improved inititive. Super easy to track initiative, HP, etc.
I like having a dice tower for my dnd games. It seems unnecessary, but it is really useful when you're rolling the dice to keep them from knocking over your miniatures or terrain pieces, or falling on the floor. Mine is homemade out of a thin craft wood, but it could easily be made out of a stiff cardboard. It's got 3 layers of slopes that allow them to get a really good roll, all encased within outer walls, with an opening at the bottom. And it also has smaller walls at the bottom to hold the dice in so they don't fly everywhere. I think you can buy them online as well. Whether you buy one or make one, it's a really great way of keeping track of dice so they don't knock your pieces over or get lost.
One Note has been a godsend for keeping notes as I go throughout my day and inspiration strikes me. Open the app on the phone and boom. Saved. No longer do I have to try to remember that stuff till I get home.
Hopefully the giveaway gives the winner to at least specify if they play PF/5e or SF/etc. since I exclusively play 5e sci-fi terrain stuff would be given to my 40k playing friends.
ninjasqurl4383 exactly. The mobile part of it is the cherry on top of an already incredible notepad UI
Omg this video is a godsend! All the tools are great, and I'm kicking myself for not thinking of using OneNote sooner. That's already made everything about my sessions easier to manage.
-Fantasy Name Generator is excellent. So many choices for flavorful names.
-Individual initiative is more trouble than it's worth. Think up the monsters' actions. Have players declare actions. Then use simultaneous resolution. So much better.
-Donjon is French for "keep" as in castle. And it's an awesome site for random generations.
My group is still pretty new. So were just using some minis from a b&m miniature market nearby and a dry erase mat that I'm honestly not a huge fan of but it's good enough for now. Also a printer is a great thing to own when you want to make physical maps.
love Onenote for keeping track of campaigns (player's perspective),
give the party + DM access to it, and it allows the DM to know where we're at with what we know, dont, and have outstanding tasks
helpful shortcuts
[CTRL + 1] = checkbox - make sure we check that we've completed plot hooks
[CTRL + 2] = Star emoji
we track:
story time / plot
NPC's met
exp recieved
items collected
kill counts
Nat 20's & Crit Fails
shopping list (and things we want so we can jot bits down outside of game time)
Just had a session 0 with my group, looking forward to getting in some 3d levels, going to make some of my own. i'm a new sub, thanks for the content!
I love this I been DMing for 4 years after a 5 year break and use some of the things said going to look into the others like the Box.
Much appreciated on this! Been looking for something to manage my online campaign since its a bit harder to present "eye candy" to my players. Much love brotha
The box system actually felt like it blew my mind. It's so simple and still so genius.
I use all of these tools already, except the chessex map, they are all fantastic.
The reason I don't use chessex is because I lay my TV on the table with the maps of DPS on it, put a hard plastic on top of it and put the minis on top. Looks fantastic. I have some generic maps in case players go to strange places (always) and just use a dry marker on top of the plastic for more details. Works really well.
I primarily use Roll20, having all needed assets on my computer. I upload what I need, map out the dungeon, then use the GM layer for both explanations and hiding things like traps and monsters.
Just a minor point with the Chessex mat is that if you use a marker that you have trouble removing from it, rubbing alcohol works great and will not damage the mat in my experience.
As a new starting out DM (my group is about to start ToA) and novice to DnD 5e... This seems quite promising in terms of keeping things organized. Ive already set up Excel for keeping track of my monsters and other various things dealing with numbers and calculations. ~Subscibed
A good thing that I noticed is that you can actually link to a page in another notebook. This means, that you can have a notebook for each player, with stats etc, that you share with that player, and then you can also have links in your DM notebook, to the player's notebook!!
First time here! Love the friendly but focused presentation, and the tools are all definitely useful! Thanks a bunch for putting this out there, lookin forward to watching more ^_^
I use the random name generator of Behind the Name a lot. Great thing about that one is that you can choose from multiple real-world languages and it also generates a life history of a character that you can adapt for your Setting.
I enjoy the idea of using one note to catalogue info. But anyone looking for a fool proof initiative system, use Excel. As a DM it has kept initiatives so smooth. It's easy to track monster health and you can use the 'sort data' tab to add drop boxes to sort your initiatives from largest to smallest. It's also great for keeping track of all your players passives which allows me to get the base info to the right players.
