The Campaign Builder's Guild

I see a lot of mention of "Where do I download AIM??" etc, here. (like, at least twice.) So I'm starting a sticky thread specifically to list useful programs and or websites.
If you have any you want to add to the list, you know, reply to the thread, etc.

[note]Nothing I link will ever have ads or a price. If it does, i'll specifically call it out. If I link to something purely for the macintosh, though, chances are i have no idea what it's like.[/note]

Communication: IRCish
AIM/ICQ protocol
MSN protocol
IRC

[spoiler=mIRC]
 

Download site: http://www.mirc.com/get.html
  Platform: Windows
  Pricing: Shareware, will nag you to pay.
 [/spoiler]
[/list]
Multiprotocol (AIM &/ Yahoo &/ IRC &/ google &/ etc.)

[spoiler=GAIM]
 

Download site: http://gaim.sourceforge.net/downloads.php
  Platform: windows & linux clients
  Protocols supported: AIM/ICQ, Gadu-gadu, groupwise, irc, jabber, msn, napster, & yahoo.[/spoiler]
  *[spoiler=Adium]
   Download site: http://www.adiumx.com/
   Platform: OS X
   Protocols supported: pretty much as gaim, but no irc support.
   Notes: similiar to Gaim but macintosh client[/spoiler]
  *[spoiler=Meebo]
   Download site: http://www.meebo.com
   Platform: runs in a webpage.
   Protocols supported: AIM/ICQ, Yahoo, jabber/Gtalk, and msn.
   Notes: Very convenient if you don't want to d/l a program.
   [/spoiler]
[/list]
Communication: Voice chat

[spoiler=Skype]
 

Download site: http://www.skype.com
  Protocols supported: Skype or telephones only.
  Platform: Win (2000 or XP), Linux, OSX clients.
  Notes: good quality sound, 5 person limit. Specific pentium processors can support something like 11 people. Also gives you free phone calls to anywhere in the US.
  Pricing: basic package is free, may advertise for advanced features.
  [/spoiler]
  *Teamspeak. need to figure this out b/f i can detail, but it sounds promising.
[/list]
Image editing

[spoiler=the GIMP]
 

Download site for windows: http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html Gimp requires GTK.
  Download site for Max OSX: http://gimp.org/macintosh/ This DOES NOT look like an easy install on OSX
  Platform: Windows (98+), OS X, Linux (probably already installed on linux)
  Notes: Gimp is a full-featured image editing program, which means it can do about anything. The learning curve is significant: you're probably gonna have to follow some tutorials or something to figure it out.
 [/spoiler]
[/list]
Multimedia editing

[spoiler=Audacity]
 

Download site: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
  Platform: Windows, Linux, Max OSX
  Features: The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor.
  Notes: windows install is somewhat complicated.
  Pricing: free
  [/spoiler]
[/list]
Office/Word Processing

[spoiler=Open Office]
 

Download site: http://www.skype.com
  Platform: Windows, Linux, Max OSX (requires X11)
  Features: Word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, math stuff, pdf export.
  Notes: pretty darn full featured, and mostly compatible with MS Office.
  [/spoiler]
  *[spoiler=Roughtdraft]
    Download site: rough draft (http://www.richardsalsbury.com/url)
    Platform: Windows only.
    Features: "best text editor ever"
    Notes: Geekling swore by it. Stargate provides a hopefully accurate link.
  [/spoiler]
[/list]

Web browsers

DnD specific

[spoiler=HTML D20 SRD]

Address: http://www.d20srd.org/
Features: entire fantasy SRD, Unearthed Arcana, those two creatures in the back of the MM2. Several tools: Monster & spell filter, some firefox goodies, etc.
Notes: Very convenient
[/spoiler]
*[spoiler=The d20 NPCs Wiki]
Address: http://d20npcs.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Features:  If you are running D&D and don't want to spend too much time creating NPCs, this website has them in spades.
Notes: Project of Jürgen's. Additions welcome.
[/spoiler]
*[spoiler=The RPG Graveyard]
Address: http://rpggraveyard.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Features:  For telling the stories of all those player characters who died a particularly spectacular/gruesome/funny death.
Notes: Project of Jürgen's. Additions welcome.
[/spoiler]
[/list]

Great idea! Care to add mIRC (http://www.mirc.com/get.html) to the list?

