Gamemastering Secrets

The Gamemaster's Web

Gaming Resources: Tools

Die rollers, character builders, combat trackers, map makers... there are a number of tools online designed specifically for gamemasters.

Contents

• Collections of Diverse Tools
• Tools for Mapping
  • General Purpose Drawing/Illustration Tools
  • Software Create for Gamers
  • "Real" Mapping Tools
• Die Rollers
• Character Creation Aids
• PBEM/Play-by-Chat Aids

Collections of Gamers' Tolls

• EPOSIC RPG is a site that has a number of different RPG tools online, including a combat manager, a die roller, weather forecasters, and random generators for events, magical effects, NPCs, etc.

Tools for Mapping

General Purpose Drawing/Illustration Tools

• Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (Windows, Mac)
  
  
• CADIntosh (Windows?, Mac)
  
  
• Canvas (Windows, Mac)
  
  
• CorelDraw and Bryce (3D terrain generator) (Windows, Mac)
  
  
• Macromedia Freehand (Windows, Mac), with an intriguing support site, Freehand for Cartographers
  
  
• Real-DRAW Pro (Windows)
  
  
• OpenOffice.org (Linux/Unix, Windows, MacOS X) includes a draw program.
  
  
• The Gimp (Linux/Unix, Windows?)
  
  
• Kontour, a drawing program. (Linux/Unix/KDE)
  
  
• Sketch, a drawing program (Linux/Unix)
  
  
• Blender, a 3d modelling/rendering/animation program (Linux/Unix, Windows)
  
  
• Mark J. Stock's World Builder Page is a repository and summary of free software tools for landscape creation and visualization.
  
  
• World Builder 3.0 is software that generates and animates 3D landscapes. (For Windows? It's not obviously stated, so presumably that is what one assumes.)
  
  

Mapping/drawing tools Made for Gamers

• Adventure Writer (Windows)
  
  
• AutoRealm (Windows)
  
  
• Campaign Cartographer (Windows)
  
  
• Fractal Mapper (Windows)
  
  
• Irony Games' Web-based Mapping Tools (for any Java-enabled Web browser)
• Mapbuilder (Windows, Mac) (their Web site is a bit outdated but the e-mail address phdgamesinc@aol.com is correct)
  
  
• Map Mage has random dungeon and terrain generators (Windows)
  
  

"Real" Mapping Tools

• MapRender 3D (Windows)
  
  
• Terrain Tools (Windows)
  
  
• WinKarst Cave Mapping Software (Windows)
  
  
• CavePlot (Mac)

Die Rollers

• Aroooo's RPG Dice Roller.
  
  
• Irony Games Web Dice
  
  

Character Creation Aids

• Hero Machine is a Flash-based web tool that lets you put together several pre-drawn elements to create a drawing of an RPG character.
  
  
• A large collection of character sheets for various different games
  
  

PBEM/Play-by-Chat Aids

• The PBEM Emporium supports mainly PBEM wargames, but the same tools may be of use for battles or other "map-board" actions in RPGs.
  
  
• JV_Map is a Java PBEM aid that lets you move counters around on a map.
  
  
• V_Map is a Windows PBEM aid (with which JV_Map is compatable).