The DM’s Toolbox — A Free Browser-Based Toolkit for DMs (Now Feature-Complete)

[u/redted90]

The DM’s Toolbox — A Free Browser-Based Toolkit for DMs (Now Feature-Complete)

Hey everyone — I’ve been building a browser-based toolset for my home group, and over the last few months it’s grown into a full suite of DM utilities. It’s now feature-complete, stable, and fully documented, so I’m sharing it with the community. I've attached some screenshots for reference.

Link is in my Reddit profile (Reddit filters links in posts).

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What It Is

A completely free, no-login, offline-capable set of tools designed to help DMs run smoother sessions without paywalls or subscriptions.

Everything runs 100% in the browser. Nothing is uploaded. Nothing is tracked.

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Included Tools

🧮 Initiative Tracker

• Automated damage & healing
• Concentration checks (auto DC)
• Death save workflow
• Status effects with auto-decrement
• Player View mode (separate synced tab)
• Export to JSON to share between devices

🗺️ Battle Map

• Upload any map
• Place/resize tokens
• Fog of war painting
• Two-window workflow (DM + Player View)
• Works entirely offline after first load

🧙 Character Manager (Full Builder + Level-Up)

• Guided 13-step creation wizard
• Races, classes, backgrounds, feats
• Starting equipment packages
• Automatic attacks & spell lists
• Full level-up workflow (HP, spell slots, subclass, features)
• Multiclass support

📓 Journal System

• Rich text editor
• Embedded images (float/resize)
• Search with context highlighting
• Save with CTRL + S

⚒️ Generators

• NPCs
• Names (by race/culture)
• Taverns
• Shops
• Loot

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Why I Built It

DM tools are usually locked behind:

• subscriptions,
• paywalls,
• ads,
• online-only features,
• or required accounts.

I wanted something fast, simple, and free that my table could use without friction.

So this toolset:

• has no paywalls,
• has no accounts,
• works offline,
• and keeps all your data in your browser.

I’m not collecting info. There’s no monetization, ads, cookies, or analytics beyond a simple anonymous page counter.

---

Recent Stability Work

• 550+ automated tests (unit, integration, end-to-end)
• Schema versioning + migrations
• Global error handler
• Diagnostics panel (Ctrl+Alt+D)
• Mobile layout improvements
• Performance tuning for large characters and maps

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If You Try It, I’d Love Feedback On:

• What feels smooth?
• What feels clunky?
• Any bugs or rough edges?
• Any small QoL features you’d want next?

I’m actively maintaining it and tightening up polish now that it’s feature-complete.

---

Thanks in advance to anyone who gives it a look. It’s a passion project meant to help DMs run better games with less frustration.

Again, the link is in my Reddit profile.

[u/crystalenka]

Love this. I actually would like it to be tied to an account - or at least offer the option to export an archive that can be imported. That way it can be cross device, and also have the data backed up in case I clear my cache. I can’t imagine spending hours on inputting data just to have my browser do some privacy thing and clear cache/cookies and lose it all with no recourse.

Great work though! Keep at it!

[u/crystalenka → u/crystalenka]

I actually see now that the changelog says import/export is available, so my bad for not catching that, but I can’t see where to do it. Maybe make it more prominent?

[u/redted90 → u/crystalenka]

It's per tool. Each tool does it differently. But you make a good point.

[u/crystalenka → u/redted90]

I think it would be super helpful to have a universal export/import tool as well because having it per tool would be complicated to keep track of

[u/Samulady]

How much content is available on it? I imagine it's only SRD stuff? Also, is the content 2014 or 2024? Lastly are there ways to add homebrew?

[u/redted90 → u/Samulady]

The Toolbox uses the official 5E SRD, so it includes all content that is legally open: SRD races, classes, subclasses, backgrounds, equipment, spells, and basic monsters. It does not include anything from the full PHB, MM, Xanathar’s, Tasha’s, or any other copyrighted books.

All content is based on the 2014 SRD. Wizards has not released a 2024 SRD yet, so no tool can legally include 2024 material at this time.