When suggesting other programs, try to add a blurb on clients, useful features, any drawbacks, etc. A sentence or so is good, there's no need for a dissertation.

(Also, if something has ads, a registration period, cost $10, etc., definitely mention that. :))

Mmmm... Firefox
Mmmm... GIMP

It should be noted that mIRC has a 30 day trial period, and a $20 registration cost. However, unregistered versions lose none of their functionality.

Quote from: Luminous CrayonIt should be noted that mIRC has a 30 day trial period, and a $20 registration cost. However, unregistered versions lose none of their functionality.

well... after that first second or two, anyways. during then, they have no functionality whatsoever.

QuoteMmmm... GIMP

Someone else[/i] uses Gimp? And recommends it??
*gives Raelifin the gimp handshake*.

GIMP is awesome, I highly reccomend it!

It seems as though it has a bit higher learning curve than PSP or Photoshop; any good "First Time Gimpers" tutorials out there?

[spoiler=google search]
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/
also, http://www.ufocomes.de/files/basegien.html covers levels
[/spoiler]

also, the gimp help file

What i've always done is google searched what i wanted to do, then done it. You can do things 50 ways in gimp, so, you know: learning curve?

You definitely have to be willing to read help files and do google searches to use gimp. Or either spend a lot of time playing with it and going "hey, what does that[/] do?"

I might need to add a tutorials section to the links i'm giving...

I had recommended GIMP previously on this site... way to take my cookie, guys. :dry:

I can't believe no one has recommended OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) yet... for shame.  For those who don't know, OpenOffice is a completely free office suite, on the same level as, if not better than, Microsoft Office.

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) may not be as generally useful for all people, but I would recommend it.  For Windows users, it is a non-standard install.  You'll also need to get LAME, an MP3 encoder, if you plan to use the files you make in other programs.

yeah, i didn't recommend openoffice cuz i was going for "programs specifically useful for dnd".
I can recommend a lot of generically useful programs. :)

Can somebody dig up some more IRC clients?  Not everyone uses Windows y'know...

wait, wait: admium does irc for the mac.

wait, bar that: gaim does, but admium doesn't.
admium recommends colloquy: http://colloquy.info/

But as far as mac stuff in general goes, you're pretty much gonna have to ask people who use a mac, as far as i can tell. Even the gtk-stuff that ostensably has mac clients are gonna be... difficult on the mac, as far as i can tell.

Here's a couple I googled maybe worth looking at:

http://bersirc.free2code.net/index.php/home

http://www.freevbcode.com/ShowCode.asp?ID=6259

i add nothing to the list until someone has actually tried it. :)

Two Wiki projects of mine:

The d20 NPCs Wiki (http://d20npcs.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page): If you are running D&D and don't want to spend too much time creating NPCs, this website has them in spades.

The RPG Graveyard (http://rpggraveyard.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page): For telling the stories of all those player characters who died a particularly spectacular/gruesome/funny death.


Like all Wikis, entering new material is not only possible, but encouraged.

Quote from: Jürgen HubertTwo Wiki projects of mine:

The d20 NPCs Wiki (http://d20npcs.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page): If you are running D&D and don't want to spend too much time creating NPCs, this website has them in spades.

I was just wondering the other day why no one had done that. apparently i was wrong. I salute you, sir. ;)

I'll be darned, Jurgen, I didn't know that was you; I have that site bookmarked... you should post it in the "Links" page.

Quote from: IshmaylI'll be darned, Jurgen, I didn't know that was you; I have that site bookmarked...

I do get around...   ;)

Quoteyou should post it in the "Links" page.

