Taren Nighteyes said:
1. Fractal Mapper 7.0 or Dundjinni
IMHO, these are really different programs. I am not trying to be difficult and parse words with you (because they are obviously both mapping programs), but Dundjinni (IMHO) is great for small-scale battle map style areas (the interior of the inn, the clearing in the forest, the guard station on the outskirts of town, etc.), but doesn't do a particularly good job at all when it comes to overland, or continent-style maps.
So, the question really becomes, what kind of maps do you prefer to make and what kinds of maps do you use most often? I own both and I like both, but I find that I get more practical use out of Dundjinni maps just because they are faster to generate, I can make more of them in a shorter amount of time, and in any given adventure, there are plenty of individual areas that lend themselves to really cool small maps, while it is likely that the adventure takes place within the confines of the one overland map you have...no need to draw another (but hey, YMMV and that's cool too).
Taren Nighteyes said:
Second - any experiences/opinions on the Fantasy Grouns software? I will probably be running 50% of my campaign online inbetween monthly physical sessions. I thought this might be a great solution, but my understanding correct that each persons has to buy a copy???
Oh man...I can't say enough good things about this.
I have started playing with this and have just had a great experience. The software is easy to use, I think its got an amazong feature set and is amazingly stable for a first version and it just plain looks great.
Basically, there is a full version and a lite version. Players only need to buy the lite version which allows them to connect to someone running the full version.
Like I say, I never really played with WebRPG and OpenRPG or KloogeWerks or anything else so I don't have a real basis of comparison, but I have nothing but positive things to say about it. BTW, the link in my sig is a site I set up for people who are starting to play using things like FG. I wanted to set up a place so that as people start contributing resources like maps, adventures, counters, etc. there would be a central place where this could all be placed.
Hope this helped. Feel free to PM me if you need more info. And if you do decide to pitch in the $20 (or something like that) for the lite license to see if you and your players want to invest, you are more than willing to watch/play in a game I am running. Let me know!
Matt
