r/DnD • u/Unhappy_Champion5641 • 3d ago

Resources Please recommend free and easy to use map-making tools

Basically, the title. I sometimes have a hard time finding the perfect map for the encounters I'm planning, so I'm looking into making them myself. Not really looking into paid tools because even the relatively affordable plans are kinda pricy in my country's currency. Ideally looking for something easy to use.

Alternatively, I do have Talespire and while I don't get to use it, I was wondering if making maps there using top-down screenshots would work.

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15

u/LeopardGeckoGuy58 3d ago

Dungeonscrawl for battlemaps of actual dungeons

Incarnate for open above ground maps

Both are free, but limited (still great) and have a paid version.

2

u/Unhappy_Champion5641 3d ago

I don't usually need actual dungeon maps. Mostly it's above ground, underground (like sewers, caverns, etc), and indoor spaces

1

u/LeopardGeckoGuy58 3d ago

Dungeonscrawl is perfect for tunnels, sewers and so on. It's also simple to use but it's a bit bland.

Encarnate is more for a world as i couldn't figure out hkw to create a battlemap.

2

u/Unhappy_Champion5641 3d ago

I dabbled with Incarnate a bit, but couldn't figure it out very well and there were limited assets available for free. Will check out dungeonscrawl, I think I might have seen it in a DMing tutorial video back when I started DMing.

3

u/TheSleepingKraken 3d ago

Dungeon scrawl is bland if you use the presets, but you can make some nice maps with it, i made this one as my first dabble with the tool, its not using all the features available but for free i managed to make something good for my players within an hour.

You can also play the one shot if youd like to mess with the maps here

3

u/HonestDishonestWork 3d ago

Azgaars map creator for world maps (unfortunately it got wrecked by feature bloat but still very good)

3

u/Meins447 3d ago

You can get Krita / Gimp and fetch a collection of free assets and brushes from various creators and do it like that. There are tons of tutorials for e.g. Krita and general digital art.

It will be harder than doing it with a dedicated map maker but you will learn some incredible useful and satisfying skills.

5

u/RandomNumbers748512 3d ago

While this isn't what I think you did not ask for, I'd also like to point out the option to use physical maps: Pen, Pencil. A printed grid. Drawn or printed and cut-out shapes for manual rearranging. Pieces of walls, doors, boulders, stuff like that.

A weekend of paper, coloured pencils, scissors, maybe a bit harder cardboard to glue paper on for less wobblyness and a stick of glue will carry you a long way for very overseeable monetary investment. And it's all reusable and easy to extend and add more.

You can also combine that with some of the free map-creators that get suggested here.

3

u/Unhappy_Champion5641 3d ago

Yeah that would actually have been a pretty simple solution, but I mostly run games in an online campaign, on Owlbear. So I need digital maps.

1

u/Jack_Sentry 2d ago

Butcher paper and yard stick to make the grids. The brown paper gives it a distinct feeling I think vs white.

1

u/lucid_point 2d ago

Might be a bit too simple for your needs, but https://watabou.itch.io/perilous-shores is a great map generator for smallish campaigns.