Updated Dungeon Master Kit | Best Dungeon Master Tools
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
- This is a walkthrough of my updated Dungeon Master kit! I've changed a few things since my video about minimalist DM kits a few years ago (spoiler: I'm still a minimalist).
This update to my toolkit has further streamlined the way I run D&D games! I use this same set of gear at conventions, my Friendly Local Gaming Store, and even for home sessions.
00:00 Introduction
01:01 Basic Table Items
02:28 Dice
04:20 POGS
05:10 Minis
07:40 Writing Gear and Books
09:00 Maps
11:42 No DM Screen?!
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None of the below are affiliate links! Just recommendations.
Arcknight minis: arcknight.squarespace.com/
Ultimate Guard Flexxfolio American 9 Pocket Card Holder (Mini): smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B...
Baron Fig notebooks: baronfig.com/
Pathfinder Flip-Mat: www.amazon.com/Paizo-Inc-PZO3...
Tactical Maps Reincarnated: www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Drago...
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🔮 Get a free 5E adventure for 1st-level characters, Temple of the Basilisk Cult, when you join The Arcane Library's newsletter: mailchi.mp/thearcanelibrary/t...
⚡️ Are you a 5E Dungeon Master or player who wants to try Old School gaming? Bring out your inner Eddie Munson with the free Shadowdark RPG Quickstart rules: www.thearcanelibrary.com/page...
🔥 Check out The Arcane Library's critically acclaimed DnD adventures here: www.thearcanelibrary.com/coll... - Hry
Playing catch up so a little late to the party. I've added standard envelopes to my DM kit. There's lots of uses but my standard is if the party finds some potions but can't identify them. Just write what it is on an index card. Put in the envelope. Seal it and write something like "Green Potion" on the outside. If they later id the potion then just open the envelope. This way I don't have to dig through my notes and find that potion the party found sessions ago. Also, it's great drama at the table when the party is desperate when they decide they are going to drink that potion not knowing what it is.
Pogs… the currency of my elementary education
100%!
And here I am using DCC Lankmahr Luck tokens 😁
I remember when pogs got banned from school due to gambling concerns.
Pogs? Mind blown 🤯😁
One piece of kit that I have found to be super useful is a bit of cordage that has a knot every inch. It makes measuing distances super easy and is much easier to pack than a ruler.
I use old wooden Scrabble tiles in lieu of minis. Low-value letters like A or E for mobs of low-level foes, high-value letters like K or J or Z for lieutenants and bosses. They can indicate facing if needed and fit perfectly inside 1 inch squares.
That’s a great minis hack!
Great idea! What do you use for the players' characters?
I use bananagrams! I also use it as a prompt for descriptors. So if the bandit is a B he gets the descriptor "Broken nose" or "Balding"
@@DiomedesRangue Very cool hack! And I love bananagrams!
@@JoakimWaern Most of the players had their own figurative minis for their PCs. On occasion, for those who didn’t, I would use a Scrabble tile with the first letter of their PC’s name (and make sure no other tile with that letter was on the grid).
Love the fact that you open roll. I have been doing this for years and this adds so much tension and challenging credibility (no fudging here). Also your setup is very KISS oriented which brings me back to 90's style roleplaying but with added tips and tricks acquired over the years. Great content and amazing stuff, look forward to more videos like these.
The Pathfinder pawns sets are an amazing lower cost alternative to the acrylic minis. They were almost exclusively what I used for years until I got a big board game collection recently and my current campaign this year has shifted in that direction. It has started to get a little cumbersome since I'm a traveling DM and those PF pawns are looking pretty nice...
My players built a beautiful gaming table in his basement during isolation. Now I end up GMing at his house instead of my own. The good news is he's addicted to buying minis but he doesn't always have what I need. So I have to set up a traveling DM kit in order to run my game at his house! Ha! so now I use a combination of his minis, my Pathfinder pawns and my Savage World's figure flats (pawns)
As a long time dm I ve always lugged around heavy boxes and dungeon tiles and scenery and piles of figures etc etc etc
Since finding this video I ve swapped to this much easier dm kit
So thank you
Agreed. I roll in front of the players and state the DC and AC aloud. This really helps with collective cheers or groans with the result.
