Speed up D&D game prep with these MUST-HAVE TOOLS
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2024
- 🔥 This Game is Cursed • Jumanji'd into D&D | ...
There are tons of tools available for dungeon masters running D&D, Pathfinder 2, and other TTRPGs. These are my top DM resource picks to speed up game prep!
DC20 Kickstarter www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
The Secret Art of Game Mastery thedmlair.com/collections/the...
Arbiter of Worlds: A Primer for Gamemasters amzn.to/3V15LQG
So You Want to Be a Game Master amzn.to/3V4hbTX
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland amzn.to/4bmar9I
The Dungeon Master's Design Kit www.dmsguild.com/product/1702...
The Game Masters Book of Series amzn.to/4bjMzUc
The Monsters Know What They're Doing amzn.to/4bGHsgr
DMGR5 Creative Campaigning for 2nd Edition AD&D www.dmsguild.com/product/1694...
The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding amzn.to/3yoReFG
The Medieval Fantasy City Generator watabou.itch.io/medieval-fant...
inkarnate inkarnate.com/
Dungeon Scrawl www.dungeonscrawl.com/
Woderdraft www.wonderdraft.net/
Dungeondraft dungeondraft.net/
Foundry VTT foundryvtt.com/
Roll20 roll20.net/
Fantasy Grounds www.fantasygrounds.com/
Owlbear Rodeo, Talespire, Alchemy RPG
Donjon donjon.bin.sh/
Demiplane app.demiplane.com/home
Archives of Nethys 2e.aonprd.com/
PF2 Tools pf2.tools/
dScryb dscryb.com/thedmlair
World Anvil www.worldanvil.com/
Obsidian Portal www.obsidianportal.com/
Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Encounter Calculator kastark.co.uk/rpgs/encounter-...
Kobold Fight Club koboldplus.club/
Pathfinder 2e Encounter Builder maxiride.github.io/pf2e-encou...
Encounter Builder builder.pf2easy.com/
EN World www.enworld.org/
Tribality www.tribality.com/
Bell of Lost Souls www.belloflostsouls.net/
The DM Lair thedmlair.com/
Seth Skorkowsky / @sskorkowsky
Bob Worldbuilder / @bobworldbuilder
Dungeon Craft / @dungeoncraft1
Dungeon Coach / @thedungeoncoach
How It's Played / @howitsplayed
Mythkeeper / @themythkeeper
Dicebreaker / @dicebreaker
Tabletop Audio tabletopaudio.com/
Syrinscape syrinscape.com/
Battlebards battlebards.com/
Incompetech incompetech.com/
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Check out This Game is Cursed here! ruclips.net/video/x9548h-0ATA/видео.htmlsi
"It's not filled with F-bombs..." Er.. Um... have you watched the first episode? I'm barely 15min in and obviously we have a different definition of "it's not filled with ..." That said, they are trapped in coffins and even I would be using some language in that situation. Plus after only 15min I'm already hooked on it. Thanks for mentioning it as well as for the rest of this video.
I would recommend Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master!
Should have been on the list...both as a resource and RUclips channel.
Yep. I would recommend that more than any other book on the list.
Yep! Mike Shea (aka Sly Flourish) is my absolute fav. Return of the Lazy DM changed my games in such a positive way.
One of the best for sure
Very surprised this was not mentioned!
MCDM how to be a dungeon master videos are what got me up to speed on dming. I specifically will look back on individual videos when I need a refresher on a certain topic.
Same, very surprised to see covil left out
Same!
Not having a Sly Flourish Lazy DM guide is huge oversight. Plus those books you recommend are huge Sky’s book is a 1 day read
I believe Owlbear Rodeo is the best when you have to consider accessibility (you can run it on a potato pc), being cheap and easy to use.
The full version released not long ago, so it has a huge potential to grow (I hope)
Along with other youtubers he mentioned I also check out Dungeon Dudes and Matthew Colville. Plus, as Luke has taught us, the best thing to have when prepping is BACON!