OMG !
Thank you so much !!
Miniature Market and Dungeon Painter Studio were exactly what I was looking for !!
Man, this forested road map you made is awesome. I would be awesome if you made a video recording the process of you making one of those maps, cause I bought DPS but my maps aren't nearly as good, and I'm stumbling with the program tools yet, even after seeing your videos about the basics of how to use it. Thumbs up if anyone also thinks this is a good idea.
I just found this video of yours. Thank you SO MUCH for telling me about kobold fight club!!! Encounter planning feels like SUCH a headache!
Super helpful recommendations - using making the Dungeon Painter Studio to make a map for tonight's game!
4:46 In D&D and other fantasy RPGs, hexes are great for outdoor encounters, large battles, aerial combat, and waterborne encounters for the same reason.
the onenote is pretty awesome didn't know about that before it would make writing campaign notes way easier.
This is an uber useful video for new and old DMs. Great video!
I use most of the same stuff. I like that OneNote can sync so you can use it on any device or make changes on the fly. I don't run games at home anymore (the store is better located for my players, one even walks) and this way forgetting something does not stop my ability to play. My map lives in my car, even going with me to work. You never know when there will be a chance to play.
Of the things i don't use:
Tiny Terrain < Definitely something to consider. It will probably look better than my scratches on the mat.
Dungeon Painter < I am getting this, I have been using auto-shapes in MS Office.
Sane Magic Item Prices < I add what feels right and don't base things on prices that much.
Initiative Box < One of my players has made a "plant" for this and we have pegs with names on.
Everyone can see whose turn it is.
Not sure if it plays into it, i don't like to hide or fudge dice rolls but have only had 3 TPKs to date.
The version of OneNote you're using seems to be different from OneNote on Windows 10. I cant make tabs, but I can make sections, then pages within each section, but I was hoping for tabs! Although it's basically the same thing.
There are two versions of One Note available for Windows 10, see here: www.thewindowsclub.com/difference-between-onenote-and-onenote-2016
For the Chessex mats you can buy the vis-à-vis markers, or you can save some money and get Crayola washable markers. We just got some, and they mark a little less boldly, but clean up easier, and don't stain your hands for days.
On maps: I use City Designer and the associated programs I got from DriveThruRPG
That initiative box is still more complicated than it needs to be. Here's what I do:
All my monsters go on fixed initiative. 10+DEX mod. Every round, every time. Fighting skeletons? They go on 12.
When players roll for *their* initiative, all they're looking to do is beat my number. Those that roll or beat a 12 are in group A and they get to go before the skeletons, *in any order they want*. Those that didn't beat a 12 are in group B and they go after the skeletons, in any order they want.
Josef Ferguson I actually dig that. Gonna have to try that some time.
The mech game Lancer has a similar system where the players go whenever they want
I love it. It takes a huge bookkeeping headache off my plate and gives the players a little more agency over the structure of their turn.
Popcorn initiative.
Roll to see who goes first. They choose who is next. No one can go twice without everyone going at least once. Exceptions for creatures like Hydras and Ettins for flavor.
I've never gone back. It speeds things up so much and keeps everyone engaged. It becomes a race to get the double. When to choose the NPCs to go, so that the monsters don't get a turn, restart, and all go again. If I know my fighter hasn't gone yet, whether we eat the double or try holding out to the end is a lot of fun.
I do the same. Also usually do it with opposed skills too. Also named Mondays get +12 and bosses get 14 or 15.
Makes the monsters feel consistent, and players are rewarded for rolling high instead of getting lucky if a monster rolls 1 or unlucky if a monster rolls a 20.
Initiative box on paper is fab... love using that trick
I like using the Initiative! app on ipad for tracking initiative. i can get everything set up before (usually as I am building my dungeon) for each room. If i need to make changes in game it doesn't take too long and when it comes time all I have to do is add the actual number.
For initiative I use a little homemade excel file.
I just have to enter each creature id and what everybody rolled and it calculates the initiative.
Just pressing the sort button put everyone in the correct order and I can keep track of who is next with a radio button next to their names.
It also shows all the relevant stats one might need during battle.
Things like HP, movement speed, saving throws, weapon damage, spells, abilities, ...
I can even enter the damage each creature gets each round and it calculates whether the creature should be bloodied or death.