Awesome kit Kelsey! can't wait for Shadowdark!
Kelsie... super appreciate all that you share in your videos! So many good ideas! Those flat minis are fantastic and I think that's what I'm going to ask for as Christmas gifts.
Well done! I’m excited to have found your channel. Thank you Questing Beast, thank you Professor DM!
This is so helpful and inspirational! I really want to run a table at a convention at some point and getting to see how you handle it makes it seem very approachable. Thank you.
That first DM kit video is a classic. I was excited to see this one. 🧙♂️
This came out at the perfect time. I’m going to go DM at a game shop this weekend and I was already rolling around what I thought I would need for it. Thanks a bunch :)
I was excited when I saw you had a new DM’s kit video. Your last one was pretty inspiring. It’s something I keep in mind when organizing my own kit. Mine is an artist’s toolbox rather than a bag.
The hands down most useful thing I have in my Kit is a “Gamemaster’s Apprentice” deck by Larcenous Designs. I bought a deck off Drivethrurpg several years ago and it is insanely useful. Each card has a listing for Odds (both good and bad), a full set of Dice results so you can draw a card instead of rolling dice, some abstract visual prompts, a collection of sensory details- One each for sight, sound, touch, and smell, then some random names, and some random belongings, an adventure prompt, and a location. They are extremely useful in generating information on the fly.
The next items in my kit that I find extremely useful is a full set of “Objects or Intrigue” decks (Wilderlands, waterways, dungeon, and Underground) by Nord Games. Each card has an evocative description of an item: a campsite, a ancient altar, a metal chest etc, and then a roll table for various results from interacting with it (monster, Treasure, curse, etc).
I also have a similar product from Loresmyth called “Wonderous Expeditions: Forests” which is a deck of cards with various locations of interest one might find in a forest, plus prompts and complications.
These last two items I find are useful when looking for inspiration for plot hooks and adventure ideas.
Oh, also a standard deck of cards because I like to make my own “card draw” tables For various encounter ideas that are campaign specific.
A lot of great ideas here! Many thanks for listing some of the products and sellers. I'm a fan of using certain pre-made decks of critical hits, story points, and similar things.
Thanks for the video! A lot of great stuff in that kit! 😀
I have a basement full of minis and terrain and I love using them but there is always a part of me that wouldn't mind going more minimalist. I am planning on running some sessions of Vaesen after my current 5e campaign concludes and it will definitely be minimalist, using only occasional hand outs and images. Great list and I am looking forward to the Shadowdark KS.
Oh wow. I ran across your original one years ago which got me started using Ark Knight minis and keeping them in a little card book. Lost track of your channel and found it again through the ShadowDark kickstarter and discord. Didn't realize it was you until just now though. Thanks for the tips and the update!!
Great video!
I've gone slightly minimalist in recent years, and so I don't have a lot of space for super-specific items, as they are simply clutter whenever they aren't in use. Versatile tools like this are the best for someone like me.
I love all the great ideas you shared, and those Arcknight minis are awesome. How have I never before seen them?!
I'm new to this channe, born (subscribed) yesterday new. I am very impressed with how incredibly useful your whole library of content appears to be. I can't it to dig into this.
I've seen your first video like ten times. I'm constantly altering my mini DMs kit. I really enjoy using a foldable plastic book stand instead of a screen because it allows me to see the players while keeping my notes from laying flat on the table. For battle mats I use a light 1inch grid printed on individual sheets of 8.5x11 laminated paper, it's nice being able to use the blank back, and I really don't like dealing with folds in maps. I'm able to fit my supplies in a trapper-keeper. Thanks for a great video!
