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  • Showing only topics in ~games.tabletop with the tag "ttrpg". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. Choosing a TTRPG system

      When I was in elementary school, I found some Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books at a yardsale. I read through them, brought them to school, and played through a basic campaign with some friends....

      When I was in elementary school, I found some Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books at a yardsale. I read through them, brought them to school, and played through a basic campaign with some friends. Since then, I haven't met anyone interested in pen-and-paper RPGs. I still hope that I can one day convince someone to play with me, but I don't even know which system I should try to learn. There are now so many different editions of D&D, in addition to countless alternatives and endless arguments over the merits of each.

      Whatever system I decide to learn, I will need to invest time and energy into learning and teaching the game to others, and I'll most likely be the DM, so I'd like to choose one that won't be too difficult for beginners to get into. While I enjoy exploring interesting game mechanics, I think the idea of creating an interactive adventure story or a world to explore with friends is what attracts me the most. The Fate system sounded interesting, but I had a hard time understanding the core rulebook. I've recently read short summaries of several other systems that seem like they could be fun and not too hard to get into, such as Index Card RPG, Shadowdark, Tiny Dungeon, Five Torches Deep, Fantasy AGE, and Creative Card Chaos; but I can't afford to read through each of them and seven editions of D&D to determine which one is most suitable for me.

      Does anyone have any advice on how to evaluate my options or a suggestion for a good one to start out with?

      21 votes
    2. D&D does dystopian children's fantasy: Looking for some ideas

      Hey ho, so I'm taking over running one of my existing D&D groups. I have a campaign in my pocket that I have run part of before, A dystopian Narnia. If somehow my players meet just the right...

      Hey ho, so I'm taking over running one of my existing D&D groups. I have a campaign in my pocket that I have run part of before, A dystopian Narnia. If somehow my players meet just the right overlaps of nerd and techness to have ended up here. Leave now .

      But it's really a set up for a longer campaign that I hope bridges into more worlds. I have the Narnian World really fleshed out, but if somebody feels particularly passionate and has ideas, please let me know. I can provide any detail folks would like into being asked a tricky question just helps me World build so please go for it.

      The general gist is that our adventurers are pulled by a much weakened aslan from faerun or whatever default world we start from into Narnia. There they find it has been a thousand years of winter and rule by The White Witch. I'm familiar enough with the lore that if they decide to leave the country of Narnia or seek out another witch as an ally I have some options. Hopefully they save the day and free Narnia from Christmas-less winter. (I'm leaning hard into all the broad references to mythology in Narnia, Dionysus and the Maenads, the River God

      If they do, they will receive a set of the magic rings used in The magician's nephew to allow people to pop between Narnia and the wood between the worlds. Allowing them to hop into other stories that have been similarly messed up.

      I am looking for One Big Idea But also some other suggestions

      1. The suggestions I'm looking for are other stories from about the same realm of stories that could be similarly messed up, ideas I had included Dinotopia, Wrinkle in Time, The Rats of NIMH, maybe one of the Discworld stories (I feel like half of those characters would be self aware) particularly thinking middle grade books with a dip towards children's or younger YA stuff, particularly fantasy stories, particularly those with some nostalgia for my fellow millennial PCs. I don't want to touch Harry Potter.

      2. My idea for the reason why the story went wrong is that someone is rewriting it, possibly due to hating children or hating happy endings or something. I wanted a BBEG but I can't think of one. Umbridge is out for the Harry Potter reasons, but who else would go to the trouble? I am planning on the villain having acquired "magical book mcguffin" (that I also need to figure out) that's letting them do this. I like the idea of a villain who gets a lot of power but uses it in such a petty way, to rewrite children's stories

      It'll take a long time to get out of Narnia, we don't play very often, and we may not continue depending on how players feel but as someone who's worked this idea over and over in their head for a while, I would love to get past these things.

      15 votes
    3. How do you design a dungeon with a lot of backtracking for the purposes of puzzle solving?

      Hi DnD friends, I'm tackling a new DM challenge and could use some guidance. I'm designing a dungeon where humanoid beavers are attempting to awaken a sleeping god. Their efforts get derailed when...

      Hi DnD friends,

      I'm tackling a new DM challenge and could use some guidance. I'm designing a dungeon where humanoid beavers are attempting to awaken a sleeping god. Their efforts get derailed when they offer the god a magical plant that overgrows their entire base, warping the rooms and fusing many surviving beavers into half-plant, half-beaver creatures.

      Since our group is relatively new, I've found that combat can be a bit slow. To speed things up and make combat more dynamic, I want to include environmental elements and traps—things like shelves that can be pushed over or a chandelier that can be dropped on enemies. I hope this will make the players feel more impactful when they pull off creative moves.

      I plan to design a large building that encourages investigation, puzzle solving, and backtracking. My goal is for the players to get familiar with the map before combat, allowing them to discover useful items or environmental features they can take advantage of when enemies appear.

      Since I've never done anything like this, I'm seeking advice on how to approach the design. Are there common pitfalls I should avoid to keep the building fun? How large should the maps be if I want to run this over 3 sessions, each about 3 hours long? And what types of puzzles would fit well in this environment?

      Thanks a ton for your ideas! I’m already feeling like I may be reaching too high, but I’m excited to give it a shot!

      17 votes
    4. Let's hear some Tabletop RPG stories!