I would, but neither category seemed to be especially appropriate...

Ok, a few more for you.

OpenRPG (http://openrpg.com/) (Free, multiplatform (windoze/mac/*nix) opensource virtual tabletop application for online play)

Gizmo project (http://www.gizmoproject.com/) (alternative to Skype, used to do conference calls a lot better than skype, and have an automatic 'record' function that's rather nifty and missing from skype. Again free and multiplatform)

Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) (Free, multiplatform, opensource scaleable vector graphics program.)

PCgen (http://pcgen.sourceforge.net/01_overview.php) (character generator for D&D, free, opensource, multiplatform, some hate it, some love it. But it's worth a mention.)

Roughdraft (http://www.rsalsbury.co.uk/rd.htm) (Windoze only I'm afraid, but simply the best text editor available.)

That'll do for now. I may be back.

I have a love/hate relationship with pretty much everything you just linked. ;)

Gizmo--When our group tried it, the quality was horrible. Like, 4 people just could not talk on that thing (even though they could connect). Have you managed to use it with that many people or more?

Quote from: brainfaceI have a love/hate relationship with pretty much everything you just linked. ;)

Everyone[/i] loves roughdraft :P

QuoteGizmo--When our group tried it, the quality was horrible. Like, 4 people just could not talk on that thing (even though they could connect). Have you managed to use it with that many people or more?

Actually, no. Now that you mention it. We were looking into it for something that would need more people than the 5 person limit on Skype conference calls, but that project sort of fell through. So we never did try it in the end... But the fetures Looked better, especially the moderation bits :P

I'm sorry, everything but rough draft. ;) I actually hadn't heard of it. Everything else, though: love/hate.

We liked Gizmo's feature list, too, but as i said: they didn't actually work. awesome features + does not work = does not work. It's like multiplication by zero, man. (see: current hosting issues. :()

i'll still put a link up there i guess: maybe someone else will have more luck...

Quote from: brainfaceI'm sorry, everything but rough draft. ;) I actually hadn't heard of it. Everything else, though: love/hate.

Oh good, my faith in humanity is restored. :)
Roughdraft is the sole reason I still have a spare windoze box.  :halo: Can't recomend it enough.


(But, if you don't mind. Purely out of curiosity. What's your hate bit about openRPG?)

You mean other than the fact that it may just be the buggiest program in existence (other than e107, of course), but since they're stopped working on it, those bugs will never be fixed? ;)

Quote from: IshmaylYou mean other than the fact that it may just be the buggiest program in existence (other than e107, of course), but since they're stopped working on it, those bugs will never be fixed? ;)

Huh?

I guess your experience with openRPG must be very different from mine then  :halo: We've never seem to have had much in the way of problems caused by bugginess.

Very... interesting.

We obviously got all of your bugs then.
Try using Fog sometime.

I also like how it included every feat in dragon magazine, but had no easy way to include new feats on character sheets. yeah, that makes sense.

Sorry, it does seem like it.
Not even the times we've used fog it's been an issue. But fair enough, fog don't come up very often as we tend use modular miniature map tiles which kind of makes fog a bit redundant most of the time. So that could well be it. If you've been using fog a lot, then I can see how your point. Especially if you've been using anything before version 1.6.3 since it was a big issue with the eariler versions.

But I do apologise for passing all the bugs on to you guys rather than suffering them myself. :P

Abulafia (http://www.gheron.net/abulafia/index.php?title=Main_Page) is a wiki with lots of useful random generators in it. Highly recommended.

RPG.net Art of Game Design (http://forum.rpg.net/forumdisplay.php?f=11) forum has talk on designing game systems and settings. Focus is usually on systems.

You may need to update that first post; I found that rough draft (http://www.richardsalsbury.com/url) program... It might not be the same one, but the title is the same.

noted and added. there's several other entries in the thread that still need to be added as well.

Hmm, the link in stargate's post shows up as "http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/rough draft" which is 404 of course.

The same is true of the update in the first post.