I usually DM in my game room, so we use regular minis, but those flat minis with the binder is an awesome idea for anyone on the go. I am the same as you with the DM screen, I tried several times to use them, but I found I had to constantly stand up to see over it, and it mostly just got in the way.
I love my flat plastic minis. Your first video about your kit is what brought me to use them. For maps I just use an assortment of 3'x4' maps I got and put them in a plastic art tube and it works great for travel. Also, for my terrain I mainly use Dungeon Craft. Its amazing. If I wanna be really minimalist and portable I just use grid paper I draw maps on then put it in a plastic binder sleeve and let players mark where they are on the map during encounters, when I do this my entire kit fits in a case-it binder for super portability. Might be something to look into especially for cons.
Those flat minis look amazing. I’ve been using different colored plastic chips to save space, but have been looking to change them, and those are the perfect upgrade!
I'm just about to start a new IRL D&D campaign (The Elvenflow Saga) so these are handy tips! I basically use the same stuff but usually carry pregens in my pack too. Will check your campaign notes video later!
I really love this ethic! It's both pragmatic and keeps the game accessible. I'm just starting to get back in and i want to be a great DM so this is massively helpful.
Also dot grid notebooks are the best!!
It's always fun to see what other DMs use as their go to bag/ kit. I love the idea of storing the minis in the trading card folder. I'm going to use that. I don't have the nifty ones you do; I just print my own paper minis and laminate them with some packing tape. But those plastic minis look sweet. Lovely ideas. I have an old thinkgeek messenger bag I put all my stuff in. I seriously need to clean it out and organize it.I was rooting around in it and found some old True Dungeon tokens from Gencon from 8 years ago :P
"the chaos cubes"! I want dice to always be called that now lol
Nice video, as I always say "less is more": the moment you realize that you really need only few stuff to play well, it opens your mind and gives you a different look on all the sundries out there.
For the minis, I've gone even more minimal: cardboard tokens (round ones, but I think I'll be switching soon to square ones, which seem better for a grid). I've cut them from a shoe box in different sizes (5e ones) and quantities (the bigger the size, the fewer the tokens) and they are very useful, because I can write/rewrite with a pencil the monster's name on them every time I need another one. When the monster is hit or gets some status, I can write that as well, though of course on small tokens I usually write only the name and the hits the monster suffered (fewer space than bigger tokens). For my players, I've got colored tokens based on the classes' ones from Owlbear Rodeo, which look cool.
Love your minimalist kit.
I've been trying to pare mine down over time. Went through a "great purge" of my WotC minis to resale sites and used the money to replace them with some ArcKnight sets as well as a subscription to Skinny Minis. The reclaimed real estate was incredible.
Anyway, very nice setup. I'm curious how you handle conditions on the minis and also initiative tracking
Thanks, as always Kelsie!
She risks the wrath THE TACTICAL grod counting people who swear that grid counting is the only fun part of the game.
Whoa, a Kånken-bag! That makes you look très scandinavian!
Remember Alf? He's back. In pog form.
It’s very interesting to me that your whole kit fits in one bag but it’s still an “all of the above” kit that has everything needed to run a wide variety of games. I love terrain and clutter, but I’d like to try and be a little more like you.
Great video, keep it up boss!
She is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorites.
I just started with my minimalist kit. I keep a notebook, a DM folio instead of a screen, decorative glass beads for minis, wood circles that I've painted to as enemies, animals, and environmental hazards, and a little 5x5 grid map to show adjacent, near, medial, Far, and remote distances. I have extra pencils and note paper for my players but, that's all I need to run a session for my players
those minis remind me of the pathfinder pawns. Amazing.
Late to the game, but a large picture frame with a standard grid or nothing in it is what I draw battle maps when running a game at home, and i use a 2-yd sheet of clear furniture protector vinyl for gaming on the go - its super cheap and good for dry erase!
I also like more free form movement and range, so i use cut up, specific lengths of paracord if distance needs to be measured for moments where it's dramatic to make the measurement - otherwise, my game uses abstracted movement and range categories.