Actually I'd like to correct you there. The only thing you really need when prepping is bacon. SMH. LOL
@@theDMLair I stand corrected lol
I love all Dungeon Craft videos. The cult lives on!!!!
I’ve been binge watching your videos lately, and I am getting close to planning my first game!
Thank you! Start planning NOW; why wait? :D
I also recommend Dungeon Dudes, Nerdarchy, and Treantmonk. They are great RUclipsrs for D&D in my opinion.
AboveVTT deserves a mention, literally just an extension for DnD beyond where players and DMs can roll right in the VTT and access their whole character sheet/statblocks windowed in the VTT, it’s sooooo nice
For creating dungeon maps that can be printed or used in Foundry VTT, Dungeon Alchemist (available on Steam) and Dungeon Fog (online builder. Free trail available.)
I have personally used DungeonDraft to create my maps. It is a software with a one time purchase and it is not perpetually online, which is a massive plus for me personally.
for me, Dungeon Alchemist was amazing because of how quickly it can auto create a map PLUS access to all the user-generated maps that can be exported with LoS to Fantasy Grounds
Sweet! Thanks for the shoutout, man.
You bet!
For Pathfinder players who want another source of the lore around the world of Golarion I also would highly recommend the underrated Tower of Tomes channel. It dispenses lore with a narrative attached to it over Mythkeeper's straight delivery.
Very comprehensive list. For VTTs I wanna throw Shmeppy into the mix for those looking for a minimalist solution. For channels, I wanna raise Pack Tactics for those interested in optimization in D&D.
Yeah! Glad to see Seth getting more recognition.
My Personal Additions to the List are as follows:
-Kanka(website): Great for organizing all things about your world. I would recommend Kanka over World anvil actually.
-WASD20(YT channel): Lots of good information for new players and dms, as well as RPG reviews, miniature painting, and map drawing.
-DND Beyond: yeah, i know, its kinda basic, but can be a good quick database for statblocks, rules, etc, if one doesn't have the 3 rulebooks on hand.
-3000 world building prompts(book): Great information for world builders/dms. Given that there is 3000 prompts, anyone buying this book will be busy for a while. In fact, i recommend buying a separate notebook, just to answer the questions in this book.
I could probably think of more, but those are my few favorite resources .
Thanks for adding to the list!
Love me some Seth, I’ve not seen him come up so it was cool to see him get a shout out
Wasn't mentioned in the video but I think Dungeon Alchemist deserves a huge shoutout. This software is peak when it comes to battle map making and just does so much for a one time payment on Steam. The developers are really awesome and keep adding massive content updates for free with 100s of new assets and features. Its definitely a great contender for best battlemap maker with the likes of DungeonDraft and Inkarnate in my opinion
Dungeon Alchemist is a fantastic map-making tool for people who aren't very artistic. It uses procedural generation to create entire rooms, buildings, environments, and more. You can also get very creative with clipping assets into walls or each other to build other things. They update it all the time to add tons of features and assets, and it can export as an image OR as an animated video file for really cool fluid or lighting effects. The best part is that there's a community section that lets you download other people's maps and tweak them if you like
That sounds amazing. I got to dig into that software some more!
Guy at how to be a great GM RUclips channel is awesome too!
DM Lair is also a great resource. Lots of advice that can be game agnostic, or drill down to Pathfinder and Dnd. Funny skits and Bacon helps too
Bacon is the best. 😁♥️
Enter the dungeon gets my highest of praises when it comes to narrative building without railroading and really solid advise on how to understand the concepts behind encounter balance and adventure desing. Especially the video on plot webs and how to arrange campaign files are my most watched guides for DMs.
Enter the Dungeon and his GM 911 is actually so great.
I think the city generator is most interesting to me, at least right now. I always feel overwhelmed when it comes to city design.
Amazing recommendations, many I had, incuding yours. The rest I placed on order. 😊
Because you mention Bob world builder I whole heartily agree :) he brought me back to 5e
Roll20 was probably one of the first widely popular VTT, but there was one I remember using in ages past (~15 years ago) called Maptool. It's *way* simpler than most of the more popular ones, but it was pretty dang useful back in the day.