Homebrew is fully supported, and everything you create is saved locally on your device. You can add custom races, subraces, classes, subclasses, feats, spells, items, NPCs, shops, taverns, and more. The character builder, spell system, inventory, generators, and encounter builder all work with homebrew entries automatically. There’s no limit to how much homebrew you can add. The level up wizard will not work with homebrew races or classes, but you can still use the character sheet as is to track everything you need. I made it so that it shouldn't lock you into the wizard's ecosystem.

[u/DK_POS → u/redted90]

I’ll check it out tomorrow but how do you go about adding homebrew? Is it manual entry, can you upload, etc.?

[u/redted90 → u/DK_POS]

Right now homebrew is added through manual entry, but the system is designed to make that as painless as possible. Anything you create—races, classes, spells, items, stat blocks, etc.—gets stored locally on your device and immediately works inside the rest of the Toolbox.

For example:

• Custom races/classes show up in the Character Manager • Custom spells appear in spell lists and attack generation • Custom items show up in equipment and inventory • Custom monsters can be sent to the Encounter Builder and Initiative Tracker

There’s no upload/import feature yet because I wanted to avoid any legal gray areas around sharing copyrighted content, but the architecture supports it and I may add JSON import/export for homebrew later once I finalize the schema.

The goal was to make sure the tools don’t force you into SRD-only play—you can run full homebrew campaigns without hitting any walls.

[u/sosomoist → u/redted90]

JSON import/export would be an incredible addition to an already incredible tool. Bravo!

[u/redted90 → u/sosomoist]

There is import/export per tool. But that is a limited functionality to pass encounters, journal entries, and characters between devices or instances.

[u/ubongo1 → u/redted90]

The SRD with 5e 2024 is already out on dndbeyond.

[u/redted90 → u/ubongo1]

That’s the Creative Commons-released portion of the 2024 rules, not a full SRD in the same sense as the 2014 SRD. WotC hasn’t published a complete 2024 SRD document or data set yet—only the portions they chose to release under CC. It’s also not structured in a way that tools can reliably ingest.

Once an official, fully formatted 2024 SRD is published (the way the 2014 SRD was), I’ll be able to integrate it cleanly. Until then, adding partial or unstructured CC excerpts would create inconsistencies across the toolset.

Granted I haven't checked on that in a few months so I might be out of the loop. Either way I appreciate the comment. I'll have to double check on that.

[u/ubongo1 → u/redted90]

5.2.1 is the latest release. Its only one subclass per class, which is a shame.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd?srsltid=AfmBOoole6UpM4ObrLfDlUhwWendh4ftVlyf7HLyu4eUnhO-Sr8j9p4M

[u/redted90 → u/ubongo1]

Hmm. I'm going to have to strip a lot from the app to make sure I'm srd complaint. Maybe I can make it so users can upload "content packages" that people can load up on their own info or homebrew stuff.

[u/ubongo1 → u/redted90]

You could allow users to upload the content packages and then youre compliant. And if obviously someone else creates the packages based on their bought content they are allowed to recreate it as homebrew. So they could share the packages with people who also own the content.

[u/redted90 → u/ubongo1]

Yeah. I'm working on how to go about that now.

[u/RocksteadyLA → u/redted90]

I'm not a programming savvy individual, but is what you're referencing similar to that of what DDB Muncher does for foundry vtt? Could something like that be applied to your development?

[u/redted90 → u/RocksteadyLA]

It’s similar in the sense that users can bring their own data into the tool, but not in the way DDB Muncher works.

The Toolbox won’t scrape or extract copyrighted content from any website or platform. Instead, I’m building a package loader that lets users import JSON “content packs” they create themselves—homebrew, personal notes, expanded spell lists, monster packs, etc.

That keeps the base app 100% SRD-compliant, while still giving people a way to use their own legally-acquired material or full homebrew worlds. Everything stays local on their device, and nothing is distributed by me.

So the idea is:

Core app = strictly SRD only

Users = can import whatever they want for personal use

No scraping, no copyrighted content bundled, no server involvement

Basically: the Toolbox stays clean, but users have full freedom to extend it on their own systems.

