One of the biggest draws to TTRPGs is the freedom to craft a world and use it to tell a collaborative story. To run a good RPG session, you’ll need to provide something for everyone at your table.
With so many ways to play dnd, Dungeon Masters can find themselves overwhelmed with a lot of choices, with very little direction for which DM tools you should use.
While there are some comprehensive tools that will provide everything you need, sometimes a combination of DM tools can better serve the priorities of you and your party.
LegendKeeper, the worldbuilding solution
Legendkeeper is a worldbuilding app that features a collection of dungeon master tools designed to enable you to express and organise your ideas.
When creating a world to be used in a Dungeons & Dragons game, you’ll need various tools for creating essential resources such as historical timelines, maps, character pages and storyline summaries - all of which you can do with Legendkeeper.
Legendkeeper comes with a collection of DM tools that help you with worldbuilding.
You can create entire worlds and dnd campaigns with Legendkeeper, which are then easy to access, share and use when running roleplaying games as a Dungeon Master. Good worldbuilding makes for good D&D campaigns that your characters can get immersed in and tell their own stories through, which you can do with Legendkeeper.
Discord; the communication app
Discord is a voice and text chat app that’s entirely free to download. TTRPG gamers often choose Discord as a platform to organize games, chat with their players and manage routine TTRPG tasks.
For Dungeon Masters doing campaign management for in-person tables, Discord can assist by providing numerous benefits:
- Dice rollers
- Initiative trackers
- Managing PC’s / NPC’s stats and health bars
- Playing tabletop audio and music
- Use other dm tools, like D&D Beyond, for integration to automate character sheets and actions
In addition, virtual sessions can use Discord for:
- Scheduling
- Voice and chat chat
- Dungeon Master screen sharing
- Downtime activities to keep your players engaged
Bots that can complement your TTRPG Discord server
- https://avrae.io/
- Avrae is a dice-roller, initiative tracker, and character manager. It has character sheet integration from several sources, including D&D Beyond. Avrae focuses on DnD, but it can be useful for other TTRPGs like Pathfinder.
- https://sesh.fyi/
- When you need everyone to show up to the tabletop, Sesh will get it done. Dungeon Masters can schedule sessions in advance. Scheduled events ping relevant attendees with push notifications. It also manages RSVPs and offers reminders of upcoming sessions!
- https://soncraftbot.com/
- Soncraft plays music from any device. It boasts an easy interface and allows you to choose the right song or audio to fit any tabletop’s needs. Best of all, it’s royalty-free, so streamers have no fear.
- Looking for Discord Bots for other TTRPG systems? There isn’t a lot of feedback about tools for other systems. If you try these out, please post a review!
- For Pathfinder, check out Wayfinder, which claims to be a Pathfinder support tool that can call on Archives of Nethys. It can also make Pathfinder-specific skill checks, savings throws, and attacks for PCs and NPCs.
- For Call of Cthulhu, check out The Unofficial Cthulhu Bot, which claims to be able to generate character data, manage rolls, etc. Alternatively, check out Dorian Bot, which is a simpler d100 roller that measures success values.
Virtual Tabletops
For virtual sessions, VTTs (Virtual Tabletops) are considered the de facto choice. VTTs aren’t solely reserved for remote play, as you can use a virtual tabletop to help run your in-person dungeons & dragons games more efficiently.
Foundry, the fully customizable VTT
Dan at Foundry describes the VTT like this:
Who is Foundry a good fit for?
“Foundry is a fit for people who want a high level of control over how they run their games.
Game Masters that choose Foundry enjoy:
- A dynamic lighting system to enhance battle maps
- The freedom of a one-time payment and an old-school, in-perpetuity license
- Ready-to-go Foundry adventures and maps
- A high level of customizability, supported by a robust modding community
- Powerful, yet approachable Macros and API support.
Whenever a player character explores a dungeon in Foundry, it showcases the Dynamic Lighting and Doors features.
Foundry also supports multiple systems. It boasts a level of support for Pathfinder 2E that is truly remarkable, making it a great place to run Pathfinder 2E campaigns. Making for one of the best dm tools.”
Foundry also supports multiple systems. It boasts a level of support for Pathfinder 2E that is truly remarkable, making it a great place to run Pathfinder 2E campaigns.”
What services do your Game Masters recommend to support Foundry?
“Though A/V services are provided in Foundry, many recommend Discord to be used in conjunction with the VTT. Many also recommend cartographers from Patreon. Additionally, mapmaking services like DungeonDraft, Dungeon Alchemist, and Inkarnate are often paired with Foundry.”
What’s the easiest way to get started?
“Here’s an intro video to Foundry. In addition to video tutorials, don’t forget to Join The Discord to get support from the knowledgeable, friendly community.”
Roll20, the comprehensive VTT
(A note from the author on accountability: I work for Roll20, the virtual tabletop. I’ve worked for other VTT services in the past as well as several TTRPG creators. I strive to provide a fair, balanced report on services that support the TTRPG community.)
