Hey everyone. I figured we could compile a list of all e-tools that will help in making running this campaign better.
Who knows, this might even get stickied?
Anything from generic tools you use in all your campaigns to specific tools for kingmaker are welcome additions.
By e-tools i mean everything from spreadsheets and online tools/generators like dingles npc generator, to more complex software like maptool.
I use:
- Dingle's NPC generator (Site
Good NPC generator for not too complex NPCs. For The complex ones, i take the time to create them properly either through just text in OneNote, or through CharacterFolio (see further down).
- Maptool Rptools.net. - For PC (any OS i think)
An awesome free java-based tool for maps. It can act as a server and have the players connect as clients, or just be used standalone by the GM. You can import maps or just images for showing the players how that NPC looks, and also has alot of built in feauteres like dicerollers and such (not that i use them, I only use the map part. I like rolling the dice).
There is also an Ipad client for maptool that allows you to connect to a PC based maptool server or just have a local map (to pass around the table to the players): Mapnakotic.
- CharacterFolio - For Ipad
Awesome character builder for PCs, and any NPCs you want to create in detail. Is currently missing export functionality, but that is requested on their forums and confirmed that will be part of future release sometime.
- PFR - For Ipad
Good offline version of the pathfinder reference document (I use http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ when surfing it online instead). Sometimes i find it easier to look up things here than open my PDF books when im on my ipad.
- Bookman - For Ipad
Good book reader that has a few features that seperate it from the other readers:
1. No Sync b~%!$$@! (hate itunes sync, i use multiple computers at the same time so its a hassle). Just drop pdfs into the app document area on itunes and they are copied over to the ipad.
2. Optimized/Cached viewing, makes turning pages faster.
- Dicenomicon - For Ipad
Easy to use and pretty flavourful diceroller for those who can't/won't use physical dice. Shows physical dice rolling around on the screen, so its the closest you get to rolling dice without actually rolling dice.. :)
- Paint.Net - For PC
Free and easy to use image editor for making all those nifty maps and handouts to show players.
- Office 2010 (Excel and Onenote) - For PC
Not free, but very useful for not just GMing. I use Onenote for my journal and everything else, awesome note tool that i sync to the web so i can read/take notes on any of my computer, phone or tablet one the same notebok. If i get an inspirational idea, it doesnt get lost.. ;)
I know there are lots of other tools like this, i just like this one better than evernote and such. Its a personal preference. I think no GM should be without some kind of online synced notemaking tool at least.
Excel for spreadsheets. Enough said :)
- Excel spreadsheet for calendar. - For PC (windows and office 2010)
Custom spreadsheet that allows me as a GM to plan weather ahead of time and easily keep track of dates going by. Allows notes entered per day, and week/month/quarter/year view. Taken by getting a real world calendar spreadsheet template and modifying it. Supports up to 3 notes per day in week view, so it can show weather, encounter and misc for instance.
- Kingmaker pathfinder tools.
My own custom software for making weather generation and random encounters easier to handle.
(in .Net (C#): class library in one tools assembly with seperate assembly for GUI in WPF - Windows Presentation Foundation. This can easily be modifed to any other GUI that uses the tools assembly)
Still in early development. Short term goal is to have the app generate text i can put in the calendar sheet above (already done for weather generation, in the works for encounters), long term goal that might never happen is adding map of the areas being explored, and allowing interaction with the map when exploring and building (generating random encounters and weather based on time passing and players moving on the map), so it kinda becomes a mini civilization game. Again, the long term goal will most likely NOT happen and I will stop when i reached my short term goals, but its nice to have ambitious goals right? :)
I will share both the application and the source code with you guys here as soon as i got something presentable for the short term goal. For now, I'll add a screenshot. (the background stuff in the screenshot is my development environment and some of the codebase, so ignore it. its the 3 windows in front thats the application)