      I absolutely LOVE hearing other's stories from their games. Crazy things happen in game land, and these kinds of tales inspire others to play and experiment as well. Some of my favorite moments My...

      I absolutely LOVE hearing other's stories from their games. Crazy things happen in game land, and these kinds of tales inspire others to play and experiment as well.

      Some of my favorite moments
      1. My group had a guy - Thorgrimm - who was extremely impulsive and often did whatever first came to mind. It was often hilarious as the DM to play out, but alarming as a player to deal with. One such time, the group was face-to-face with a large host of Inquisitors (read: super soldiers) from another realm. They were in an anti-magic field, outmatched and outnumbered. Not to be deterred, Thorgrimm decides to parlay in his usual bombastic style, and one of the inquisitors silenced him (there were ways around the anti-magic field which had not been fully explored yet by the party). Thorgrimm took offense to this and attacked, alone, against 30+ inquisitors. The rest of the party distanced themselves from him. Well, Throgrimm got absolutely wrecked but was somehow clinging to life with a handful of HP. He then conveniently remembered his gimmick Wish spell, that I had given the party some time ago (I considered it a funny thing to do, I've been told I create a lot of trap items). With the party screaming at him not to, he used up the Wish spell to get them out of jail free.
      2. Which brings us to my second favorite moment... The group teleported back to their employer, The Wizard Who Did It (TM), known as Nobb. He had contracted them to retrieve an artifact of great power (Dymlingen Dire, a knife so sharp it can cut you if you look at it). The party bard, Jarl, thought this was crazy cool and wanted to keep the knife. Nobb said "Yes, as long as you forfeit all other rewards for this contract." Jarl readily agreed, while the rest of the party was distracted by arguing over Throgrimm's decision earlier. Suddenly, all the amazing items they had found over the last several adventures while in Nobb's employ disappeared. Jarl, in forfeiting the reward, had given up the rights to owning those items. The party was LIVID. Jarl's Player thought it was hilarious and one of the other Player's, a lawyer, began searching for loopholes. In the end, many of the PC's made more bargains with Nobb in order to receive their items back, meaning they had worked for him at great length and somehow become even more indebted to him... Which is totally perfect since Nobb would secretly turn out to be Loki, trying to kick off Ragnarok.
      26 votes
    5. I'm looking for a suggestion on how best to organize my ideas for my weekly RPG

      I implore anyone who can think of a better way to phrase the title, please suggest it. Essentially, I use a self-hosted MediaWiki which is where I write everything, but when I just have an 'idea',...

      I implore anyone who can think of a better way to phrase the title, please suggest it.

      Essentially, I use a self-hosted MediaWiki which is where I write everything, but when I just have an 'idea', I have a private Discord channel that I submit the information to. It can be a picture, or a character idea, or an idea for a scene or a shop or whatever-- I just have a channel where I dump all of my ideas, and then when I have time, I go back through them, iterate, add them to my wiki (making them 'canon'), and then deleting the messages.

      I would really like something else to do this, because Discord is obviously not meant for this. Unfortunately, the caveat is that it needs to be useable on mobile, because I'd say 80%+ of my ideas like this happen when I'm not at my computer.

      My first thought was to set up and self-host a ticketing system-- something like Znuny, but outside of using Zendesk for work, I don't really know that much about them, and it feels like it might be overkill (on top of not working on mobile, I don't think). It has the benefit of being able to immediately have the data organized, so I can double-check to make sure I'm not repeating character names, or ideas, or anything like that.

      So, with that in mind, what all are my options?

      12 votes
    6. GMs: Collaborative worldbuilding

      GMs: do you have any gaps in the worldbuilding of your setting that you're looking for help filling? Post them here! In case it wasn't already clear, I need help as well. My setting is a...

      GMs: do you have any gaps in the worldbuilding of your setting that you're looking for help filling? Post them here!

      In case it wasn't already clear, I need help as well. My setting is a near-future hybrid of Shadowrun and Cyberpunk, in 5e. There are two major gaps. First, in my setting North America has fractured into a handful of nations - but the middle part split into a radioactive wasteland and a loose coalition of city states. What locations might be concealed in the wasteland? (A fallout vault-like society living in the NORAD mountains of Colorado?) Which city states would have survived and what would their character be?

      I also need ideas for more megacorporate factions.

      Here is the work in progress for the setting, if you're interested.

      Help me and I promise I'll help you!

      13 votes
    7. My experience making maps when I run games or: How I learned to start worrying and hate city maps

      While there were conversations about this in the past, those were much more generalized. Now, I personally don't have issues creating world maps, regional maps, or 'battle' maps, as it were, but...

      While there were conversations about this in the past, those were much more generalized.

      Now, I personally don't have issues creating world maps, regional maps, or 'battle' maps, as it were, but when it comes to city maps... I'm consistently at a loss. That said, I don't want this to just be me begging and whining into the void about how I can't find something that I prefer to make city maps in, so here's what I've used and would recommend over the past 15 years or so:

      Of these, I definitely recommend Wonderdraft the most. I think if you put in enough time and effort, Photoshop can turn out better (and most detailed), but if you're interested in a style that Wonderdraft has support (and assets) for, it's pretty much perfect. It's a one-time cost, has been getting consistent updates and support since it was in beta years ago, and the community assets are pretty much unending. The one caveat to Wonderdraft is that if you want to make an absolute behemoth of a map (like I'm apt to do), it will eat some serious resources and can begin to lag, due to how it handles each individual tree/mountain/path as a singular, editable asset.