Could there be a typo here?

I'm going to start compiling all the info on this thread for posting on the Wiki.  Feel free to add more, or make changes.  Thanks!

Quote from: snakefingHmm, the link in stargate's post shows up as "http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/rough draft" which is 404 of course.

The same is true of the update in the first post.

Could there be a typo here?

yeah there'd be a typo. Unfortunately I don't remember the actual site.

Okay folks, I've been keeping this one to myself for a while, but now I feel it's time to share.

http://www.conceptart.org - An awesome site filled with talented artists, inspiration, and aid to those who want it.

Mind Mapping software is something you might want to try. I use this one:  FreeMind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page). This piece of software might not have occurred to anyone, but I've found it to be very helpful. It's main use is in laying out ideas, plots, and story arcs in a very convenient and logical way. Side plots and small stories can be tracked also. Pretty good in my opinion.

Quote from: HangfireMind Mapping software is something you might want to try. I use this one:  FreeMind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page). This piece of software might not have occurred to anyone, but I've found it to be very helpful. It's main use is in laying out ideas, plots, and story arcs in a very convenient and logical way. Side plots and small stories can be tracked also. Pretty good in my opinion.

That programs rocks! I have been looking for something like that for a long time! Too bad my laptop is ancient and can't run it, but I will love useing it on my desktop. I see it helping all with world creation!

Thank you for pointing that out!

I find  AUTOREALM (http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm) to be anifty program for quick map creations, though i am in the free market for a better free mapper, if you guys know of one.

Abulafia, aka random-generator.com (http://random-generator.com/index.php?title=Main_Page) has moved (to random-generator.com).

Some especially useful pages: Tavern (http://random-generator.com/index.php?title=Tavern), nations (http://random-generator.com/index.php?title=PlacesToGo), and farmsteads (http://random-generator.com/index.php?title=FantasyFarmstead).
Also, many name generators (http://random-generator.com/index.php?title=Category:Names&action=edit).

The site requires (free) registration due to recent spamming.

didn't see this on here, though I've seen it mentioned a few times.  Oops, there it is right above.  Shows what I get for trying to read these damn threads from the beginning.
Still,
Useful for artistically impaired as well as those whose maps get so damn old they start to fall apart...not like i'd know or anything.
http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm

Autorealm is a freebie, and a decent one.  make a map pn it, save it as a jpg or something, and you can use a graphics program to really make it look nice.

I apologize in advance if I am going over ground well trodden inadvertantly.

two posts up I posted Autorealm lol. Its a good program though. You people should use it. Seriously. As in use-it-or-a-monkey-will-come-and-hunt-you-down use it

D&Dwiki at http://www.dandwiki.com has over 50,000 SRD and Homebrew articles.

The Arcana Wiki (http://arcana.wikidot.com/), especially its Random Nations Generator (http://arcana.wikidot.com/random-nations).

http://www.fontcapture.com/

this is great for those among us who like to create their own fonts.  free site, all you have to have is access to a pdf reader and a scanner.

Although I've never used it personally, www.wikia.com seems like it would be a good addition to the list. I-- as well as other CBGians-- have discovered that wikis are a really great way to organize information such as settings and games. If I'm not mistaken, Vreeg even uses a part of the Celtrecia wiki for his blog.

Quote from: Rorschach FritosAlthough I've never used it personally, www.wikia.com seems like it would be a good addition to the list. I-- as well as other CBGians-- have discovered that wikis are a really great way to organize information such as settings and games. If I'm not mistaken, Vreeg even uses a part of the Celtrecia wiki for his blog.

Errrr... we have a wiki here on the site...

http://www.thecbg.org/wiki/index.php?title=CBG_Wiki

It's cleverly titled "the CBG Wiki."

If I'm not mistaken  [spoiler]I'm not[/spoiler]  there's even a link to said wiki at the top of every page on this site.