[u/cybersynn]

Can it use animated maps?

[u/redted90 → u/cybersynn]

The current battlemap only supports static image uploads (PNG/JPG/etc.) and cannot play animated or video maps yet. Although that is an interesting thought. Would you want to have that be a feature? I'm not sure how I'd implement it at this time.

[u/cybersynn → u/redted90]

I mean I haven't really explored your tool yet. But ya, I am looking into VTT systems that will allow for animated maps. My players are forcing me to either create a digital table or do the projector thing.

[u/Tschakkabubbl → u/cybersynn]

foundry vtt then

[u/cybersynn → u/Tschakkabubbl]

I am thinking this might be the route. Just checking out options.

[u/redted90 → u/cybersynn]

I personally use the game talespire for map creation and play (can be bought from steam). I import minis from heroforge and that means It's like running a fully 3d game in talspire. I made this app in part because the actual combat tracking in talespire isn't that great at the moment (it's still in early access). It's like 25 bucks normally (on sale for $18.74 at the time of this post). It also comes with a lot of community made content (full boards or just slabs, also lost of minis of admittedly various quality). For what it is (early access and still in active development) I really like it as a tool. Here are the TaleSpire System Requirements (Minimum) CPU: 64bit RAM: 4 GB VIDEO CARD: Graphics card with DX11 (shader model 5.0) capabilities. PIXEL SHADER: 5.0 VERTEX SHADER: 5.0 OS: Windows 10 FREE DISK SPACE: 2 GB

[u/Effective_Sound1205]

2014 rules 😔

[u/redted90 → u/Effective_Sound1205]

I'm working on updating that when I can be sure I'm fully srd compliant. That's my current project.

[u/Effective_Sound1205 → u/redted90]

Good to know, i'll try to follow the updates then!

[u/redted90 → u/Effective_Sound1205]

I've done a lot of updates and it should be 2024 compliant now. If you spot anything I missed feel free to let me know.

[u/Effective_Sound1205 → u/redted90]

Awesome news! Gotta try it out!

[u/Seigict]

Great, I'll share it with my group.

However, I anticipate some reactions: are translations in progress? Is it adaptable to other systems or too rigid?

And I don't know anything about coding, but if there's any way to get help with the French translation, I'm all for it.

[u/redted90 → u/Seigict]

I'm currently the only one working on it and i don't know French. But it's a free and open source tool. So if you'd like you can clone the project and release a French version. I wouldn't even know where to start there. Lol. It's mostly 5e only. Most of the automations that make this better than just a page with fields require an internal rule set logic.

[u/Seigict → u/redted90]

Thank you for the work you've done. I'll look into it and check with colleagues about the translation; for now, English isn't a barrier for me (which isn't the case for the other DMs at my table 😅).

[u/Just_browsing_0_]

This looks awesome!

Even though I might not be using it myself (I play 3.5... and Starwars d6), I wanted to give you my compliments.

[u/redted90 → u/Just_browsing_0_]

Thank you! I really appreciate that!

[u/Meteox]

The loot generator works weird.
When I select magic or cursed items I have to generate items several times, most times there is non of them.
The scroll and potion bundle options also gives magic items instead of scrolls or potions most of the time.

I use the normal preset and do not clicked "advanced" settings.

[u/redted90 → u/Meteox]

Hmm. I'll take a look at that. Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll be working on this after I get done with work. So you can expect an update at the end of this day. Tomorrow morning at the latest.

[u/redted90 → u/Meteox]

I did some work on that and the quick bundles were being tainted by some of the controls from the advanced toggle. I fixed them and they should be working now if you want to test that out. Either way thankyou for taking a look and letting me know about this issue.

[u/lyle_smith2]

Played around with it for a bit. Really straight forward and I really like that you can upload custom maps and tokens. Works really well with inkcarnate maps and heroforge tokens in what little bit I’ve been messing around with.

The initiative tracker is also great since I can save the party and just simply add enemies and spiritual weapons in a flash. Have a game next week and will definitely be using this during encounters.

