Dragonmeet is a small one-day convention in London. It's been a few years since I've been there, and while it's still small, it has certainly grown since my last visit. That said, it's one of those conventions which I hope stay small, as that gives it a certain charm and friendliness that can be hard to match with larger events. Here's a couple of things I found while at Dragonmeet this year.
The Big Book of Battle Maps was my first purchase. This is a large book of dry-erase 1-inch 16"x11"gridded maps of warehouses, and streets, and temples, and lava fields, and so on which opens out flat. Often facing pages sides are halves of the same map, enabling you to have larger 32"x22" encounter areas. While the book format means that the maps will never be truly enormous, the ease and portability of this is fantastic. I snapped up this book for about £30, and I'm eagerly awaiting their sci-fi version which comes out in March 2019 (both were Kickstarted successfully this year).
World Anvil looked pretty cool. A nice chap on their stand patiently explained it to me at length. I very much need to do some world building of my own in 2019, and this tool looks like it might be of great help. It's kind of a combination of a directory/file system for races/monsters/locations/etc. and a campaign manager. it's something I'll need to delve into myself to fully grok, but at first blush it looks super-useful!
[video=youtube;ikXK6Xi0EfY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikXK6Xi0EfY[/video]
I didn't spot these in the actual trade hall myself, but my friend @SyMatt showed it to me in the hotel bar. This Tavern Guide from Wisdom Save Media contains nearly 150 taverns, each on their own page, with a description and plot hooks. It's system neutral (no stats or anything) but it looks really handy for grabbing a convenient tavern description in a pinch.
However, what I DID spot, from the same folks (which must have grabbed my attention, so that I failed to spot the Tavern Guides on the same table) was a prototype of this Noticeboard, which is being Kickstarted right now. I didn't take a photo for some reason, so the photo below is from their Kickstarter. Basically, it's standalone game, but it's also a 5E-compatible GM tool for plot hooks. Cards containing mini quests are places on the noticeboard. If you're a fan of props, this could be a great addition to your campaign.
I also managed to have quick chats with awesome folks like Sarah Newton (Mindjammer), Dominic McDowall-Thomas (Cubicle 7), John Kovalic (finally!), Robin Laws, and many more I couldn't even begin to list while being cognizant of the fact that I did, in fact, just begin to list them.
The Big Book of Battle Maps was my first purchase. This is a large book of dry-erase 1-inch 16"x11"gridded maps of warehouses, and streets, and temples, and lava fields, and so on which opens out flat. Often facing pages sides are halves of the same map, enabling you to have larger 32"x22" encounter areas. While the book format means that the maps will never be truly enormous, the ease and portability of this is fantastic. I snapped up this book for about £30, and I'm eagerly awaiting their sci-fi version which comes out in March 2019 (both were Kickstarted successfully this year).
World Anvil looked pretty cool. A nice chap on their stand patiently explained it to me at length. I very much need to do some world building of my own in 2019, and this tool looks like it might be of great help. It's kind of a combination of a directory/file system for races/monsters/locations/etc. and a campaign manager. it's something I'll need to delve into myself to fully grok, but at first blush it looks super-useful!
[video=youtube;ikXK6Xi0EfY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikXK6Xi0EfY[/video]
I didn't spot these in the actual trade hall myself, but my friend @SyMatt showed it to me in the hotel bar. This Tavern Guide from Wisdom Save Media contains nearly 150 taverns, each on their own page, with a description and plot hooks. It's system neutral (no stats or anything) but it looks really handy for grabbing a convenient tavern description in a pinch.
However, what I DID spot, from the same folks (which must have grabbed my attention, so that I failed to spot the Tavern Guides on the same table) was a prototype of this Noticeboard, which is being Kickstarted right now. I didn't take a photo for some reason, so the photo below is from their Kickstarter. Basically, it's standalone game, but it's also a 5E-compatible GM tool for plot hooks. Cards containing mini quests are places on the noticeboard. If you're a fan of props, this could be a great addition to your campaign.
I also managed to have quick chats with awesome folks like Sarah Newton (Mindjammer), Dominic McDowall-Thomas (Cubicle 7), John Kovalic (finally!), Robin Laws, and many more I couldn't even begin to list while being cognizant of the fact that I did, in fact, just begin to list them.
