Free GM Resource: SmartEdit Writer (Novel Writing Software)

I was watching YouTube the other day, like I do, and came across a video concerning a GM's setup. For the most part I didn't get much out of the video, but the GM used a computer program as a virtual GM screen.

Now that piece of software was designed for novel writing and it wasn't free, but I was able to find a free alternative that did the same stuff.....providing you use Windows. There are other similar-ish programs that'll work with Mac/iOS, but SmartEdit Writer did everything I was looking for.

I'm not sure I would actually use SmartEdit Writer to write an actual adventure, but I'm really biased for reasons, and think the idea of character development that this program could lead to would be lost on an adventure.

The reason why I recommend SmartEdit Writer for a virtual GM screen is because you can use the basic organization the program provides to layout your assorted graphs, tables, charts, and assorted bits of information. Being able to make notes on characters....NPCs specifically, campaign bits, etc, would be really useful:

• Project Management (can you say "Adventure Management"?)
• Scenes, Fragments, and Notes
• Searching
• Automatic Backups
• Customizable Interface

There's a lot to this tool and it looks like an awesome Free GM Resource. Check out SmartEdit Writer today.

DTRPG Deal of the Day Worth Checking Out: Old-School Essentials Player's Rules Tome

This one almost slipped by me, but I thought it was worthwhile to share, so here I am....

For the next 13 hours or so the Old School Essentials Player's Rules Tome is on sale for $5. That's half off and for over 100 pages of content.....totally worth it.

You'll have to just take my word on this with a grain of salt because technically I haven't read this particular tome. I picked up the all-in-one Rules Tome, which contains the info from the Player's Rules Tome.

Anyway I have been enjoying Old-School Essentials quite a bit and so far I dare say it's my favorite BX flavor yet. The cool thing, aside from the the sale itself is that if you're on the fence you can check out the art-free light/free/sample edition of this product here.

Free GM Resource: Real Terrain Hobbies Youtube Channel

It's been a while since I've posted a YouTube channel as a Free GM Resource and since I'm wary of over-doing this as a whole, it might be a while before I post another one......

...that and as more of these channels grab my attention, the bar for even being considered for inclusion (I hope) goes up significantly. Basically as I see more "stuff" I usually just end up seeing more of the same stuff......and I don't know about you, but I'd rather see newer tips, techniques, and builds.

Real Terrain Hobbies came onto my radar when the channel was building a HUGE gaming diorama. Huge might be an understatement as this thing was something like 6'x4'x3' castle build with a ton of resin pieces that took two men about a week to paint and assemble. It's a glorious thing and I learned a thing or two I hope to be able to use in some of my future builds.

This is the 1st video in the playlist for the big build. There are five videos total.....I particularly liked the use of pigments and some of the final touches with plants in the last video. 

Free GM Resource: Freesound

This week's Free GM Resource is going to require a little bit of work from the enterprising GM, but what you get out of it should be directly proportional to what you put into it.

Freesound is a really cool online depository of assorted audio clips. Sounds simple & stupid....until you actually go and check out the clips. Lots of great mood "music" to be found there. Some are created  by piecing together different sounds and a lot are just straight up recordings.

I've enjoyed just hunting around and previewing sounds, but I need to go back, make an account, and start hunting for background loops and sound effects. In the first few minutes I found several sounds I wish I had available for earlier games.......

In Case You're Interested, I'm Guest Posting Over at Tenkar's Tavern

This is actually more of a admin post than anything, but I thought I should let my 12, er 13 regular readers know that I've been posting over at Tenkar's Tavern lately, and will be doing so on a regular basis from here on out.

Erik had to have some surgery and his something like 7 year blogging streak was going to be broken, so I decided to step up and make a few guest posts. Allegedly the posts were well received and Erik asked me to do a weekly post.

I agreed because I get to post a bit more casually about gaming stuff that isn't the kind of thing I would post about here since this is basically a themed blog.

If you're interested, feel free to pop on over to Tenkar's Tavern.....I'll be posting there on Sundays.

Free GM Resource: HeroQuest Ye Olde Inn

I was watching some YouTube this weekend and came across some history/documentary concerning D&D and I stuck around a bit and watched some other video (same channel) about HeroQuest. Now I've never played HeroQuest, always wanted to, but never had.

I had a chance to pick up a copy at Half-Priced Books, but I was just coming back from a con and it was either this or some other purchases, including an early copy of Dungeon.....I clearly went with the latter.

Anyway this HeroQuest video mentioned there were some online resources for finding all the various adventures that have been released for this Out of Print (OOP) game.

A quick Google search later and I found Ye Olde Inn. Holy cow....pretty much everything you could need for the OOP game can be found there. I was surprised by just how much is available there.....including a rather active forum!

I've barely scratched the surface on this is resource...now to just find another physical copy.

Free GM Resource: NVIDIA Ansel Plug-In

Ok, this week's Free GM Resource is really limited, definitely only useful for very specific people, but for those that "qualify"....it could be pretty damned cool.

I have what feels like a bazillion computers at my home. Between hoarding, projects, and micro-computers I'm certain I have at least 20 different computers, but only a couple (maybe even only one) with a NVIDIA graphics card.

If you happen to have a NVIDIA card and you use that computer to play computer games, which you probably do 'cause why bother with a graphic card (I know there are other reasons for having graphics cards.....just roll with me here), then you can download the Ansel plugin and then BAM!  you can now "take stunning in-game photographs in nearly 40 games, from virtually any angle, at super resolutions, and in full 3D."

I know some folks might be going, "so?" but think of it......if you can take high res screen shots wherever you want then you can capture your in-game footage to use at the game table. Like the terrain of The Witcher 3? Put that camera up in the sky, take some screen shots, and then you have a game map. Trying to make some cool isometric maps.....screenshot. Cool monster...screenshot.

Anytime you see something useful you can screenshot it and what you do with the graphic is up to you, but as they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words".


If you don't have a NVIDIA graphics card and/or play computer games using said card....sorry.

Head's Up that I'm Guest Posting for a Spell Over at Tenkar's Tavern

Just a head's up that I'm guest posting over at Tenkar's Tavern for a bit while he deals with some medical stuff. He's posted every day for like 7 years and it didn't seem like a good idea to me to let that run slip for something as little as big-time surgery.