What FREE D&D software do you use?

[Eternalknight]

Specifically, what do you use pre-game, in-game (if you do this) and post-game?

Don't say notepad and things like that; just stuff that has been made specifically for D&D.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

The only one I've tried and stuck with is the Hero Forge spreadsheet put out over a year ago. It's since been completely reworked and is an excellent character creation program. Modifying it is not for the faint-of-heart, though - you need to know Excel programming and be willing to dig into it to find all the links and lookups.

The latest version is available at http://home.san.rr.com/blackbart/

 

[Maraxle]

I'm biased because I made it, but I use JH NameGen all the time. It's a name generator that's available at my site, www.jhanson.com . There's a free version which does all of the basic name generation you would need - NPC names (of all sorts of races), mercenary companies, spells, towns/cities, adventure hooks, etc. There's a premium version available at RPGNow that adds some additional features, but the free basic version is fully functional.

AutoRealm used to be a favorite of mine for mapping until I decided to upgrade to Fractal Mapper (which isn't free). PC Gen is a fine free character generator. In addition, I am exploring the option of using OpenRPG for running online games.

 

[Farland]

Try the one in my sig.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, PCGen
( http://sourceforge.net/projects/pcgen ) for character generation, Demigod
( http://tyger.xganon.com/programs/demigod.html)for reference while writing stuff down, Point Buy
( http://tyger.xganon.com/programs/pointbuy.html ) for reworking of stats. (I use points for NPCs, PCs roll their own.), Blake Whitelaw's StatBlock (Appears to have disappeared from the web) for critters, Monster Base
( http://www.fwpro.org/MonsterDB/index.htm ) serves much the same service, but has prewritten stat blocks for SRD monsters and no town generation.

I also use Jamis Buck's Treasure and NPC Generators, available on this very site
( http://www.enworld.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=getit&lid=182 ) and
( http://www.enworld.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=getit&lid=171 ). The Treasure Generator in particular I find useful, left to my own devices I am a bit of a cheapskate.

And while not D&D specific I have found Dungeon Crafter
( www.DungeonCrafter.com ) very useful indeed, and use it more than any of the other programs, with the possible exception of PCGen. (Sometimes just for fun....)

The Auld Grump, not all that technophobic really....

 

[smetzger]

Faster Tools : Randomly determine feats and skill ranks for a character for D&D 3e.
Monster 3.1 : Output Stat Blocks for Monsters without entering data.

Both available at:
http://yoyodyne.virtualave.net/

 

[MythosaAkira]

I use my creation "Campaign Sage" in-game; it's a browser-based encyclopedic program that allows you to look up monsters, spells, and charts quickly. It's due for a re-write, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to that...

Anything else I use that's D&D-specific is either shareware or commercial...

 

[drnuncheon]

• PCGen, for character creation.
• Tiera Starr's Encounter Calculator for pre-game planning.
• Jamis Buck's RPG Generators (can't find the link)

 

[Chaz]

Tablesmith is excellent. JH Namegen is also great (the gold ver has very small cost). fractal mapper also isnt free, however it isnt very expensive and has some supurb tools built into it to make maps/campaign worlds in a snap ( like click on map and have random city name and info automaticaly generated for that spot).
There are others but these programs realy are usefull in so many ways its hard to think of D&D prep without them anymore. good luck.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Also worth mentioning are Auto Realm: http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm

And Izandwo: www.realmcreator.com

Both are free mappers, AutoRealm is useful for large area land maps while Izandwo handles towns very nicely. And as I mentioned above there is also DungeonCrafter.

The Auld Grump