Quote from: Ishmayl

Quote from: Rorschach FritosAlthough I've never used it personally, www.wikia.com seems like it would be a good addition to the list. I-- as well as other CBGians-- have discovered that wikis are a really great way to organize information such as settings and games. If I'm not mistaken, Vreeg even uses a part of the Celtrecia wiki for his blog.

Errrr... we have a wiki here on the site...

http://www.thecbg.org/wiki/index.php?title=CBG_Wiki

It's cleverly titled "the CBG Wiki."

If I'm not mistaken  [spoiler]I'm not[/spoiler]  there's even a link to said wiki at the top of every page on this site.

I know, but a personal wiki like this is still very useful.

Random Name Generator (http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm).

Based off of what I'm guessing is somewhat slightly out-of-date US Census data (one or two censuses behind).

Invaluable for modern games.

My site has some online generators and a few GIMP scripts for mapping: http://axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/

Vreeg- that is a very interesting site there. Have you used it to create any fonts?

And isomage, did you redo your site? It seems to look a bit different than last time you noted its existence.

I did redesign it a while back, but I haven't posted about it here before.

-That's strange. I'm certain that I've seen your random map generator posted here before.

With this post I will have made a total of three on this site, all today :)  Maybe someone else posted it, or you saw it somewhere else -- I've posted a lot on the Cartographers' Guild.

More focused on adventure design than world building, this is still a pretty useful site:

The 36 Plots (http://www.rpglibrary.org/articles/storytelling/36plots.php)

My site, rpg-tools.org (http://rpg-tools.org/generators/), has a few tools that have been useful to me. Hopefully they'll be useful to you.

I actually have a list going of some of my more usual sites. One or two of them might not work anymore, but the majority should be up and running. A think a few of them were listed already as well.

• Alternity! (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?422ma3zmr5zwqt5)
  
• Dwarf Name Generator (http://www.slacknhash.net/dwarf_name_generator.php)
  
• Fantasy Place Name Generator (http://nine.frenchboys.net/fantasyplace.php)
  
• Uncle Figgy's Guide to Good Gaming (http://web.archive.org/web/20060517174751/www.dragondogpress.com/unclefiggy/gm/intro.htm)
  
• The Big List of RPG Plots (http://www.io.com/%7Esjohn/plots.htm)
  
• Massive List of Roleplayer Resources (http://www.errantdreams.com/static/rpg)
  
• Big List of Names (http://tekeli.li/onomastikon/)
  
• The Alexandrian (http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/creations.html)
  
• The 36 Plots (with examples!) (http://www.rpglibrary.org/articles/storytelling/36plots.php)
  
• Medieval Demographics Made Easy (http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm)
  
• Freesound (http://www.freesound.org/tagsViewSingle.php?id=26)
  
• An Excellent Name Generator for Landmarks (http://picastudio.com/random/)
  
• Map Generator (http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/game-programming/polygon-map-generation/mapgen2.swf)
  
• A neat little hand-drawn dungeon map generator! (http://davesmapper.com/)
  
• Riddles Galore! (http://www.dndgamer.com/riddles2.htm)
  
• One Billion Landscapes (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/21963709/One_Billion_Words_-_1001_Fantasy_Landscapes?pg=1)
  
• How to build your own fantasy language. Extremely legit. (http://www.zompist.com/kit.html#models)
  
• Chaotic Shiny (http://chaoticshiny.com/index.php)

Riddles Galore is down.

I use Freesound a lot for music but it seems like it would be less useful for gaming without A LOT of work.

Quote from: Tangent_Jaerc
Riddles Galore is down.

Speaking of which, does anyone know any GOOD websites for riddles (riddles that aren't idiotic or impossible to solve).

As I think of it, a riddle should generally tell you everything you need to know, as long as you think about it the right way.

I know I have bookmarks or at least collection in a doc somewhere, I'll hunt around for my LARP riddle stash.

I think most riddles ought to do that, esp. when used in a game context; but there is also joy in riddles that break that convention, for example koans or riddles that rely on contextual knowledge of the speaker,etc.