Roll20 has recently been making changes to modernize the platform. Community members both old and new are enjoying recent upgrades to the VTT experience, even on free subscription plans:
- better page and scene management
- streamlined character creation and management
- many new and improved character sheets
- new and enhanced UI elements and toolbars
- greatly improved stability
Character builders and sheets have been greatly improved for Pathfinder 1 & 2, Vampire the Masquerade, and Cyberpunk RED, and the new Candela Obscura and Marvel RPG sheets are setting a new bar for sheet styling and functionality on Roll20 as we roll into 2024.
The Roll20 Characterbuilder demonstrates the improved Pathfinder 2E PC character-building process using compendium drag-n-drop.
Recent upgrades to character management are geared towards better serving the in-person community. With improved character creation, Roll20 supports in-person sessions with improved character management both for GMs and Players.
While Roll20 has integrated Voice and Video, GMs who use Roll20 frequently pair the service with Discord, as well as mapmaking tools or Patreon creators for map solutions.
The Lightweight Option: Owlbear Rodeo & Discord
If your d&d 5e session needs a solution that’s straightforward, simple, and direct, a combination of Owlbear Rodeo and Discord should be right up your alley. Owlbear Rodeo can act as your virtual map, while Discord and the bots that best fit your game system provide support. It’s lightweight, easy to set up, and focuses on the battle map canvas, without a lot of other features to get lost in.
Owlbear Rodeo brings simplicity whereas Discord offers flexibility. Adding supporting Discord Bots and voice chat support makes the combination of the two ideal for free, low-barrier-to-entry virtual sessions.
Maps, Maps, Maps
Custom animated battle maps with Arkenforge
Bringing a fantasy map to life might be a tough job for scribbles on grid paper. Arkenforge excels at bringing those maps to life.
Nathan at Arkenforge describes the service like this:
Who is Arkenforge a good fit for?
“For any Dungeon Master. From those focusing on highly detailed animated battle maps, to those who drop in a quick fantasy map and leverage the Fog of War system. Most are in-person GMs who want increased immersion in their games.”
What services do your Game Masters recommend to support Arkenforge?
“Discord is certainly a popular service that many use. Character management platforms like D&D Beyond and Demiplane are also popular for players.”
What’s the easiest way to get started?
“Head to arkenforge.com! We've got tutorials on YouTube.com/@Arkenforge, or chat with us at discord.gg/arkenforge.”
DunGen.app, the procedural dungeon map generator
DunGen.app is a procedural dungeon generator. It can create unique, randomly generated dnd dungeons at the click of a button. It’s suitable for any DM wanting to build out locations for dungeon crawlers or supplement an existing adventure.
The Dun.Gen.app generating several unique maps with complex infrastructure by clicking a button.
In addition to dungeon generation, DunGen.app can create cave maps. Supporters get an added functionality of Dynamic Lighting for Roll20, Walls for Foundry VTT, and LoS Definitions for Fantasy Grounds Unity.
Nick at DunGen.App has implemented a black-and-white printer-friendly option for those who prefer in-person play.
Dungeon Scrawl, the easy map generator:
Dungeon Scrawl can make anyone feel like a professional mapmaker. Easily paint maps with your cursor, and export them to your chosen VTT or print them for use in your in-person sessions.
Dungeon Scrawl will win over anyone who needs a lightweight, easy dungeon-creating tool to support their sessions.
Dungeon Scrawl will win over anyone who needs a lightweight, easy dungeon-creating tool to support their sessions.
The TTRPG Creator Community
The TTRPG Creator community is a thriving marketplace for amazing, ready-to-play maps. Patreon supporters unlock frequently updated libraries of battle maps and supplemental material.
Here’s a comprehensive list of creators on Patreon.
Some folks that weren’t on that list:
- Battle Maps - The Reclusive Cartographer, Fantasy Atlas, Domille’s Wondrous Works
- Adventure Enhancements (items, character concepts, rules & mechanics) - Abyssal Brews
- Assets/Tokens/Maps - PeaPu
DonJon.bin.sh - The everything tool collection
If you need a generator of any kind, the DonJon collection likely has what you need.
Just a few of the tools in this collection include:
- Name generators for everything from characters, adversaries, locations, taverns, and even ships for your campaign
- Adventure generators, loot generators, world generators
- Tools for everything from D&D, Pathfinder, and even sci-fi genres
In summary, only consider the tools that will enhance your table’s priorities.
It’s easy to get lost in the ocean of services that can help your sessions. My best advice to any dungeon master is to consider what you and your players find the most important. Do they prefer exploring dungeons? Is the story and setting the driving force of your table?
Once you know your table’s priorities, you can focus on the tools that provide the most impact on your collaborative story.
When not weaving new realities with a quill, Automaton James summons tech golems to perform tests for TTRPG solutions such as Roll20 (and Astral Tabletop may it rest in peace). If it's not one adventure, it's another, and he wouldn't have it any other way.