Great video, amazing advice! As usual. Thank you so much!
Thank you!!! 🥓🥓🥓
You have a radically different definition of "Must Have" than I do. what's worse is most of the digital tools you suggest either cost way too much for what they are have a learning curve so steep they are practically useless. A couple books you forgot: Lazy Game Master, and XDM...
The gamemaster’s guide to series is pretty good/affordable I can’t speak for anything else
Most of those digital tools are free? 🤔 with paid extras.
I find World Anvil and Inkarnate free versions not that great still.
I'm always on the look out for free versions of good tools, (since I'm not currently running a game, so can't justify the cost)
So if you know free ones please share to us skinflints.
I've purchased Arbiter of worlds on your advice.
Excellent book, and Ill be grabbing some of your own soon.
Thank you for the list! Any ones I don't have, I added to my wishlist.
You are very welcome!
This is an extremely useful video. One of the best you have put out (and I'm no newby to DM Lair. Been watching you for at least three years. I think closer to five). Anyway, good video
Thank you so very much! I appreciate the support!
The Dungeon Master's Design Kit was *not* a resource for Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition, it was published under the banner of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition. D&D 1e was published in 1974 and was out of print when this product was released.
My list
1) Multiple monster books
2) dice of many kinds
3) note books
4) pencils
5) Erasers
6) my imagination.
A few other great channels i love is How to be a Great GM and The Dungeon Coach
Dungeon coach is the man!
Fantastic list!! Thank you so much!
You are very welcome!
A lot of these services are great and I’m willing to pay for them. The problem is almost every single one of them is a subscription service rather than just being a one time flat fee having that many subscription services is just insane amount and now worth it we need to make these companies realize that a subscription model is unsustainable and we should go back back to just being able to purchase our software.
POCKET BARD is fantastic. Give it a try.
Nice thing about Roll20 and Owlbear Rodeo compared to Foundry or Fantasy Grounds is that they are zero-footprint being completely web-based. I know that there are options to run hosted versions of the others. It'll be interesting to see how D&D Beyond develops as a play-space.
Another point to consider is the experience of your players. I played games with 4 players that didn't have s&d experience, so exposing them to advanced resources would have been a hindrance.
As I had had d&d experience before, I would look into things that interested them instead of throwing them into the sea of supplements
Robin's Laws, by none other than Robin Laws. Yeah, not a joke. Anyway, the book is really more of a zine or large pamphlet, but it was jam packed with I threshing and useful GMing advice. And it predates everything else, including that book you said was the first such book.
"I threshing" is supposed to be "interesting"
The 2E splatbooks like "The Complete 's Handbook" are some of the best resources for PCs and DMs. They're filled with info on different ways to play a certain class grounded in history. I think 2E has some of the best resources out there...hands down...
For the VTT subject, ive used foundry and fantasy grounds and personally i much prefer FG. For me anyway it was easier to use and a so many options for customization. And the forums give a whole bunch of free stuff. Also since its linked with steam, it benefits from steam sales. Also they just added 1st person camera view as well as map camera mode. It really has gotten some huge updates since the Unity update.
I highly recommend the Dungeon Dudes. Weekly D&D videos, with advice for DMs, player guides, homebrew rules and more. They also have an actual play called "Dungeons of Drakkenheim", which is better and cleaner than Critical Roll.
Yes, enough cannot be said about actual plays that are clean and don't have f-bombs every other sentence.
awesome!, thx for the advices!
You bet!
My favorite 90s tech gimmick I can remember is a product called "The Dragonbone" which resembled a remote control, had a selector slider for each die type. You pressed a button and dice rolls were revealed by little diodes that lit up indicating a particular roll. Our DM used it extensively and the amount of times we waited for him to reveal his rolls was pretty fun, truth be told. Show your players rolls, people! Anyway, funny gadget and it really was very useful for the DM who always had to roll way more than we did.. Took a 9v battery, of course.
My copy of it has a burned out d12. And I used so much I rubbed the numbers off most it.
