#d&d tools

[vivimortuos]

Hey I made these neat borders you can buy if you want. In case you feel like making your character look cool in roll20 or something

[vaults-n-wyverns]

When it comes to world building, sometimes it's nice for a place to NOT be finished. And, it's always a good idea to have problems caused by normal things.

In the real world, it's not uncommon to find houses being built or repaired! It's not uncommon to find people working on roofs, or fixing windows!!

"Magic exists, why would there actually be PEOPLE taking time to fix stuff?" It's your world, you don't have to include physical repairs. But, not everyone has magic, or can afford to hire a spellcaster to fix things. They'd need to go with a cheaper, hired physical labor option, or do it themselves.

And as for problems caused by normal things-- Not every burnt house has to be burned by the BBEG. Fires can happen because of a carelessly built fireplace, or a clogged up chimey, or a knocked over candle!

Houses can be wrecked because of a fallen tree, or a tornado! People can be injured because of mundane things, like a mishap at their job!

Just because magic and crazy shit exists, doesn't mean everything is perfect, except for a crazy thing causes a problem! Mundane damages and physical repairs make worlds feel so much fuller.

[tdutchartist]

Finally broke through and put my D&D 5e Notes sheet on DMSGuild

You can download it here

[stuntmantan]

Here’s a half-page character sheet layout I designed a little bit ago. I wanted something a little more easy to break down and read for new players, or sheets I could quickly print up and fill out for pre-gen and one-shot characters. Unfortunately, there’s only so much simplifying that can be done in 5th edition, but I’m hoping this removes some of the shock value of seeing vanilla character sheet.

[dungeonmalcontent]

Aurora Builder

I've had some problems with Fight Club 5th Edition lately. I made the mistake of not baking up my files and as a result I lost a lot of custom content. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a huge fan of the app and I don't think there's a better alternative on mobile, but lately a new desktop application has caught my eye.

While I was trying to remember what GM Binder (which will probably get its own post) was, I spent some time searching around looking for it. I stumbled across Aurora Builder in the process. It has all the potential of Fight Club, but with a more dynamic character builder as the focus.

While the base program of Aurora Builder only includes the limited content that WotC allows, it's modular and allows you to add content to the base. And luckily enough, someone already formatted all the expansion texts for the program (that means Volo's, Xanathar's, Mordenkainen's, and more). The program even includes a ton of character art to choose from that can thumbnail your characters, and you can add your own character art to the program too (which is surprisingly rare for these types of programs).

Sadly, Aurora is a lot harder to get custom content on to. There isn’t a system where you can just make new entries to add in your favorite custom items and classes (which is a bummer for me, because I really miss the Viashino race). Luckily, adding the extra content that is available is so easy a toddler could do it by accident.

Go to the Aurora Builder GitHub page and paste any of these links

and paste it on to this page of the application in the URL bar

and then just update content files. It’s really easy.

Making a character in Aurora is really fun, but I won’t sing it’s praise too much. They’d have to sponsor me for that.

[tabletopresources]

Dungeon Painter Studio

Pyromancers.com has released Dungeon Painter Studio on Steam where it’s currently (March 15, 2017) in Early Access.

I haven’t had the pleasure of being able to use the program myself just yet, but reviews thus far are strong, with the community pointing out...

the ease of use even for those who claim “no artistic talent”

grid overlays (examples include squares and hexes)

ability to easily add and use custom content

a library of resources that have already been shared online

ability to commercialize the maps you make, even if you’re just using the content that comes with the program

Check out these images of the variety of maps created using the program.

If you’ve used the program, maybe even have some more info or tips to share, please comment and let us know!

And check out Tabletop Gaming Resources for more art, tips and tools for your game!

[vaults-n-wyverns]

"How do you make your players pay attention during scenes of peace?"

Ask them to pay attention! And if that doesn't work, then...

If you're describing scenery, DON'T go into too much detail. Describing the ornate door in extreme detail will bore them, and give them a one track mind to ignore everything else.

Look your players right in the eyes while describing things!!!!

Play background noises! Background music is nice, but background SOUNDS put you IN the scene!

And the absolute BEST WAY TO GET YOUR PLAYER'S ATTENTION:

RANDOMLY ROLL DICE AND CHUCKLE OR WINCE!!!

I do this with my players, and the LOOKS OF PANIC as they suddenly RUSH back to pay attention to me are AMAZING