It gets all its info from a database on an other page, which I can fill as I see fit.
Care to share?
I use Initiative Tabs. I've taken 3x5 Note Cards, cut them in half long-wise, folded that over so it's a little tent, and wrote each player name, AC, Passive Perception, and All Stat Bonuses. I just line 'em up along my GM Screen in order, and have a few blanks for the mooks. I use the Matt Mercer method of finding out who rolled what, "25-20? 20-15? 15-10?" etc. I also let players know "X, you're up, Y, you're on deck" so they can be thinking about what they're doing.
That Dungeon Painter program shall be mine come next payday. Oh yes, it shall. It has become precious to me...
Really great stuff here. I like what they have at Mini Market, definitely going to be adding to my fat-dragon terrain with this.
And I’d agree that the single most used thing we have is a good hex/grid mat.
Keep up the great work!
I suggest you something about iniziative. I do my "home" campaign with my PC right next to me. I simply use a Excel sheet, in which I write in the first column the PCs names and in the 2nd column the iniziative score. Then, applying a simple filter, Excel change the order of the PCs from the iniziative score higher to the lower. It's easy, quick, and there is no possibility to make mistake.
I use Google Sheets for Initiative, because of the numbers on the side. I just ask for numbers, plot them into the boxes beside the corresponding number and then you're good to go. Easy to negotiate ties and new add ins.
Fun fact, the word "donjon" originally meant "high tower" or "keep" in french but it was also the most secure place to hold prisoners. One way in, one way out. Then the word got bastardized and we ended up with the English word dungeon.
I love those tools. Actually use most of the ones you mentioned, helps a lot! The initiative box stuff though, maaan I'm very excited to test it out in my home games, awesome idea!!
Dude I'm a new DM and this video is SO helpful! Just liked and subscribed! So happy to have stumbled upon your channel.
Welcome Adventurer!
This was very helpful, I knew about a few of the links you mentioned but the initiative box is brilliant, thanks!
I know right??? So mad I learned about it so late lol
Miniature market has great terrain, but most of the stuff on my table is homemade. Like you said, there are so many great crafting channels here on TH-cam. Excellent video overall, I love the initiative box. I will probably use this method in my games!
thanks for so many good resources. as a brand new DM this was great
I love my chess ex....it’s such a cool textured map.
I just found on Fathead...
Graphed Dry Erase flathead....
52”x79” white dry erase, 1” graph imbedded.
I plan on cutting it down and laying it on a large background image (on the back). Then putting a clear vinyl over that. So on the back I will have a grass/dirt pic dry erase.
With the extra fathead that I cut off, and I am going to cut into shapes (buildings, carts, crates and barrels etc. Draw the pics and put on back with clear vinyl. So I can either use the pic/clear vinyl side or draw on top of the fathead side (carpet, tomb, pond, etc).
I use Realm Works, Its System agnostic so it works for every kind of game. It lets you create a massive database for your game. I have been not only adding info from my homebrew D&D world I've been using for 30 years, but also adding in information from all 5 editions of D&D so I don't have to look stuff up. It Links to pdfs, videos, and audio as well.
Kfc is my favorite tool ever, it makes the hard part of preparing a session easy
I have several poster sized maps collected from the days when Dragon Magazine was still in print and would occasionally include such goodies as a bonus. I've had them lamented to protect them, but find that they along with my grid mat are easier to carry around by putting them in a shipping tube, which are fairly inexpensive at any office supply store. ;-)
All around great video as usual!
The thing I don't like about Chessex is that the mats are not clear ... so if I wanted to print out something on my printer at home that doesn't have squares on it, I could just throw a mat over it ... But, great video man! Really helpful!
A really good way of doing initiative is flach cards. Characters write their names in permanent marker then in the designated top corner they right their initiative number then hand them to the DM and he stacks them highest to lowest with the enemies mixed in there.
Obviously not usable if it's an over the internet game in which your suggestion would be much better.
Also a really good alternative to dungeon painter is Arkenforge, costs a little more ($15 vs $30) but you get a whole lot more content.
Not that I've ran anything as a DM but I always figured an easy way is to write 1-25 vertically, then whoever rolls what, just write their name down (character or real life name) and weave your monster rolls in between.
so you could have like
1) Bob
.
.
.
10) James
.
.
.