      Campaign Cartographer is an oldie that I tried about ten years ago, had some success with (mostly in how it designed continent outlines and things), but just didn't feel like it had enough malleability to create things the way I saw fit.

      • Region/Continent Maps: Wonderdraft, Photoshop, Inkarnate

      I think everything I said about world maps applies here, as well. I haven't used Inkarnate in the better part of a decade, but I know the free version was very limiting and there were some concerns about the company 'owning' anything you created in the program. That said, a brief look at it now makes it look like a more closed-off version of Wonderdraft, but with a subscription instead of a one-time purchase.

      • Battle Maps: Dungeondraft, Photoshop, a plethora of generators that I can't even begin to remember dating back 10+ years

      Before Dungeondraft, I pretty much hated making maps for combat. Early in my GMing 'career', I would just have a blank canvas on Roll20 and draw on details as it was needed, and eventually I just pivoted completely to theater of the mind for all of my combat. And then Dungeondraft rolled around, and it was pretty quick to export from there, incredibly quick to import to Foundry (with a module), and Just WorkedTM. Before that, I did occasionally try and make things in Photoshop, and would follow tutorials from time to time, but it was all just so time-consuming, and with a lot of asset hunting if you wanted consistent art style and detail to what you were doing. It was just so much.

      Which, of course, brings me to...

      Ah, the problems. So, I tried to make city maps in Wonderdraft, but it's very obvious that it was built for a larger scale, and there are a lot of 'hacks' (or workarounds, I guess?) you need to do to make it work, and it can be frustrating and very time-consuming, as there's nothing there to really automate the process at all. For example, Wonderdraft has this beautiful 'paint brush' for assets such as trees or mountains that will 'spatter' them across a set radius, with a set density, etc. This is very helpful for something random like forests, but essentially useless for placing buildings. Dungeondraft is a little better in this regard, but has the opposite issue: Everything is too 'small' and focuses on more grid-based, rigid design, given that it's built for, well, dungeons. And battle maps in general.

      I purchased City Designer 3 (along with a big pack of Campaign Cartographer add-ons) as part of a Humble Bundle a while ago, and I kind of enjoyed it, but it really felt like the amount of effort required wasn't worth the end result, which - at best - would be using art assets designed to give the feel of the maps from D&D 5E. And even then, that limited the asset options because it didn't seem like there was a lot of additional third party support for the program (which is definitely showing age). That said, it's the only one I've used that seemed able to handle good building placement along roads, able to do it automatically. That said, Photoshop?

      Probably the best time I had making city maps. I had to stylize them, but with enough ingenuity, good knowledge of automation (through recording Actions), and following some art style tutorials, you can make a "cheap" city map that's able to have a lot of variation. If you're interested in map design in Photoshop, I highly recommend the tutorials of Jonathan Roberts, who is very much my 'gold standard' for map creation. Unfortunately, he doesn't really update his site any more, and some of the tutorials show their age, but all of the content there is still great.

      Then, we have generators. The ones linked above are the best ones I've found, though the city ones leave a lot to be desired as far as graphics and specific details go. But the village generator for small towns and the like? Beautiful. It's genuinely just a perfect little generator if you don't care all that much about the specifics of the map. So, for most towns and villages, it's fine. But what if it's a town built up against a mountain, that sprouted up around a mine? Well... that's not gonna work. What if it's a town that's split on two sides of a river, protecting passage? No such luck. A swamp town, or one in tree-tops? No, not really gonna work all that well.

      And just last year, I was turned towards AI generation here on tildes, thanks to @atomicshoreline and his fairly extended description of how to set things up. But, I eventually gave up bothering him after my old video card kept having VRAM issues with only 8GB.

      I have seen some very good city maps made in Inkarnate, but I don't know that I'm interested in something that has a yearly subscription, and I can imagine it being very frustrating long-term to invest in something that I've seen issues with in the past.

      So, all of this is to say that I really enjoy making detailed content for my world, but I've always had issues with cities. There's just so much content that needs to be hand-placed in almost every program, and even an un-finished city has taken me well over a hundred hours in Dungeondraft, and that was with me still actively hating looking at it..

      So, if anyone has other suggestions, I am quite literally always searching for new ways to make city maps, and I've tried just about every suggestion given to me at least once, often to the detriment of my bank account.

      Oh, if someone can think of a better title to this post and wants to change it, please be my guest. I just wanted to contribute my knowledge and recommendations, rather than just throw a "give suggestions" post out into the ether, and wasn't sure how to phrase that.

      25 votes
    8. Feedback on boss monster for tonight's DnD session

      Hello tabletop peeps! I have completed a monster design for my first ever boss creature, and I wanted to get some quick feedback. This is all based on a previous post where I got ideas from y'all,...

      Hello tabletop peeps! I have completed a monster design for my first ever boss creature, and I wanted to get some quick feedback. This is all based on a previous post where I got ideas from y'all, here: https://tildes.net/~games.tabletop/1cjn/designing_my_first_dnd_boss_fight_with_a_giant_mimic_5x_lvl_5_characters

      Players are a group of 5 lvl 5 characters, fairly magic heavy and lower hp overall.

      The boss creature is a mimic that appears to be a large stone fountain with blood in it. If a PC touches it or stabs it, then they (or their weapon) will be grappled for the start of combat. At that point, the mimic will sprout 6 tentacles that each can travel up to 40ft from the main body and wield a weapon. All tentacles will operate on the same turn as the main body.

