Hi I'm a new dungeon master that has a grasp on the rules and basic knowledge of how to run a campaign.
I am currently having trouble trying to begin a campaign because I am struggling to find a website that is easy enough and free to use to run a campaign.
I already own playerbooks and have a subscription on dnd beyond to share these books with my players. I have a phyisical copy of the curse of strahd but I would rather not purchase said book again to use as a digital on a different website.
Please if any DM's out there have and advice and are willing to help me wrap my head around trying to work one of these sites it would be greatly appreciated.
If you aren't buying digital copies, then you won't have access to them. You can just run it the traditional pen and paper way, and use character sheets on D&D Beyond for your players if they want to - that's free.
If you are looking for maps online and that kind of thing, it's copyrighted material and you'll need to buy the eBook.
This is known as a Virtual Tabletop or VTT. For that I recommend Roll20 - it's what I use. You can use it for free up to a certain point, at which you'll run into a data storage wall and then need to pay an annual subscription, but it's not expensive.
You can find free maps by going on Pinterest and searching for "Battlemap cavern" or whatever it is you want, saving the file and then uploading it to Roll20. If you download the program "Token Maker" then you can easily make custom tokens to place on the battlemap.
This will take a bit of work to learn how to use it, and it's not super intuitive. There are however lots of video tutorials available. I mostly learned how to use it through trial and error.
Alternatively, if you are running an online game through something like Zoom, you can just create a map on your computer and use Share Screen. This won't be nearly as good as a VTT, but ultimately you'll get what you pay for.
I've been using Roll20 for a few years now, and while it does have a relatively high learning curve, once you get past that, it is a great VTT. If all you need is a battle map without the flourish of a detailed asset, you can use Roll20 right out of the box without any customization. Otherwise, you can import your custom assets as battle maps or images to share with your group.
If you are looking for a VTT, I'd recommend giving Roll20 a try by creating a free account and running through the tutorials to feel if this is the type of tool you are looking for in your game.
Note: There is also a way to pull down the digital version of the maps from DDB, in your case, "Curse Of Strahd," that you can import into Roll20 to use as your battle maps.
My friend, you need to find yourself "Owlbear Rodeo".
For the longest time I ran my games using Google Jamboard, and Miro before that. Miro was a nice white board that we could all interact with and it was easy to add tokens to. It was also a little intrusive once you signed up for it even if it was free (for up to 3 boards). Jamboard did the job well enough and let us see the maps together, make marks etc. It works and it's free.
But Owlbear for me was a game changer. The only downside is that it is very much based on your own personal browser and it's really hard to work on a laptop and then transfer the maps with notes to another platform. Since all my games are run off my home computer however this isn't a problem. For me I use:
Improved Initiative for the Combat Tracker (I also pay the patreon fee to get access to the "scraper" that automatically imports monster stat blocks from DNDB though you can use it ONLY for initiative tracking if you have other places to keep your monster stats.)
If you click through to the YouTube channel in my sig file, the last episode of both The Bitter Victory and The Convergence featured combat and you can see both websites in action. Sorta. EDIT: I lied, my YouTube is here
I've been using Roll20 for a few years now, and while it does have a relatively high learning curve, once you get past that, it is a great VTT. If all you need is a battle map without the flourish of a detailed asset, you can use Roll20 right out of the box without any customization. Otherwise, you can import your custom assets as battle maps or images to share with your group.
If you are looking for a VTT, I'd recommend giving Roll20 a try by creating a free account and running through the tutorials to feel if this is the type of tool you are looking for in your game.
Note: There is also a way to pull down the digital version of the maps from DDB, in your case, "Curse Of Strahd," that you can import into Roll20 to use as your battle maps.
Hi I'm a new dungeon master that has a grasp on the rules and basic knowledge of how to run a campaign.
I am currently having trouble trying to begin a campaign because I am struggling to find a website that is easy enough and free to use to run a campaign.
I already own playerbooks and have a subscription on dnd beyond to share these books with my players. I have a phyisical copy of the curse of strahd but I would rather not purchase said book again to use as a digital on a different website.
Please if any DM's out there have and advice and are willing to help me wrap my head around trying to work one of these sites it would be greatly appreciated.
What do you need a website for?
If you aren't buying digital copies, then you won't have access to them. You can just run it the traditional pen and paper way, and use character sheets on D&D Beyond for your players if they want to - that's free.
If you are looking for maps online and that kind of thing, it's copyrighted material and you'll need to buy the eBook.
I was looking for a site that would be easy enough to run the campaign for battle scenarios and visual for such scenarios
This is known as a Virtual Tabletop or VTT. For that I recommend Roll20 - it's what I use. You can use it for free up to a certain point, at which you'll run into a data storage wall and then need to pay an annual subscription, but it's not expensive.
You can find free maps by going on Pinterest and searching for "Battlemap cavern" or whatever it is you want, saving the file and then uploading it to Roll20. If you download the program "Token Maker" then you can easily make custom tokens to place on the battlemap.
This will take a bit of work to learn how to use it, and it's not super intuitive. There are however lots of video tutorials available. I mostly learned how to use it through trial and error.
Alternatively, if you are running an online game through something like Zoom, you can just create a map on your computer and use Share Screen. This won't be nearly as good as a VTT, but ultimately you'll get what you pay for.
I've been using Roll20 for a few years now, and while it does have a relatively high learning curve, once you get past that, it is a great VTT. If all you need is a battle map without the flourish of a detailed asset, you can use Roll20 right out of the box without any customization. Otherwise, you can import your custom assets as battle maps or images to share with your group.
If you are looking for a VTT, I'd recommend giving Roll20 a try by creating a free account and running through the tutorials to feel if this is the type of tool you are looking for in your game.
Note: There is also a way to pull down the digital version of the maps from DDB, in your case, "Curse Of Strahd," that you can import into Roll20 to use as your battle maps.
Don't show fear, players can smell it
I have a PHD in traps
My friend, you need to find yourself "Owlbear Rodeo".
For the longest time I ran my games using Google Jamboard, and Miro before that. Miro was a nice white board that we could all interact with and it was easy to add tokens to. It was also a little intrusive once you signed up for it even if it was free (for up to 3 boards). Jamboard did the job well enough and let us see the maps together, make marks etc. It works and it's free.
But Owlbear for me was a game changer. The only downside is that it is very much based on your own personal browser and it's really hard to work on a laptop and then transfer the maps with notes to another platform. Since all my games are run off my home computer however this isn't a problem. For me I use:
Owlbear Rodeo for the Virtual Table Top
Improved Initiative for the Combat Tracker (I also pay the patreon fee to get access to the "scraper" that automatically imports monster stat blocks from DNDB though you can use it ONLY for initiative tracking if you have other places to keep your monster stats.)
If you click through to the YouTube channel in my sig file, the last episode of both The Bitter Victory and The Convergence featured combat and you can see both websites in action. Sorta. EDIT: I lied, my YouTube is here
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
Tips, Tricks, Maps: Lantern Noir Presents
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir
If you are looking for free/inexpensive modules, try DMS Guild.
Yes. Yes, I am.
Doofenshmirtz Evil Iiiiiiiincorperateddddd
I have a PHD in traps
I second Owlbear Rodeo. Free, and easy to use
Create Ur Own