14) monster 1
15)monster 2
.
17) Alex
Then when bob has his turn you just scroll down and it's James next etc
Lots of new stuff to add to my collection and use, also i had no idea donjon had so much extra stuff only ever used it for the dungeon creater/randomizer!
Awesome video! I already use about half of these things but everything else looks super helpful!
Tipp for Photoshop:
After entering your text, press ctrl+enter (the one all the way to the right) than you don't need to hit that hooksymbol with your mouse. Maybe it helps maybe not you decide.
As for mini terrains, have you ever checked out Dwarven Forge?
Got to say I have never heard of Kobold Fight Club and will be checking that out.
And had forgotten about Donjon. Thanks for reminding me.
And I haven't said before but Thanks for all you produce and do I'm really liking it.
i love ya cody :D ive been trying to get stuff together to do a discord dnd group with some of my younger friends, and i used to use one note all the time i didnt know it was (kinda) free now :o! this is going to make this sooo much easier my word document was getting so long and now i can make sure im not over running them in encounters!
This video has been an absolute treasure trove!
Twine is a good program to use for notes. It is a hyperlinking storytelling program. I repurpose it to be session notes that I can do some very basic coding for and jump from room to room or area to area depending on what the players do. It is free and the stories can be posted on Twitter for easy phone access for you. That being said, if your players follow you on social media, you may have to create a second account for it so they don't accidentally sneak a peek. If you want to do some slightly more advanced coding you can import lists and maps from other places pretty easily. Also Twine also provides tutorials on how to use the program as well so it isn't as intimidating. But story notes for a 50 room dungeon can be linked together in a web much like how they are on the map.
I actually do the same thing on initiative. Still have issues though with my party having multiple NPCs. They have like 6 now adventuring with them.
I like using PCGen. You do have to pay money to add new systems, and it's per system, but there's a lot of capability there. It does have a flaw in that it tends to lag, and can be slow to add new material, but if you're a little savvy you can certainly add new material yourself without too much trouble.
ikea glass desktop, grid system, 50 bucks each and very solid with green tint. A large bag of dice and tokens, great as familiars, monsters and the like. Essential oils box, tons of little compartments for storing figures etc, doubles as a lap desk when you need more horizontal space. Felt the lid for a dice tray that holds your phb and character sheets when you travel.
edit. One Note is also on Android so tablet friendly and if you have a surface you can draw and wirelessly broadcast.
Elbow grease and imagination. Got those? Okay, Congratulations you're a world class dungeon master. Been DMing for 26 years I can tell you all good DM has to do is inspire his players, and the only rule in table top gaming worth following is have fun.
A basically free and super flexible alternative to miniatures (which are really expensive where I live) is to just print out paper circles with images on them. It really goes a long way towards making the scene much more detailed with very little effort, and what creature or object can you not find a suitable image of on google images in 10 seconds tops? This is basically as flexible as drawing except you don't need to be good at drawing / spend a lot of time on it.
Especially for things like monsters this is pretty great.
Only downside in my experience is that office paper is very flimsy. If you want to be able to re-use these and build up a collection for the future I recommend either finding a printing service that can print them for you on a thicker paper stock, or just ghetto it and paperglue them on some discarded cardboard-type material you have laying around.
TheStigma maybe you could glue them to water bottle caps? Then they're easy to move around on a map and they won't get torn up so bad... I guess it really depends how big you need the representations to be though.
I take various bottle caps, soda, water, Gatorade and even some really large ones(various sizes can be used to simulate various sized creatures), fill them with air dry clay which can be bought really cheap and then hot glue the printed off circles to the top.
The clay adds some weight, it's not much but it can make a difference for groups like mine that like to take the game to picnic tables at the park, so only strong gust of wind will really move things around, and the paper is just some generic off the self Walmart cardstock. Cost maybe 5(probably less) bucks usd for a ream of cardstock of this quality. Trick is to maximize the number of tokens on the page per print, while keeping them to scale.
I’ve never used Kobold Fight Club. May need to check it out even though I don’t worry about balanced encounters.
OMG DonJon is pronounced like Dungeon? I had no idea and never made the connection. I use this site frequently.
Dungeon is the english word for the french word donjon.
Oh snap!
It's not pronounced "dungeon", but rather like this:
fr.forvo.com/word/donjon/