      Healing Pool in the boss room

      The boss room is a large room with a pool in it where blood is mixed with water that has flowed over a magic crystal to produce a healing solution. The idea is that the PCs will figure out that they can either heal themselves by dipping into the pool, prevent the boss from getting close to the pool, or that they can break the magic crystal to prevent the boss from healing. Several of the boss abilities reference this pool.

      Mimic main body:

      STR 16 (+3)
      DEX 10 (+0)
      CON 20 (+5)
      INT 16 (+3)
      WIS 12 (+1)
      CHA 8 (-1)

      HP 200
      Main body loses 20hp if a tentacle dies

      Armor Class: 13
      Speed: 15 ft
      Proficiency Bonus: 2
      Damage Resistances: None
      Immunities: Poison, Acid, Sleep, Charm

      Abilities

      Harden: Cannot take other actions, harden body to stone and increase AC to 18, as well as resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, cold, fire
      Spew Blood: Begin charging up blood, PCs can see mouth direction. At the beginning of next turn, spew acidic blood in a 180 degree arc for 30 ft. Deals 3d6 acid damage, half damage on DEX 14 save. Mimic main body cannot do anything on its next turn as it recovers.
      Chomp: +5 to hit. 1d12+3 piercing damage
      Charge: If no arms are left, it will spew blood from the back and charge at a target. Increase speed to 45ft, and deal (+5 to hit) 4d6+3 bludgeoning damage to a target. Dex15 save for half damage.

      Sword Tentacle (x3)

      HP 20
      Armor Class 13
      Speed 30 ft
      Damage Resistances: None
      Damage Immunities: Poison, Acid

      Abilities

      Harden: Cannot take other actions, harden body to stone and increase AC to 18, as well as resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, cold, fire
      Heal: If the healing pool is nearby, soak arm in the pool to heal it fully, and heal the main body for 15hp. Alternatively, resurrect a different defeated tentacle instead of healing self or the main body.
      Slice: +5 to hit. 1d8+3 slashing damage

      Shield Tentacle (x1)

      HP 20
      Armor Class 13
      Speed 30 ft
      Damage Resistances: None
      Damage Immunities: Poison, Acid

      Abilities

      Harden: Cannot take other actions, harden body to stone and increase AC to 18, as well as resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, cold, fire
      Heal: If the healing pool is nearby, soak arm in the pool to heal it fully, and heal the main body for 15hp. Alternatively, resurrect a different defeated tentacle instead of healing self or the main body.
      Shield Bash: +5 to hit. 1d4 + 3 bludgeoning damage
      Defend: As a reaction, give disadvantage to an attack when an ally 5ft away is attacked

      Crossbow Tentacle (x1)

      HP 20
      Armor Class 13
      Speed 30 ft
      Damage Resistances: None
      Damage Immunities: Poison, Acid

      Abilities

      Harden: Cannot take other actions, harden body to stone and increase AC to 18, as well as resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, cold, fire
      Heal: If the healing pool is nearby, soak arm in the pool to heal it fully, and heal the main body for 15hp. Alternatively, resurrect a different defeated tentacle instead of healing self or the main body.
      Heavy Crossbow shot: +2 to hit. 1d10 piercing damage

      Handy Tentacle (x1)

      HP 20
      Armor Class 13
      Speed 30 ft
      Damage Resistances: None
      Damage Immunities: Poison, Acid

      Abilities

      Harden: Cannot take other actions, harden body to stone and increase AC to 18, as well as resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, cold, fire. Cannot harden when grappling a PC.
      Heal: If the healing pool is nearby, soak arm in the pool to heal it fully, and heal the main body for 15hp. Alternatively, resurrect a different defeated tentacle instead of healing self or the main body.
      Grapple: +5 to hit. Grab a target, they can avoid it with a DC16 strength saving throw. If the target is successfully grappled, they can escape with a DC14 strength save at the start of their turn.
      Squeeze: If a target is grappled, squeeze them for 1d6+3 bludgeoning damage.
      Throw juice: If the healing pool is within range, scoop up a handful of purple juice and throw it at a skeleton to resurrect it.

      Potential Adds

      There are two skeletons in the room that can be resurrected by the Handy Tentacle with it's "throw juice" ability, should the fight is too easy for the PCs or they are hanging back too far. These adds are Boneknights from page 6 on this link: https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-Mv5UKsPhrHkBqSf9vo1

      Conclusion and Questions

      Is this a fun boss? I aim to have the tentacles each fighting a different person, so I don't think I'll wipe the party out too quickly, but I know of the mystical "action economy" and I might be overdoing things.

      Also, how do I rate the CR of such a creature? And how much gold should a party earn for such a fight? Thanks for helping out a new DM!

      20 votes
    9. Designing my first DnD boss fight with a giant mimic (5x lvl 5 characters)

      Hello tabletop community, I am designing my first ever boss fight, meant to really challenge my players. I don't want to kill any of them off since we're all new and it feels weird to lose a...

      Hello tabletop community,

      I am designing my first ever boss fight, meant to really challenge my players. I don't want to kill any of them off since we're all new and it feels weird to lose a character, but I also want it to feel threatening. I could use some advice about how to execute this situation:

      Boss is a big mimic disguised as a blood fountain with 6 long tentacle arms, each of which will be it's own figure on the board that can be up to 3 tiles from the 3x3 mimic figure.

