Dundjinni or wait for D&D Insider?

[Calico_Jack73]

I'm in a bit of a quandary. One of my previous DM's used Dundjinni to print out all of our maps ahead of time and I loved the concept. Not only do they look better than a Battlemat but since they are printed out ahead of time there was very minimal pause in the action when the DM revealed a new area. No drawing... he just placed the new piece and away we went.

However... WOTC is supposed to be releasing the Dungeon Builder for free and if you are a D&D Insider subscriber you can import it into a virtual Game Table. I love that feature for players who may be away on travel... if they have their laptop and a wireless connection they can still participate. The only problem is that god only knows when it will be available.

What would you do?

[Andre]

Originally Posted by Calico_Jack73

What would you do?

Number one rule when considering software: Never allow vaporware to influence your decision. Make your choice based on what exists now.

Let's look at the best case vaporware scenario: There's a product you might like, that might be released soon (any time in the next six months), that will need to be patched after release, that might be in stable condition within six months of release, that might be superior in value to the product that's available now.

Or, there's a good software program that exists now, which has been patched into a good state, at a price that you consider reasonable.

Seems like an easy decision to me.

[Jan van Leyden]

Apart from availbility, there might be another fundamental question: Do you want to create cool, good-looking maps with lots of details or are plainer maps concentrating on the information relevant for the gameplay sufficient?

If you look at the Dndjinni forums and the user-created maps shown there, you see real pieces of art, fit to be used in a professional product. But you'll have to invest time in each of those maps, even if you are a talented guy and have mastered the learning curve of the tool.

WotC's offer - if it really is published at some point in the future - will probably allow you to produce decent looking maps without so many possible variations in a short amount of time.

If plain maps are okay with you, you might also go the dummy way. Use a drawing program like CorelDraw or OpenOffice Draw, set up a 1-inch grid, draw your rooms, use a simple fill for the floor, and add several objects (rectangles, circles) for items like furniture. Ugly as the graphics of a 1980s Atari video game, but ready in 10 minutes. It only looks a little better than a battlemap drawn by hand, but meets the goal of being prepared beforehand.

Note: My Artistry skill bonus is at about -20. If you have invested skill points and maybe a feat into Artistry, your results will no doubt be better looking.

Huldvoll

Jan van Leyden

[DMFTodd]

Dungeon Builder is vaporware.

While the Dungeon Builder may be free to use, they've hinted that you will have to purchase tiles to use with it beyond a certain base set.

Dungeon Builder is a tile-based mapper. Dunjinni allows you to do a lot more than that.

[Thanee]

Something else to consider...

Dundjinni is out for years now and apparantly still used by a large community, which basically means, that it can't be bad.

Noone knows how Dungeon Builder is or will be...

Bye
Thanee