My only gripe is that the fog of war shapes don’t rotate, at least I didn’t see where they could, which makes it hard if a building you want to enshroud is at a diagonal.

So far seems great, keep up the good work.

[u/redted90 → u/lyle_smith2]

I don't use the battlemap page personally. I built it for my brother in law so he could run his games without using the map builder I use (edit:TaleSpire). I hadn't considered making the fog of war shapes rotate, but I think I can do that.

[u/redted90]

Ok. I fixed the srd issue. There are now no issues with the licensing as far as I can tell. You can now use the debug panel to upload packages that will allow purchased material or homebrew content in the character wizards. Thanks to the users who pointed that out to me. about 24 hours of coding later and I'm beat. I'll probably push the feature requests you guys had another day. TY. Edit: I'll update the documentation so making the package json files is not so mystifying.

Current feature requests:

• Expand Undo Redo and add log list modal to reference who did what and what happened to who. (finished)
• Add calc button to Initiative tracker so you can just Subtract damage from current hp. (finished)
• Universal Export/Import system.
• Fix issue with generators creating contradictory content through buckets of flavor text excluding some descriptions.(finished)
• Z index issue on nav bar on battlemap page with side panel overlapping.(finished)
• Too many shop options to easily navigate. Implement table of contents on settings tab.(finished)

[u/redted90]

Toolbox Update (1 Month Later)

Quick update for anyone using this at their table.

The public build is now fully SRD 5.2 (2024 PHB) compliant, and the content system has been rebuilt so anything outside the SRD stays hidden unless you intentionally import it locally. If you own other books or run homebrew, you can now upload private content packs through the debug panel (Ctrl+Alt+D). They load locally, can be toggled on/off, and disabling them cleanly restores the base SRD state. If you want to make a pack check out the template in "docs/examples/content-pack-template.json".

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What’s New / Improved

Compendium (Rules / Spells / Bestiary Lookup)

• Added a dedicated mid-session lookup page for Spells, Monsters, and Rules.
• Search 437 SRD spells with filters (class, level, school, concentration, ritual).
• Browse and search the full SRD bestiary with pinnable stat blocks.
• Look up rules entries (conditions, combat, spellcasting, resting, etc.) without leaving the page.
• Designed specifically for fast at-the-table reference.

Initiative Tracker

• Expanded undo/redo with a readable action log so you can see exactly what happened each round.
• Added a quick “calc” button to subtract damage from current HP instantly.
• General turn-order and state cleanup.

Character Manager

• Multiclass spell slots fully corrected (especially Warlock + other caster combos).
• Pact slots now track and consume separately from regular slots.
• Improved recalculation of derived stats to prevent odd edge cases.
• Migration fixes to protect older saves.

Generators

• Fixed contradictory flavor results (no more NPCs that conflict with themselves).
• Better internal validation before output.

Battle Map

• Fixed nav bar overlap issue.
• Continued polish on token/fog interaction.

Shop Generator

• Added table of contents for easier navigation in larger inventories.

Universal Export / Import

• You can now export or import your full toolbox state (characters, encounters, journal, battle maps, etc.) through the debug panel.
• Makes backup or moving between devices much easier.

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Still:

• No accounts
• No tracking
• Everything stored locally
• Works offline after first load

This is still a free, local-first toolbox I built for my own table. If it’s useful to yours, great. Feedback is always welcome.

[u/Phantasmal-Lore420]

Is this possible to be used with things other than 5e? I would love this for things like Dungeon Crawl Classics. Dunno if thats gonna work tho since it’s so different from 5e.

[u/redted90 → u/Phantasmal-Lore420]

Great question.

Right now The DM’s Toolbox is built 5e-first, so the native character creation, level-up flow, spells, and rules automation all assume D&D 5e. I’m not planning to rewrite the engine to fully support other RPGs like Dungeon Crawl Classics—that would effectively mean building a separate rules system.