      Four of the tentacles have weapons that can deal 2d6 damage and have 30hp AC11 (roughly making it in line with a Brown Bear for threat and HP). They can grapple (squeeze the target) instead for 1d8 damage per turn, escapable on DC13 strength.

      Two of the tentacles have shield-like hard points that defend neighboring enemies by giving disadvantage on attack rolls against them. AC14 HP30. I couldn't find anything to base these on for an encounter designer app.

      Main body has low movement (10ft), and has 200hp AC19, and loses 20hp per tentacle lost. It has a bite attack +6 to hit 2d8. It also floods blood through sections of the room, forcing player movement and dealing 2d8 poison damage. I based it on a Roper for difficulty and attacks.

      I think this combination creature would provide a very interesting and movement focused fight, but I'm very new to DM'ing and I'm afraid of accidentally killing the players.

      My questions are: (1) How do I avoid accidentally killing everyone? (2) Is this fight too hard for a newbie group of 5 new players? (3) Any other cool ideas I didn't think of?

      9 votes
    10. DnD 5e - Looking for advice on Haunted House monster difficulty for a level 5 party

      Hello Tildes community, I am soon going to DM my second ever mini-session for a small group of fairly new players. I'd like to send the group into a haunted tavern that has an unusually...

      Hello Tildes community,

      I am soon going to DM my second ever mini-session for a small group of fairly new players. I'd like to send the group into a haunted tavern that has an unusually intelligent mimic in the basement that has been eating tourists that pass through, leaving behind undead creatures throughout the basement.

      My primary goal with this is to help the players (most pretty new) understand how to conserve their magic instead of firing it all off in each battle, so I wanted to prevent them from long resting. I figure I could magically lock them inside when they arrive, and then let them learn that if they should rest, previously killed undead creatures (like Minotaur Skeleton or zombies) resurrect after about an hour.

      I am looking for two pieces of advice. First, I'd like to know good creatures to put into the dungeon that would provide a challenge, but not be too devastating. I looked at Wraith, for example, but a Wraith could easily one-shot any of the casters in the group and instantly kill them, which isn't fun. What should I be using instead? Remember that each individual fight doesn't need to be too hard, I just want the group to start feeling the strain of resources getting exhausted.

      Secondly, the primary DM (who I am running a single session for) has said I can level up the party to 6 during the dungeon. Does this essentially heal the whole party and refresh their spell slots, ala most RPG games? I'm a bit confused how this part would work, tbh.

      Thanks for your help, and big thanks to everyone who answered my last question about a Kobold Brewery. It was a blast, and the party loved it, particularly some of the traps that y'all came up with. By the time the party escaped, the entire brewery was on fire, which was amazing.

      Appreciate your help!

      8 votes
    11. Let's discuss poorly-crafted or niche magic items

      Artificer school is rough. You have to learn so many ways to manipulate magic forces and try to shove it all into small items. Sometimes it doesn't work as well as hoped. Even if every student...

      Artificer school is rough. You have to learn so many ways to manipulate magic forces and try to shove it all into small items. Sometimes it doesn't work as well as hoped. Even if every student gives it their best effort, someone has to be the worst passing student in the class.

      In my campaigns, I try to explore this concept by adding niche items or items of student project quality. Often times these items end up adding quite a bit of fun to the lower levels before access to "real" magic items is available.

      I would love to throw this idea out to the world and maybe get a bigger collection of these items for all of the Tildes DMs to use in their campaigns if they fit in the setting.

      27 votes
    12. DM/GMs, what map making tools do you use?

      What tools do you use to make maps for your table? I've tried looking and I have found a few decent generators, but I'm really looking for a making tool I already have a general layout in my head...

      What tools do you use to make maps for your table?

      I've tried looking and I have found a few decent generators, but I'm really looking for a making tool I already have a general layout in my head of what the city/region/continent but I can't draw for shit, and I want to find a tool that makes this easy? Makes it look nice, makes it easy to add points of interest and features, etc.

      What do you use?

      Edit: for clarification, this is for city/region maps, not battlemaps.

      23 votes
    13. What sort of traps would Kobolds set up around a brewery? (new DM)

      I recently got some superb advice here on making a fun brewery adventure, and I had a few more questions for the more experienced DMs out there. To reiterate, I am DMing a group of lvl 3...

      I recently got some superb advice here on making a fun brewery adventure, and I had a few more questions for the more experienced DMs out there. To reiterate, I am DMing a group of lvl 3 characters for only 1-2 sessions so I can learn the ropes, and I would like to include some fun traps they need to look out for. I'd love to also make sure that everyone gets a chance to contribute, and not just have the rogue (our most experienced player) do all the detection and disarming.

      What sort of things would be fun to set up so that players would all need to watch their step, but could also contribute a bit?

      Party has a bard, ranger, druid, and rogue.

      23 votes
    14. Do you think there will be a "Baldur's Gate Effect?"

      There have been a lot of complaints from DMs over the years about Critical Role and the "Matt Mercer Effect" causing new players to have unrealistic expectations of tabletop RPGs. Baldur's Gate 3...