I love all the DM Lair videos!
Thank you!!! ♥️
Also, wonderful video and helpful content. Thanks Luke and squad
Thank you so very much! I'm happy that you enjoyed it!
I love ALL the DM Lair videos!!!! ❤
Thank you!!! :D
LegendKeeper was a game changer for my worldbuilding and session running.
Is that a book?
@@theDMLair nope. Just a software for keeping track of adventures and worlds. I specifically love the map integration, especially since I use my own maps most of the time. Less map labeling and more map programing. Love the story board feature as well. After each session, I log what the party did and can point it to where it may have a specific outcome later in the adventure.
I still use a VTT on the side, this is just an in depth notebook with great coding and visuals. Im a visual learner and processor.
Great list, though I personally found Fantasy Grounds far easier to learn than Foundry and flipped over a couple of years ago. It also has upgrading mapmaking tools for fastdrawing simple battle maps (ie drawing walls and floors at the same time and instantly adding LoS ) which NOW can be exported to jpg or png. So it could be considered a free mapmaker. (the free version still lets you create adventures, maps, characters etc)
I would **also** recommend Kassoon for a variety of tools: hexmap maker, encounter builder, NPC, town event creators etc
I recommend Point Hat’s RUclips channel for some very creative ideas for DMs.
For people starting out with 5e, with the D&D Beyond DM Tier subscription, running Encounters and Maps are really good for basic play and starting out. Low barrier to entry (after the tier) and easy to use if you're overwhelmed by Foundry.
Missed legendkeeper. Absolutely awesome note keeper for dnd or other systems. Can link pages to maps which is amazing
i want that T-shirt/POSTER LUKE!
Shard Tabletop VTT. I wish more people knew abut this.
Action tracker for DC20💜
Great suggestions! I’d humbly add Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master by Mike ‘Spy Flourish’ Shea. It’s a quick read and the absolute BEST DM/GM guide ever written.
Very useful
Thanks a lot!
Pathbuilder is great for Pathfinder.
It also has an encounter builder than is connected to the charactersheet called Pathbuilder encounters. It is still technically in beta and I don't know that there has been much movement on it recently, but it works.
Interesting options here.
I haven’t DMed 5e yet I’m still DMing 3.5
Bring tanks to the table, got it!
Alchemy RPG is a fantastic VTT.
Guardians of the flame book by joel rosenberg, great book following players being brought into their game world as their characters.
Aw, you forgot MCDM, one of the greatest D&D RUclipsrs! Great lists, though, thanks!
pocket bard is an amazing sound resource
You missed Dungeon Alchemist, easily the quickest and most effective map making software for medieval fantasy TTRPGs out there. Seriously, give it a look!
This is a solid list, but it goes by really fast. Chapters for the categories would be nice and make the video more useful as a resource.
I use Roll20 because I can’t switch to any other VTT as I have too much time 11,000 hours and money invested. I use the API’s and a ton of custom macros. Not sure why your Roll20 is not stable. Mine is perfectly stable.
Another resource for GMS (and writers) new to world-building - "Worldbuilding for Novices" by some hack named Jon R. Osborne.
Just FYI tanks and helicopters are classified as Calvary
No one ever mentions Arkenforge and i have to say, its a real shame. Arkenforge is AMAZING for making 2D maps.
Should I switch to foundry?
I did several months ago and have not looked back since. Foundry is just a far better platform then roll 20, which is where I came from.
TIL the 2e PB wasn't always a rider with a winged helmet wielding a sword.
Edit: at least two other covers...The edition was only, what, 10 years?
Sorry but I have to mention Guy Sclanders from How to be a great GM.
Yourself and Guy are my most watched advice channels.
I know Guy has more subscribers, but you have more Bacon
Yeah Guy is cool but let's be honest here. It's really all about the bacon isn't it? Now if he were to steal all my bacon...
A video on speeding up prep that doesn't mention the Lazy DM books feels so weird.
There are so many resources it's hard to mention everything. And my team and I are only personally familiar with so many things in order to recommend them.
