I've been looking for ways to cut down on my preparation time, and one thing that I find takes me a lot of time is creating a dungeon. I use graph paper and pen at the moment, and I could save a lot of time if I had a decent mapping software. Do any of you design in a software? What are the pros and cons? Do you have a recommendation?
For creating battlemaps, there are tons of options out there, I use DungeonDraft, which is just out of beta, and it is the one I liked the most. It has a unique style that I like, but it seems that it is also what turns some people away form it.
There's also a Kickstarter for Dungeon Alchemist which just hit $1.6 Mil (of $54K) and blew out all the stretch goals... but they are stopping adding any more so they can make sure they deliver content by the end of the year. Others in the list above are great ones too...
I have access to an A3 printer so I've printed a pile of 1" grid A3 pages. I sellotape two of them together, sketch out a map with pencil, then go over it with black marker pen. It's nowhere near the quality of a full-colour published product, but I'm getting better. I spent a lot of time practicing Dyson Logos 3-line crosshatching so I am producing maps vaguely sort-of approaching Dyson's quality.
Most importantly, I can get a 5 room dungeon done in 10 minutes. There is no way I'd get even close to that time with any online tool.
Talking of Dyson, he has about a gajillion maps published on his site. Why not grab one of them and run the session around it?
I use inkarnate but there are loads of things I still can’t get it to do. I wish they an easy dog of war thing you could just remove as you go. mans the ability to stitch maps together to make a larger canvas would be nice. Also wish you could export it as different image types.
I've been using DungeonDraft for the last few months and it has been a great tool and adds a little extra polish to my games. Also, DD has a lot of community-supported asset packs that can be used in the application. To give you an idea of what can be built in DD check out the Reddit page (https://www.reddit.com/r/dungeondraft/)
Pen and paper is still the best, by a wide margin.
That said, if you are playing an online game, clearly, that won't cut it. My online DM has discovered that Power Point works beautifully, if you don' care about details.
He can whip up a map in about 1% of the time of something like Roll 20. He then does a screen share of his PC over Discord, which also use for audio. It is brilliant.
Some mapping programs will randomly generate and furnish maps, which if you are just "whipping something up," will be perfectly fine. DungeonDraft and WonderDraft do some random mapping.. you're going to have to tweak, but is is a time-saver.
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Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Have you tried not mapping out some areas in detail? I would say I have slowly moved from 90/10 mapped/imagination to 40/60 and I find it works so much better. I might scribble the shape down on piece of paper, or in a draw program, and then indicate sizes on it rather then meticulously count out every square you get a lot better at describing locations, thinking in 3D and combat becomes a lot more narrative.
I've been looking for ways to cut down on my preparation time, and one thing that I find takes me a lot of time is creating a dungeon. I use graph paper and pen at the moment, and I could save a lot of time if I had a decent mapping software. Do any of you design in a software? What are the pros and cons? Do you have a recommendation?
Here's My List:
Dungeon Map Doodler - Pro: Can import donjon maps and great stylistic value Con: Very Simple...
Inkarnate - Pro: Looks AMAZING! Con: Small maps
donjon - Pro: Looks Great, Con: Completly Random
D&D Compendium - Not A Mapping site, but rather a reference for many mapping sites
Dice For the Dice Gods - Same as above
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Thanks for the suggestions. I've started checking them out.
@account256 if you like DungeonDraft you'll love WonderDraft. Same people, and it looks like the same engine.
I'd love to see what other use if anything hasn't been mentioned, but it is a pretty great list!
Thank you for the suggestions, I was looking for mapping software and this is very helpful.
There's also a Kickstarter for Dungeon Alchemist which just hit $1.6 Mil (of $54K) and blew out all the stretch goals... but they are stopping adding any more so they can make sure they deliver content by the end of the year. Others in the list above are great ones too...
For me, the pen and paper wins.
I have access to an A3 printer so I've printed a pile of 1" grid A3 pages. I sellotape two of them together, sketch out a map with pencil, then go over it with black marker pen. It's nowhere near the quality of a full-colour published product, but I'm getting better. I spent a lot of time practicing Dyson Logos 3-line crosshatching so I am producing maps vaguely sort-of approaching Dyson's quality.
Most importantly, I can get a 5 room dungeon done in 10 minutes. There is no way I'd get even close to that time with any online tool.
Talking of Dyson, he has about a gajillion maps published on his site. Why not grab one of them and run the session around it?
I use inkarnate but there are loads of things I still can’t get it to do. I wish they an easy dog of war thing you could just remove as you go.
mans the ability to stitch maps together to make a larger canvas would be nice.
Also wish you could export it as different image types.
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I've been using DungeonDraft for the last few months and it has been a great tool and adds a little extra polish to my games. Also, DD has a lot of community-supported asset packs that can be used in the application. To give you an idea of what can be built in DD check out the Reddit page (https://www.reddit.com/r/dungeondraft/)
Pen and paper is still the best, by a wide margin.
That said, if you are playing an online game, clearly, that won't cut it. My online DM has discovered that Power Point works beautifully, if you don' care about details.
He can whip up a map in about 1% of the time of something like Roll 20. He then does a screen share of his PC over Discord, which also use for audio. It is brilliant.
Some mapping programs will randomly generate and furnish maps, which if you are just "whipping something up," will be perfectly fine. DungeonDraft and WonderDraft do some random mapping.. you're going to have to tweak, but is is a time-saver.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Have you tried not mapping out some areas in detail? I would say I have slowly moved from 90/10 mapped/imagination to 40/60 and I find it works so much better. I might scribble the shape down on piece of paper, or in a draw program, and then indicate sizes on it rather then meticulously count out every square you get a lot better at describing locations, thinking in 3D and combat becomes a lot more narrative.
If you have PowerPoint then you probably also have OneNote, which has some really nice drawing tools (especially if you have a pen).