      There have been a lot of complaints from DMs over the years about Critical Role and the "Matt Mercer Effect" causing new players to have unrealistic expectations of tabletop RPGs. Baldur's Gate 3 has the opportunity to introduce many new players to the d20 system/5e DnD specifically. Though it's a bit different in that the game is obviously scripted and you can't do literally anything, the game provides a ton of options and fleshed out paths, including full support of niche spells like speak with animals/speak with dead. Do you think this might have a similar influence on expectations from some new players moving forward or do you think since BG3 is a video game it will have less of an impact than CR and other tabletop shows have?

      35 votes
    15. First experience as a DM, I'd like to take a party of level 3 characters to a quick journey to Sigil. What sort of creatures might work at a brewery within the City of Doors?

      I've been participating in my first DnD sessions with a friend, and I'm greatly enjoying it. I've asked permission to DM a single session to get my feet wet, and one place I've always loved (since...

      I've been participating in my first DnD sessions with a friend, and I'm greatly enjoying it. I've asked permission to DM a single session to get my feet wet, and one place I've always loved (since Planescape Torment) is Sigil. I'd love to have my party wind up there as they sleep, then have them try to learn how to get back home.

      I thought it might be fun to have a heist of sorts where they need to get into a brewery to steal some items. I'd like to have some creatures working there that they could fight (if thievery goes wrong), but also some bigger creatures they might be able to avoid in the narrow hallways.

      What might be some good options? I've looked at goblins with an ogre moving barrels around, or perhaps some Kua-Toa creatures.

      20 votes
    16. Professional Game Mastering Feasibility Survey

      Hello Everyone! I am currently doing research on the TTRPG community, specifically the feasibility of professional game mastering. I have a survey for players and a survey for Game Masters. These...

      Hello Everyone!

      I am currently doing research on the TTRPG community, specifically the feasibility of professional game mastering. I have a survey for players and a survey for Game Masters. These surveys are system agnostic and are for everyone who plays TTRPG's. Please fill in the survey(s) that apply to you!

      GM Survey - https://forms.gle/GVCQ6EfxGJPwt5so6

      Player Survey - https://forms.gle/y5a3UmC4gfADrjdX6

      7 votes
    17. What variant rules/house rules do you use in your Warhammer fantasy roleplay 4e game?

      I'm currently reading over and learning Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4e I'm moving more and more away from D&D and Pathfinder games towards others due to different mechanics, fantastic design, etc....

      I'm currently reading over and learning Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4e I'm moving more and more away from D&D and Pathfinder games towards others due to different mechanics, fantastic design, etc.

      I've seen much conversation about WFRP 4e online and how it's not as good as 2e, or too complex, or other arguments. I'm not looking to start edition warring, but how many of these arguments still hold true in 2023 with the newer rules from Up in Arms and Winds of Magic?

      If there are complexities/gaps in 4e, what variant rules, house rules, or homebrew are you using to fix those things or fill them out?

      9 votes
    18. Do you use props in your role playing games?

      I'm not especially creative, but I love having props at the table for games. Some games seem like a better fit for props than others - for example, Call of Cthulhu's focus on investigation makes...

      I'm not especially creative, but I love having props at the table for games. Some games seem like a better fit for props than others - for example, Call of Cthulhu's focus on investigation makes having prop newspaper clippings, diaries and journals, maps and other ephemera feel natural and rewarding. It's made that much easier when the publisher provides them with a scenario, which is what Chaosium does for Cthulhu - the starter set handouts are freely available at their site.

      Recently, I've added a mix of etsy and more premium products to various games:

      • a fun set of inn menus, maps and store price list handouts for Lost Mine of Phandelver (link)
      • I'm waiting for the Silver edition of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist to release from Beadle and Grimm (link)
      • For the introductory Cthulhu adventure 'The Haunting', I found some really nice non-combat maps on DTRPG (link) and added the handouts from the HPLHS Classic Game Prop Set (link)

      I'm curious to know how other people use props at the table, if you make your own, or have found something on etsy or elsewhere that you'd recommend.

      14 votes
    19. DMs and GMs what tool or tools do you use for world building?

      I'm starting a new campaign soon and I plan to create a homebrew setting and story like I've done in the past. I've used a combination of Google Docs, Evernote, and other general purpose tools for...

      I'm starting a new campaign soon and I plan to create a homebrew setting and story like I've done in the past. I've used a combination of Google Docs, Evernote, and other general purpose tools for other settings and campaigns. Does anyone use something like World Anvil or Legend Keeper? Something else?

      I'm still in the brainstorming stage of world building, and I'd like a place to collect my thoughts and plans. Ideally I'd be able to easily convert that into something searchable and updateable when it's time to actually play in the setting.

      Do you use a single tool for creating maps, NPCs, plot points, history, and adventures? Or do you have a suite of tools you find works well to cover all those aspects?

      29 votes
    20. Delta Green handler advice

      I’m going to run Delta Green for the second time tomorrow and I’m excited! However, I’m looking for some tips on running a session and/or your favorite scenarios to run. What are your thoughts?

      7 votes
    21. GMs: What do you do when a player doesn't show up?

      I think this has to be one of the oldest questions there is in the TTRPG world, but I wanted to see if the general consensus has changed with the rise of virtual tabletops. When you have a player...

      I think this has to be one of the oldest questions there is in the TTRPG world, but I wanted to see if the general consensus has changed with the rise of virtual tabletops.

      When you have a player cancel on you, do you skip the session, or play without them?

      What is your reasoning behind your decision?