You Shadowdark Quickstart set came in the mail today, cannot wait to run it.
I'm glad it got there so fast! I hope you have a ton of fun with! :)
@@TheArcaneLibrary, thank you! I know we shall. 🙂
Nice kit
I’m trying to get it down to one bag
That mini DM Screen is about as minimalist as I get! It's insanely useful!! ...along with a couple of books with encounter tables!
I will now be referring to "dice" as "chaos cubes." You're really great at renaming stuff! Stingbats 4 lyfe!
Hahahahahaaa! I'm glad you appreciated that! :D Definitely stingbats 4 lyfe!!
The premade maps are from WotC, I have the digital version. It's the Tactical Maps Reincarnated bundle.👍
Thank you so much! I couldn't for the life of me remember what they were called. I'll add that to the links in the video!
Totally agree about no GM screen & roll in the open. My players love being terrified (I assume). :D
I was inspired by your last video, so I went out and bought a bunch of flat minis and the folding maps. I do love them, but I find that I play almost exclusively online now. We switched at the pandemic and then people moved away, so we're kind of stuck this way now. I should start a new in person group. Seeing your kit gets me excited for it.
Do you still use the monster cards? I found them really useful for running combat for my in person games, mostly for tracking initiative order.
The pandemic did really change things! I've only been back at in-person gaming over the last year or so.
And I do still use the monster cards! I do that when I run 5E, and I have mainly been running Shadowdark RPG games these days, so it hasn't been as necessary. But I absolutely love the cards for 5E games. :)
Great video! I love readable dice, but they often don't look as great as my other dice. The ones you have here (and in your last video) are lovely! Do you remember where you got them?
Thank you so much! I think the ones you're asking about are just simple Chessex dice in black and white (and white and black, haha)! :) I also have a set from a custom dice creator called Monomakes, and they're super legible and a bit oversized. They're very nice to roll.
@@TheArcaneLibrary good to know! Thanks.
I love your kit! Have you ever heard of dice fall battles random terrain generation dice? I love them in my game
double upgrade..whoa!
I love those flat plastic minis. Living in the UK there is no chance of buying them here. I can only look upon them with envy.
My DM-kit looks a lot alike.
But instead of Arcknite I still use pathfinder pawns. It's the same concept but cardboard instead of plastic.
I also role in the open but I like to have a small DM screen. Not to roll behind but to keep my list of random names to create NPC's on the fly and some notes.
This way my players can't tell wich NPC existed before the session and witch I just came up with.
This is so amazing! My only question is that I like drawing out maps because I like to be really detailed about the environment. The last time I did this, however, I couldn't articulate the proper distances and made the map a slog to get across. What's your tip for drawing a tactical map on the fly?
Between books, miniatures, dice, dry-erase maps, pencils and pens, my DM bag has become extremely heavy xD I'll be stealing some ideas to thin it out a bit!
Maybe generic tokens or meeples instead of the flat minis? Packing smaller
I am absolutely LOVING Shadowdark! I play mostly with my my son and my wife (who only plays for the sake of my son), and I was wondering if you have any advice or could possibly do a video on how to apply your Shadowdark rules to a printed WotC adventure like Waterdeep Dragon Heist or Out of the Abyss?
I'm so happy to hear you're loving Shadowdark! :D A video about converting 5E material to Shadowdark is definitely in order, but these are the quick hacks I use so far:
1. Replace monsters with their Shadowdark version. If there isn't one, cut HP and damage of any monsters below 6 HD in half. For monsters with 6+ HD, cut their HP and damage by about 1/3.
2. Change saving throw DCs to checks (same ability score) of the following: 9 (easy/weak monsters), 12 (ordinary monster), 15 (tough monsters).
3. Replace spells with their Shadowdark equivalent, or a close match. Give creatures a bonus to their spellcasting check equal to +8 or their number of HD, whichever is lower.