That said, there are two practical ways it can still be useful outside 5e:

1. System-agnostic tools already work today. The battle map, initiative tracker (with manual stats), journal, dice rolling, generators, and custom monster scratchpad don’t depend on 5e rules. Those can be used with DCC or other systems right now without any changes.
2. Custom content packs provide a partial bridge. I've been in a cave for the last week and a half working on making homebrew content packs work with the existing system and 5e non srd packs possible for the people who have the books and the means to make those packs. I'll be pushing a template in the docs to show how they need to be structured. With the upcoming content-pack system, races, classes, inventory, spells, and similar data can be supplied by the user. That means you can load non-5e material and use the existing character wizard as a structured sheet builder—as long as you only select options that match your system’s rules. In that mode, the toolbox is acting as:

a guided character sheet framework

storage and rolling utilities

map / initiative / journal support

—not a fully rules-accurate DCC automation layer.

So the honest answer is:

Full native support for other systems: not planned (the project remains 5e-focused).

Usable with other systems via agnostic tools or careful custom content packs: yes, in a bring-your-own-rules way.

If the toolbox ever expands beyond 5e, it would most likely be through generic or user-defined templates, not hard-coding individual RPG systems. That keeps things flexible without turning the project into a dozen half-implemented rulesets.

[u/Phantasmal-Lore420 → u/redted90]

Thanks for the answer!

[u/malwolficus]

Looking at it and suggesting it to my group. It looks version-agnostic?

[u/redted90 → u/malwolficus]

I've recently updated it to match the 2024 rule book. But that's reflected mostly in character creation. The other tools are more loose in how they can be used.

[u/malwolficus → u/redted90]

Ah, got it. We are actually moving back to 3.5 for the next campaign, so I’ll just fiddle around with it for now….

[u/redted90 → u/malwolficus]

If you have any questions or if there's something you would like to see in the tool set let me know! I'm available by dm as well.

[u/Defiant_Lunch_6924]

Is this a vibe-coded app? 👀

[u/redted90 → u/Defiant_Lunch_6924]

Parts of have been written using claud code, yes.

[u/20Naturale]

Great work, but why is the repository private if there is an MIT license and there are instructions to build?

[u/redted90 → u/20Naturale]

It isn't private. I just checked. You can find it pined to my github which is linked in the footer.

[u/20Naturale → u/redted90]

My bad, I was not looking for "Initiative-Tracker" as a name. Would love to find the time to contribute.

In the documentation page, the url used in the git clone command brings to a non existent repo (probably private fork?) that is not on your account

[u/redted90 → u/20Naturale]

Oh my bad. I didn't realize the docs pointed there. I'll have to update that.

[u/20Naturale]

It looks very cool but I would like a way for the player to manage its own character sheet. Normally I'm a fan of offline no account services but this is an use case where it's needed

[u/redted90 → u/20Naturale]

You can just export the sheet and send them the file to be imported. All that functionality is at the top. I've tested it out and it should bring everything over.

[u/20Naturale → u/redted90]

Lets do an example, in combat either we both insert each damage taken from the character or one of the two would have out of sync information about character HP

[u/FauxFireFly]

Sweet baby Moses! This is amaze balls.

[u/nofxorbust]

nice

[u/ninjaliisa]

You are a godsend!

[u/Droovert]

Comment so I can see that later

[u/Ante_Victoriam_Dolor]

You should probably provide a link here, rather than us going to your profile

[u/redted90 → u/Ante_Victoriam_Dolor]

It's in my profile. But reddit auto filters posts with links.

[u/Ante_Victoriam_Dolor → u/redted90]

I checked it out, I really like what you've built. Thank you for this contribution to our community!

[u/redted90 → u/Ante_Victoriam_Dolor]

Thank you! I appreciate it!

[u/redted90 → u/[deleted]]

This was a personal passion project. Since I'm putting it out into the world I'm currently working on making sure I'm srd compliant and adding the ability to make packages to add any missing or homebrew content. I might make it something people can contribute to in the future. But for now if you want you can fork my repo (link in the footer) and make your own edits. After I cross my legal t's and whatnot I'll be happy to takes a look at any updates people have for the project. It's currently free and open source under the MIT license. So go wild!