      Personally, I always play without them. This is a change from when I first started DM'ing, as back then I wanted to be 'fair' to my players. As I left University and went into work however, waiting until everyone was able to play became such a rare thing that it would mean hardly ever playing.

      34 votes
    22. Any suggestions for getting into DnD?

      I've been interested in getting into it for the last few years but haven't managed to get started, no one I know personally is into it, and within online communities I'm a part of I sometimes miss...

      I've been interested in getting into it for the last few years but haven't managed to get started, no one I know personally is into it, and within online communities I'm a part of I sometimes miss dates for campaigns, often due to my work schedule.

      18 votes
    23. GMs of Tildes, what books, movies, or other media have changed how you portray the world?

      For example, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett has forever changed how I roleplay dragons. I'm going on a camping trip soon. I've loaded up my eReader with books from Appendix N and am looking...

      For example, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett has forever changed how I roleplay dragons.

      I'm going on a camping trip soon. I've loaded up my eReader with books from Appendix N and am looking for other grist for the mill. Mainly looking for books at the moment, but feel free to suggest other things.

      13 votes
    24. Fun stories about characters hating each other in a TTRPG

      Usually when playing a game of dnd, pathfinder, etc. You want the party to be nice to each other. But at times when done right, you just have two characters who hate each other, yet it's fun for...

      Usually when playing a game of dnd, pathfinder, etc. You want the party to be nice to each other. But at times when done right, you just have two characters who hate each other, yet it's fun for everyone.

      Do you have any such stories?

      4 votes
    25. Zero to low prep games

      So, I have been getting into some Blades in the dark stuff recently. I am loving it due to the fact that I really don't need to spend much time between sessions doing any prep. Sure, I can spend...

      So, I have been getting into some Blades in the dark stuff recently. I am loving it due to the fact that I really don't need to spend much time between sessions doing any prep. Sure, I can spend as much time brainstorming cool stuff to happen but really it all happens at the table.

      So, what other cool TTRPGs are out there that support this kind of play?

      19 votes
    26. What's your not-D&D RPG, and why?

      I nearly made this post a hot few hours ago, but it turned into me gushing about Worlds Without Number for an inexplicably long time. I realized that of all the things that matter, going into the...

      I nearly made this post a hot few hours ago, but it turned into me gushing about Worlds Without Number for an inexplicably long time. I realized that of all the things that matter, going into the minutiae does the least.

      So yeah, I'm just curious what kind of not-D&D RPGs people are into and why exactly they're interested in it. Obviously there's the whole 'Wizards of the Coast is a shithole company' aspect, but I'm speaking more from a broad design standpoint than a moral one.

      22 votes
    27. With Map in hand : Finding maps for your VTT RPG

      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology,...

      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology, barbarian party learning that guns and space battles were a thing, aliens and robotic overloads.

      What's more my party tended to blow up stuff and wreck most maps in one session, so in the end I got into making maps or desperately looking for maps everywhere I could.

      So, I thought maybe people could use some of what I've found in their own searches (disclaimer, I don't sell any of my maps, free to all, and I have no connection with any of the pay-for ones, but I've subscribed to most of them at one time or another!)

      Map Tools

      The idea in VTT RPG is to make a map image and import that into your game tool (Such as Roll20 or Foundry) then overlay tiles, tokens, walls etc onto it. The single map image is most, if not all of what you need.

      This is just a short list of what I have tried, lots more than this out there.
      • Dungeondraft One of the best mapping programs and the one I use the most. Offline and stand alone, also encompasses a good default art style of the base assets
      • Inkarnate Online tool that requires a subscription, pretty good, I started out with it and sill occasionally use to make world maps rather than battle maps but can do both.
      • Wonderdraft Dungeondraft but for world maps. I do not make enough of these to have warranted buying it so never tried it
      • Dungeon Alchemist A "AI" driven map creator in Early Access. Can knock out stuff in seconds but I don't like the art style. Good if you need a dungeon in 5 minutes

      Map styles

      There are a couple of popular styles if you are picky about that sort of thing, though mostly important if you want to make your own maps and are looking for asset packs.

      The asset styles you find seem to fall in roughly two forms:

      • Dungeondraft default style. Flat. Line art, less detail
      • Forgotten Adventures (short form FA) Still hand drawn (not rendered) but more detailed computer art style

      Some people prefer the first style due to simplicity, others like the second but some may find it more gamey.

      There is also the "rendered" style that Dungeon Alchemist uses, but that's REALLY gamey to my eyes. I believe there are third party libraries for it but never really looked.

      Lastly, there is the unique art style of hard drawn art that lots of artist draw their battle maps in.

      When I chose a style I went Forgotten Adventures. You can't really mix the two main ones when making your own map, looks horrible. I also found that of the various styles, FA could be matched with many hand drawn styles.

      Maps

      Ok the meat, and what I meant to post before I got side tracked!

      Note most of the sites I am posting above can be used offline on a table top game by just printing the maps out, though I've never tried this.

      My own maps tend heavily towards space and the magic/tech mix due to the campaign. They are in the Forgotten Adventures style. Free to use, including the ones on my Patreon (DON'T SUBSCRIBE TO IT! I started working on making more maps but then got too involved in GMing the game and ran out of time)

      • My main free library ~35 maps, space, ground, some bunkers and others. All in WEBP for faster loading
      • My Patreon, no subscribe! Only take! Only a few maps and then the campaign finished, space ships mostly and then it gets weird if you go back further and find it was a MMORPG Kit tutorial Patreon :/

      Other peoples maps amazing I've found!

