Tools that I use daily

The journey has been about a year and a half to develop the system I currently use to run sessions. As a professional Dungeon Mistress, I run several games each week, meaning somewhere between 12-15 two hour sessions. The tools I use need to be consistent and functional to cut down on prep time.

Links I use on the daily:

1. 
   

   Quest Portal https://app.questportal.com/ : This is the DMC VTT of choice. The team behind this platform is a growing company based out of Iceland. The site is constantly being updated and improved. They actively listen to feedback, and every month or two they roll out meaningful upgrades that make running games smoother.
   

   

   Avernus Campaign - Lulu Dreamstate

   

   Explore Chult Campaign - Escape from Ft. Belaurian Jail

2. D&D Beyond https://www.dndbeyond.com/en : I use this for the modules I run, the monster manual, common equipment, random magic loot, and quick reference to the D&D 5.5e rules glossary.

3. Kobold Plus Fight Club https://koboldplus.club/ : This is a great tool for figuring out what CR to throw at your players. If I’m running a group of level 1 to 3, I keep things on the easier side. (They are so fragile!) If I’m running a dungeon delve, I start low and gradually ramp things up. If I’m planning a boss fight, I usually start at deadly and adjust from there. At higher levels, it becomes much harder to truly threaten a party that is working well together.

4. Improved Initiative https://improvedinitiative.app/ : Quest Portal does not yet (it is in the works) have a built in initiative tracker. I subscribe to Patreon for Improved Initiative in order to access my initiative tracker from any device. This has been a fantastic tool. It saves all of the characters you enter. It saves all characters you enter and includes built-in monsters. If something is missing, you can easily create your own NPC or monster.

5. Token Stamp 2 https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/ : Need to create a token from your images? No problem! Token Stamp 2 is free and easy to use. You drag the image, pick your border and download!

6. Kenku FM https://www.kenku.fm/ : I use this every single session to stream music. All of my audio sources run through this bot and into my Discord server. It takes a bit of setup, but it is absolutely worth it. They also provide a very clear step-by-step guide for getting started.

   1. Sound sources

      1. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/ : Great for sessions. You can build playlists based on mood and stream them directly through Kenku!

      2. Tabletop Audio https://tabletopaudio.com/custom_sp.html : This is an excellent resource for finding the right atmosphere. You can create your own SoundPad or use curated ones designed for different campaign styles. This also streams through Kenku FM. I support this one on Patreon because it is that useful.

      3. Fantasy Plus https://fantasyplus.app/ : This allows you to create custom mixes with hundreds of tailored background ambience options. There is also an action sound bar for those big moments. It integrates directly with Kenku FM as well.

7. DND 5e Wikidot Magic Items https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/wondrous-items : This resource is fantastic for perusing good loot for you players! You can sort from Common all the way up to Artifact. Pick the level of loot, then either look around or use a Ctr F to find what item you have (if you have a name in mind).

8. Maps! We all need SO many maps. I have a few sources I love that I'll list below.

   1. Reddit is a great resource to find some free maps that people are happy to share. www.reddit.com

   2. Inkarnate is a fantastic tool for creating your own maps, as well as looking at the thousands of maps others have created. Click that explore tab! https://inkarnate.com (I pay the monthly fee for this resource)

   3. Tych Maps https://www.patreon.com/cw/tychmaps : Another great resource. I support at the Adventurer tier and use these regularly.

      

      Spring Zhentarim Hideout - Waterdeep

   4. Czepeku https://www.patreon.com/c/czepeku/posts?vanity=czepeku : I am subscribed at the Master Cartographer level here. These are my go-to maps when I want something dynamic and visually striking. I often browse their work for inspiration and build encounters or even entire story beats around the map itself.

      

      Small Chultan Village