Wish Ultimate Guard had some page options for the large/huge/gargantuan FPM (I have arcknight and skinny minis I'd love to organize better). I see you have larger ones (dragons for example) in yours - did you cut the wall to the pocket for that (didn't really think about doing that).
It’s tricky to find the right sizing on these! So I put the larger Arcknight minis as two per row, and they are halfway in and halfway out of the pocket. Essentially, the third middle pocket is covered up by half of each larger mini from either direction. I hope that makes sense! I didn’t have to cut the pockets for that! (This might also be because I have the American card-sized folio, which is a more rare size).
I’m actually thinking of using Chess pieces as Minis.
Maybe painting pawns and using them as the players and the black pieces as the monsters.
You should check out Big Book of Battle Mats!
Only 6 sets of dice ??? Armature. 😁
I still really enjoy your adventures from your site, some of the best I've played.
Hehehehe, thank you, Liam! :)
Nice kit, I love the POG idea. I use Skinny Minis as my miniatures for most games, similar to Arcknight, great for DM's that lack storage space or need their kit on the go.
I love this videos! I'm stealing your kit 👺
Please do! :)
Pogs!
Thanks
Not sure if you'll see this but I only recently saw this video, and I love your bag. What size is that one? I have seen a few of them online for sale but never know what size is which.
Thank you! :) That one is the mini size. Despite the name, it can hold a *lot* of stuff! It's a pretty deep bag when full. Nearly square-shaped, haha!
@@TheArcaneLibrary Thank you so much for the reply! The Shadowdark Kickstarter tuned me into your channel and you've got great content!
Would you consider making a video about your awesome RPG, Shadowdark?
Absolutely, that is something I very much need to do! There is just one art piece left before the book is fully done, so I wonder if I can wait that out (due back in the next few weeks). But I might get too excited and just do a walkthrough with the 99% complete document, haha!
@@TheArcaneLibrary thanks for the hasty reply. I posted this on another video, but I found your new OSR system and immediately fell in love with it. It was a suggested video from another CZcamsr reviewing, and singing praises about it. I am so excited for it to be done! I'll stop ranting now. 😆
Nice
Index cards. Ingrid Bernal will be proud. 😊
I have a question that I hope you can help me with. I'd love to start publishing adventures but I don't know what the best software to use to compile all my art and writing. Do you have any suggestions???
An excellent undertaking! I used to use a simple word processor in the past that allowed images (Apple Pages), but there are some enormous limitations to it that will prevent you from doing print publishing (if you ever want to), and will require you to do a lot of frustrating and repetitive layout work.
The best quality-of-life upgrade I ever made in publishing was switching to Adobe InDesign. I was hesitant to learn it, but I picked up all the necessary stuff over one weekend with the really great Udemy course by Daniel Walter Scott. It comes up on sale frequently, so you can grab it for next to nothing. WELL worth it -- I wish I'd switched to InDesign much sooner!
@@TheArcaneLibrary Omg, thank you so much. I here a lot about Indesign and that's probably what I am looking at. I use clip studio paint for all my digital artwork and have been hesitant on switching to the Adobe software. Looks like I'll have to. Lol.
Thank you so much for your time. It means a lot.
@@mitchellsink2584 Anytime! Very glad I can offer some insight! :)
Is it better to Fold those maps or roll them?
These maps I use have built-in creases for folding!
some paper, a pencil and one D6... let's play!
anything more is not necessary.
Loved the set. Stolen the idea of giveaway pencils. Can't wait your videos about your rpg
So when can we buy Shadowdark?😃
It's gonna go to Kickstarter in March! :D
Is that the same iPad mini from the last video?
It sure is! :) That iPad is a workhorse!
@@TheArcaneLibraryThat's funny! I had an iPad mini that I used for several years until my child accidentally bumped into me while we were cleaning it without the case, causing me to drop it. Unfortunately, it broke. :(
What size notebook do you use?
It’s an A5 size! :)
@@TheArcaneLibrary Super helpful video, thanks!
