Dunjinni - experiences?

[Micah]

How about for those of us curmudgeons who prefer black and white maps -- if for no other reason than to save ink on the printer. Is Dunjinni of any real value if you don't care about pretty pictures?

Dundjinni can be used for black and white maps in a couple of different ways.

You can print out on a b/w laser printer - although I will admit the images are a bit dark for my taste.

You can choose to map by just placing in building outlines and leaving the floors blank except for the grid. You can even choose to use black or gray scale colors instead of the textures if you wish. That type of a map would be very quick and easy to do in the program. And it would definitely save on ink - if you really aren't concerned about having pretty pictures. Not to mention you'd never have to buy an art-pack.

Of course a battlemap, wet erase markers, and a ruler could probably do what you want, and then you wouldn't have to pay for the paper costs either.

I don't know that I'd recommend the program for someone who didn't care about pretty pictures. That kinda is the point of the program in some ways.

On the other hand if it's just the ink costs that are keeping you back, consider that there are several ways to use the program. You can stay away from fullscale full color battlemaps in favor of the printed overview. It takes 16 sheets of paper and scales them down to one. These can be used for:

• player reference sheets
• DM notes
• roleplay situations

For instance - the Severed Oath has a four part map of a city where most encounters are not something you'd need a battlemap for. I've printed the map off in the smaller overview scale and now have a nice 4 page poster. I can't see printing the thing off on the battle scale - that would be bigger than the room I play in and just would not be worth the ink.

I personally like the combination of overview maps, with occasional sites, big battles, an interesting room etc. done as a battlemap to make a session stand out.

And I've seen a growing number of users working with computer projection systems with their game tables - no ink costs, no paper costs, just equipment costs, gulp! Maybe someday I'll head that route, but for now the $60 for the program pales in comparison to a projector.

 

[Mercule]

Of course a battlemap, wet erase markers, and a ruler could probably do what you want, and then you wouldn't have to pay for the paper costs either.

I don't know that I'd recommend the program for someone who didn't care about pretty pictures. That kinda is the point of the program in some ways.

It's not so much the cost (well, okay, I have a hard time justifying the color cartridges). I've always been happy with the black and white maps that come with modules. I can't imagine printing off battle maps very often, no matter what the cost. At least, not until I can dynamically hide everything the PCs can't see.

What I want is a tool that will speed up my design time as a DM. Basically, a tool would give me noticibly faster map development than a sheet of graph paper and a pencil, plus Word for the key description. If Dunjinni can do that, then it's a bargain at $60.

Like I said, I don't care about pretty pictures. Simple DM-intelligible icons are fine -- better, actually. Battlemap isn't even a selling point to me. I can see where it would be for some, just not for me.

Hmmm... I was going to list what I was looking for, but I'll just start a new thread.

 

[Alynnalizza]

What are the adventure creation tools like?

The adventure creation tools are really a great feature. You have access to the SRD (3.0 version right now.. I think 3.5 is in the works). Also, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed is featured for encouters as well as others.

Once you create your map, You can place tokens (there are 3 generic types) Monster, Character, and Room. With the room stamp you are able to assign Room #'s. Say you stamp a room with the Room stamp #1. This stamp is 5'x5' on the map. You can then stamp elsewhere in the room, and Dundjinni will pull the contents of the room into the adventure creator. Also for each room, you get to place Read Aloud Text, Notes, Development, Dimensions, and other definitions of the room. Also, when stamping a room with a Character or Monster Token in it, that is added in the Room Description. A full statblock is then added to the end of the adventure.

The results of the printout are quite usable at the table. I've done most of my adventures using the adventure creator. Even when details are kept to a minimum, it is a great resource to help keep track of encounters.

If you have any specific questions I'd be more than happy to help answer them.

Also, even though I haven't read it... (I know, I'm a tech who doesn't read the manual.) A dundjinni manual is available for download which might help with some information. The manual is in PDF can be found here:Dundjinni Manual