Electronic DnD?

Potential-Monke

Edit: Never mind, found what I was looking for but can't delete this, mods please delete.

randomname2005

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Hey all. I'm a relative newbie at DnD, having discovered people willing to play it now into my mid 30s, and I love it. I've missed out on so much time of having not played it all along.

Anyway, our group a pretty new to DnD anyway, so we're all learning as we go. One of the biggest issues we've encountered is a visual representation of what is happening, ie: the map and surrounds. The DM has taken it a step further, and got a physical blank map (map with squares) which we can draw on, but it's not working quite as well as we had hoped.

Anyway, it got me thinking, and over thinking. I've started a new job, and I'm going to have loads of free time, so I was going to look into making a game as a hobby, but now I have something in mind to help with DnD, and that is creating my own DnD-esque game/mapping tool.

But, I wanted to check in with the learned folk to see if someone like this is already out there. I basically want to be able to have an App that players access and is set up by the DM, who will have their own 'view' on their App. The DM will be able to "draw" the maps, place the walls, contents and anything else on the map, including the player characters. The DM will use their App to move the characters as they want to be moved, and the map is interactive (ie: certain sections of the walls will show something if someone rolls a high enough perception check, or if they have a natural ability, like being able to read stonework).

Does this exist? I wouldn't mind having something to see or work off of, so I can create my own world, characters, etc. Oh, and visual character customization with integrated stats would be something I would be looking at too.

If there's nothing like that out there (like Fantasy Grounds, but with a map), if anyone can point me towards the best program to create this. Top down 2D will be perfect, as this will be more of a project for me than anything, and don't want to stress myself with 3D just yet!

Thanks in advance![/quote
Check out roll20 and see what they do and what you want to do differently

Potential-Monke

Yeah, I was Googling and nothing was coming back, but I was Googling the wrong words. See there's a load of them out there now!

Banjo

Yeah - you're looking to google "virtual tabletop" or "digital tabletop". Not only is there great software out there, but there are a bunch of great guides for how to mount a telly into a frame so you can use it as the table. There was an excellent looking kickstarter running, but I'm fecked if I can remember the name of it now.

As an alternative with a high entry / low production cost, you can 3D print interlocking squares that allow you to build and furnish a dungeon. There are a lot of free resources out there for squares and miniatures, and nothing says "I'm committed to my hobby!" like throwing €300 at it.

As a general rule we haven't used maps here a lot, it's been very much "theatre of the mind" which, in combat terms, very quickly becomes "PILE ON!".

For a cheap and dirty map in a pinch I use http://hextml.playest.net/blank.html - it's fiddly but you can have overworlds in Hexes with dungeons in Squares.
Or you can buy 80 sheets of A4 maths paper in Easons for €1

Potential-Monke

Yeah, I don't think we're quite at the splashing the cash stage. I'm just a player, but I wouldn't mind DM'ing for a bit. The current set up we have is a soft plastic cloth with squares on one side and hexes on the other, and using whiteboard type markers to make our own. I was hoping there'd be an easy enough App or something to allow us to do this.

What I really wanted was one where I could create my own map, story, etc, and be able to link rolls to discoveries, ie: on the digital map you enter a room, and the room is automatically set up to uncover secrets with a high enough perception check, etc. Will have to dig a bit more before I commit.

Banjo

Roll20 is still your best bet for that but I don't think anyone is giving what you want for free.

Try https://www.worldanvil.com - that at least looks pretty and has limited options for free

Potential-Monke

I wouldn't mind paying, but each site is not very good at clearly explaining what is and isn't available. I'll have a look at that, cheers!