I have to stop looking at other DM's toolkit... What I have is already fine... Is it fine? Is it really the perfect setup? I will change only this little thing here, and this one... and this... understand the trend?
By the way, any news about the shadowdark rpg kickstarter? or any news at all?
It's always good to allow room for small tweaks, but I think time has proven that my "core kit" is not going to change. Once you find your overall best setup, hopefully it keeps working!
And yes, Shadowdark RPG is so close to being ready for print! It's going to Kickstarter in March 2023 (or possibly even sooner if it's ready ahead of schedule). I'm so excited for it!
@@TheArcaneLibrary I love the basic rules of Shadowdark, I think are the most efficent "O5R". But the finished book Will be over 300 pages right, more classes, Monsters, treasures, etc? Can I have It in human skin and written in Blood?
@@andrearovati The final book is 330 pages and has all the player, game master, monster, and treasure chapters combined into one tome! :D It's just the four core classes, but they go up to level 10 instead of 3 like in the Quickstart. And there are always extra thematic class options in the works in upcoming Cursed Scroll zines, but I wanted to keep the core very "sturdy" and simple!
Human skin and written in blood... how did you know about my current draft copy?! ;)
@@TheArcaneLibrary "cursed scroll zine" already bought... there are some very cool and wicked spells.
About the final shadowdark book, I suppose that shipments to far and old Italy will be expensive and complicated... am I wrong?
stop me if i'm in too much of a hurry.
@@andrearovati It’s a bit dependent on postal rates in the new year, but hopefully we’ll get reasonable options on First Class International from the U.S.! There are still a few unknown factors that might impact the shipping, so I’ll know more closer to March. :)
ok the "roll in front of players" thing .. what if they look for a secret door? thats gotta be hidden .. if they succeed, and theres no door .. they know FOR SURE theres no door. Theres other examples, like social skills. Should there not be some GM only rolls? Combat rolls I totally get .. but there are some others you need a screen
I keep secret rolls like that hidden! I just roll behind my hand! 😎
@@TheArcaneLibrary thats allright then :) Im really diggin your approach to osr games very close to my own ideas .. like I use STR = backpack items and if its STR 3 .. then its STR 3 tough titties lol .. REALLY similar but not quite identical but its great to see someone else in this rather niche version of the game :) I started pretty early (77? I think) but I didnt know anyone famous like you seem to have :)
For me, a laptop is 90% of what I need.
I don't think I've ever used a DM screen. I tend not to fudge any rolls. The PCs and NPCs live and die by the dice, so if the villain rolls high and downs a PC so be it. Fate was not with them that day. Same with the villains. If the players are rolling great I just go with it and really narrate the hell out their next level ass kicking. I might like the death knight, but I'm still going to let him die (and of course he's undead so I can always have him come back some how if I really need him to).
I use the screen not to fudge dice, but to make sure the players don't accidentally see my prep materials. I don't mean they would intentionally try to peak and cheat, of course, I don't play with assholes. But even if you're not trying, you can catch something out of the corner of your eye and spoil a surprise. Plus, the minis can be set up and ready to go behind the screen, without letting the players immediately know that there are some ogres and warg riders getting ready to jump them.
Huh flat minis, guess I'll go check that out
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*Looks at wallet*
Damn it.
I use dice instead of enemy minis and my players bring a mini of their character.
But first I need friends
Just an FYI, the people at Archnight kind of suck. I stopped using them years ago, after they complained Jeremy Crawford was making the game political, because he posted something pro-LGBTQ+ . I don't know if they're any better, but I switched to buying flat minis from geek tank games.
Yikes! Well, without commenting on anything politically sensitive in either direction, I’ll say they’ve offered me promotional/sponsorship deals (which I declined since I don’t accept sponsorships), and I’m an openly lesbian creator.
@@TheArcaneLibrary Hopefully that means the people there have either changed or grown, as this was a number of years ago. It stinks because they have a good product. That said, I do like the geek tank ones as well.