@@theDMLair 100%. Many of the tools/resources in this video are new to me and that's always great to see :)
Love your videos and I especially like to see the sort of cross promotion of other youtubers like Bob World Builder, Dungeoncraft and Seth Skorkowsky. It really helps to foster a community feeling and thank you for that.
Completely off topic, but those aren't tanks. They're armored personnel carriers. Anyway, as you were saying.
Time to go yell at the video editor. :D
Fantasy Grounds doesn't have an "outdated interface", it has an illogical interface. It doesn't follow any known GUI conventions or shortcuts, outdated or otherwise.
I love Fantasy Grounds, but it will take 10-20 hours of use to get used to all of its interface quirks.
"Outdated interface" = illogical, rough graphics, and complicated. It would fit well in the 90's. :)
Interesting.... good to know. :D
@@bobmangm9883
You couldn't date its interface to any decade. It does has a logic unto its own, its actual graphics are not rough, and it is only complicated because it does not follow any convention.
Watabou
Hey Luke, I can't enroll in your store book giveaway, since my email marked as invalid. The one you're sent me an invitation to :(
Sorry I'm not sure how to fix that. I don't have any control over that and the software we use. The best I can suggest is trying a different email, especially one that is a Gmail address.
@@theDMLair ok, I'll try. BTW about 90% of your suggested house rules (same letter) are in my game with some modifications. Me & my players love them, so thank you for sharing :)
Luke and the Barbarian do not completel suck.
WHAAAAT? This is not your actual background but an image on a greenscreen?
Aside from that. I this video is al one could seek.
Yep, been green screening it for quite some time. :D That was my background. Now I have new bookcases.
I used to like Bob World Builder and Professor Dungeoncraft, but in the past 6 months something has turned me off from both of them, and I don't know what.
speed up your game prep, by reading 20 books
Nobody said that it came easy.
Not a fan of Prof Dungeon Master - watched a recent video of his where he said it was a "waste of time" and "pointless" for a DM to specify the types of damage when announcing player damage in High Level campaigns, claiming it "the difference between 5 and 9 hit points doesn't matter when you have 150 hps".
I pointed out that the particular battle he was referring to - the BBEG got that same attack twice a round, also as a reaction, and also automatically inflicted the same damage type automatically the next round as hit - using average damage - using his method in a mere three rounds of attacks - would rob the player of 36 points of damage (24% of their total) they shouldn't have taken because he believes saying "16 points of damage" saves a lot of time compared to "7 pierce, 9 necrotic".
I doubt ANY GM worth their salt - or any player for that matter - would consider 22% of a high level player's total health "insignificant" - without even getting into the BBEG's more powerful attacks that dealt that same damage, or his ability to stop you from healing.
He additionally gave examples to "speed up the game" with bad math examples - like saying "2d8 + 4" and "1d10+10" - "give the same result"
He doubled down in the comment section - standing by his position.
Run the game you want, but to claim these changes don't significantly change the power balances of certain weapons or (in the case of the damage resistance above) completely nullify entire game mechanics, racial abilities, class abilities, and spells is ridiculous.
For channels, if you like lore, Esper the Bard and Mr. Rhexx have a lot of that for forgotten realms. AJ Pickett's older stuff too, although he quit doing WOTC related content and started using a bunch of AI art and I quit watching.
Also, if you'd rather store your details locally than in a cloud website, Obsidian markdown editor is a great option. It's just markdown files so super portable, but you can cross link them and get lists of everywhere something is mentioned, etc. I use it for any kind of research, ideation and design, both for TTRPG and other subjects.
@3:26 someone cast "Munn's Invisible Bookcover" on "The Monsters Know What They Are Doing."
_(No, that's not a real spell.)_
Green screen mishap right there. :D
Paper, pencil, eraser. All you should need
What about dice? Dice?:-)
EVERY live play video should be edited to be shorter. Yes, including Critical Role.
Donjon is great! Woke, but great.
Don't forget the D&D forums. Giant in the Playground is a great community resource.
Woke? How'd I miss this?