Need help in choosing the best of the RPG Tools out there

[Ahzad]

Need to choose a RPG tool.....I've tried just about everyone out there but never for any amounts of time, other than the old Core Rules loved that product. Got me a new PC now and I don't need a half dozen RPG tools on it. I'm the DM 90% of the time, so ideally I would want the product to be able to support me in that regards w/o having multiple programs, and ideally would be easy to add my own content to.

The products I'm looking at are:
E-tools
Roleplaying Master
DM Genie
Campaign Suite
DM Familiar
PC Gen


These next two are mapping products and I don't mind having 2 RPG utilities one for PC/NPC management and one for mapping if need be.

Dundjinni
Campaign Cartographer

I've used CC a bit in the past, still very much a novice w/ it b/c of the learning curve, and I really haven't wanted to spend hours learning to use. I've heard good things about the new version and how much easier it is to use but haven't tried it out.

Dundjinni - Never used it.

[capnfro]

I normally end up DM'ing for our group and have found that PC Gen is good for a free application. I use it a lot. I have found that they are sometimes missing information on certain things (like sorcerer levels on dragons) but over all it is great for quick calculations and character creation. It is even better if you buy the WotC book sets from CodeMonkey Publishing. They have coded all the 3.0 splatbooks and core rules. They also have a lot of the 3.5 stuff done. It keeps you away from all those messy copyright stuff and having to code for yourself. It is also good if you like to code stuff yourself. It is fairly easy to add in homebrew things and also pick and choose from existing class stuff.

If you are looking to buy something you may want to wait a little bit til CMP releases the RPG Toolkit. It is basically the way that they would have done e-Tools if they have been running things from the beginning. It looks to be very promising.

As far as mappers go I really haven't had much experience with them. My other friend, who DM's almost as much as I do, swears by Dundjinni.

[CHornJr]

For DMing I love DM's Familiar. I find it to be simple to use and it has everything you need in regards to record keeping and a very well done combat manager

SInce I am unemployed I use AutoRealm for my mapping needs. It is a very good program and better then most of the Paid Mapping programs out there.

[DMFTodd]

You've kind of lumped together stuff that doesn't necessarily go together. My advice would go like this:

Are you going to have a computer at the gaming table? If yes, a program to manage combat is going to give you the most benefit. Programs in that category are: DM's Familiar, DMG, RPM, GMGen portion of PCGen.

If you write a lot of your own adventures, need lots of custom made NPCs, need to add templates to monsters and such; then a Character Generator is a big help. If you run mostly pre-published stuff, then a character generator is not much help. This category has: DMG, RPM, E:Tools, PCGen, and Campaign Suite.

If you want maps, then I think you have the two good choices.

Then there's other things that are handy but don't provide as much benefit as the things above: Random tables, organizing campaign notes, etc.

[IronWolf]

Looks like the polling results so far are pretty even! I think a lot of choosing the tools you use are a personal feel for them. I was just here this past weekend asking for comparison between DM's Familiar and DM Genie and pros and cons between the two.

I think the best way is to just take some time to play with them and see which matches *your* style the best. Everyone DM's a little differently and this might make what works well for me not work so well for you.

With that said, I voted for DM Genie and Dundjinni. I like DM Genie's flexibility so far. My maps are generally pretty lame, but I have actually turned out some okay Dundjinni maps with minimal time spent learning the program.