From ToEE

Some collected hints and tips from Andrew. (Why am I slightly nervous about the adds that may appear on this page.) Some additions have been made by PaulFenwick.

Mapping Software

I was using Map X up to now. This does almost everything I want from mapping software but is unfinished and a little hard to use. It is however an open source project so it is free. The next version (DEWMap) promises to be even better. PJF notes that Map X can import Dungeon Crafter tilesets, but hasn't yet tried this functionality.

My new toy is Dundjinni which does everything I want. It does not have built in functionality to edit tiles, but it is exceptionaly easy to import new tiles and textures. It also has an active community who have made a lot of free stuff. The application however is not free and costs about $40 USD ($50 AUD when I got it). I have found this well worth the money.

I have recently combined mapping software with a color printer to make table top maps printed on 200GSM card... I am very impressed at how these turned out.

Paul has been using Dungeon Crafter (version 1) to create the maps used in the actual ToEE games, such as the RuinedMoathouseMap and the AstegGnomeHallsMap. Dungeon Crafter is tile-based, easy to learn, and has a wide range of tilesets, but very limited in its features. Dungeon Crafter 2 is currently under development, I haven't yet investigated how usable it is. Dungeon Crafter is free.

Paul has experimented with AutoRealm which is very feature-rich, and very good for overland maps. However it has a bit of a learning curve.

Character Creation and Maintainance

I can't go past PC Gen for my 3rd ed campaign. This does not support 1st ed yet (that sounds wierd - it does not support the older version) but one day it probably will. I use this to do all my dice rolling in combat as it can do all the attack and damage rolls including all modifiers for all my monsters with just a couple of clicks - I just check the AC of the player then tell them how much damage. It is free and very cool.

Online Game Hosting

Still can't go past Open RPG which Paul so nicely demonstrated at one of our TOEE sessions. This is an alternative to printing maps on card and the fog option over maps is the only one I have ever seen work. I have just got this working in combination with my funky new maps and feel that software is my friend.

Paul would run two copies of ~OpenRPG on the same laptop, one displaying to a television or external monitor, and one displaying to the DM. This eliminates issues with lag and network connectivity. A recent version of OpenRPG (at least 1.6.1) is essential to avoid fogging bugs. Using player portraits from Orkut proved to be a useful way to unambiguously represent characters.

Gaim is my new instant messaging client of choice (thanks to Kat). It simultaneously hosts profiles from all the major IMs and is much friendlier than Trillian or any of the other multiple clients I have tried. IM is absolutly essential for online playing, especially with an imperfect host such as Open RPG which frequelty drops out. Needless to say, Gaim is much better than trying to work with multiple clients.