      Science Fiction or Modern

      These maps cover mostly futuristic themes such as cyberpunk, world war 2, space ships and so on
      • Hyperdrive Fleet An AMAZING selection of space ships, engine rooms, and space shipy related stuff.
      • Moonlight Maps Scifi A paired Patreon channel to the Moonlight below but for scifi maps. Building interiors, some assets (Vehicles for example), space forests, malls. Flatish style with few shadows?
      • de-Zigner Um, steam punk art? Really cool hand drawn art style, I guess has a mix between modern punk and undead fantasy things.
      • Cracked|Compass This is not the entire library for this mapper, but they do some AMAZING World War 2 maps and several are available on their Inkarnate page. More are available on Reddit in various posts

      Fantasy

      Basic fantasy maps, ruins, temples and the like. Useful for most games
      • Forgotten Adventures A medium size collection of Fantasy maps with some great maps, and has some integration with Foundry complete with walls and actions to switch out parts of some maps on the fly (if you are into that sort of thing)
      • Limithron Lots of pirate ships, islands, water and sea based maps, boats, whales.
      • Cze and Peku Fantasy stuff, hand drawn so may not fit with your campaign style but a LOT of art, A little closer to the Dungeondraft style than FA, LOTS of fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, some ships.
      • Moonlight Maps Again generic (good) fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, villages. Lot of art available, style is of the school of flat line art more than anything.
      • Tom Cartos Has a large asset library which pairs well with FA assets but the maps are what we are here for. Has been expanding recently into 3D scene pictures to accompany the maps recently. Lots of temples, dungeons, inns, villages etc.
      • Bearworks FA style? Lots of fantasy items, had a lot of desert maps which is what I was attracted to. Otherwise standard dungeons and ruins. They do come in very high PPI if required
      • Seafoot games Lots of maps here in a flat DD style. Got some audio mixs. I used their shipwreck maps for a while.
      • Stained Karbon Very stylistic cartoon hand drawn maps of the most bizarre stuff. I've grabbed a few of the free ones but never had the chance to use them. If you need a sword driven through 4 maps of various styles of terrain, then this is the map maker for you
      • Ataraxian Bear VERY clean lined cartoon maps, lots of water and islands. Slightly different style from most but still very nice art so unless you are fussy there are some nice maps here!
      • Borough Bound Some large scale project maps here, as in entire cities with all the moving parts, campaign information, stories, multiple parts of the city etc. You can grab a selection and have a entire city for your players to explore.

      Speciality environments

      These are specific mappers that may concentrate on one unique game theme
      • Gamers Cortex Lots of battle maps of flying wooden sailing ships, all with wings, above and below decks images. They are also beginning to include Foundry VTT files with walls and lights.

      Phased Battle Maps

      Ok this is a niche thing, most of these mappers make various map types, scifi, modern or fantasy, but what sets them aside is the maps come in variants, phases, so you can change the map over time, say every combat round, as the environment changes. Water flowing in and flooding a village, a fire burning down a town hall, bridges breaking etc.
      • Domille's Wondrous Works The main reason Phased battle maps exist! DWW has a lot of these but also has an addon for Foundry to help you use them. I've used a lot of their maps over the years and found the addon stable and works well. Drawn in their own hand drawn art style.
      • Balatro A good alternative to DWW above, lots of maps, Nice style similar to FA in the later maps, more like Dungeondraft in earlier. Boat battles, buildings struck my lightening. List goes on

      Asset Libraries

      Collections of assets to be used when MAKING maps
      • Forgotten Adventures the main alternative for most map makers to the default assets. This is an amazing selection of art,
      • White Fox Works basically just an asset library all matching the FA assets nicely. They started I believe to fill the gaps of FA assets and have done some REALLY well... ALong with FA this is the single most important asset library in my toolkit.
      • Tom Cartos Mentioned in maps but he has a asset library that pairs well with the FA style. Mostly Fantasy but a small section is scifi which I abused a lot in my maps.
      • Hellscape Assets Mostly scifi assets, does not fit the FA style all that well but has a lot of art so may be worth trying. May work with DD style? Some maps, some modern stuff
      • Captain Tom Asset Emporium Amazing Sci-Fi asset packs, many options but a little flatter than FA assets. Can be made to work with FA but more like the DD style

      Tokens

      Ok forgot about these, tokens for player and NPCS!
      • Forgotten Adventures Again FA! Lots of tokens, monsters etc. Lots are free and variants cost money
      • The League of Raconteur Explorers (LORE) A mixture of assets, scifi, maybe steampunk-ish. All really nice and varied. The assets are available FREE from their discord but the Patreon allows you to support the artist and download the assets in a better format and nicely catalogued
      • de-Zigner Some amazing tokens, very stylistic so may not match other token you are using unless you use these for the entire campaign, and honestly you could. Plague zombies, cyber warriors and cyborgs. Lots to unpack here.

      Animations

      Animated movies/gifs etc that can be overlaid on your maps to provide some bling. Fire, explosions etc
      • JB2A Animations If you want to animate spells etc in your game I've only tried JB2A. Free ones and endless updated every month! There may be others but I never needed to look!

      There is more than this of course, but I just wanted to put down what I'd found. Hope it helps someone!

      18 votes