Since the release of D&D Beyond’s official virtual tabletop software, Sigil, I’ve had the itch. The itch to design. Map making, city building, snapping together little pieces as I worldbuild for my homebrew campaigns. I need it. I want it. But Sigil has a little way to go before it’s got me covered, I’m afraid, because the competition is pretty darn stiff.
Over the past week I’ve been checking out a few different 3D VTTs with their own map-making tools, to see which one satisfies my need as someone who graduated with a 3D environment art major uni. And let me tell ya’, I’ve got a pretty high standard when it comes to map making, having spent 90% of that time deep in the weeds of Unreal Engine 4. I’ve been thinking about each software’s usability, intuitiveness, assets library, visual quality, customizability, and available toolsets. Alongside, of course, any fun bugs I’ve encountered while playing.
So far I’ve had a chance to get an in-depth look at Sigil, Realm Engine, RPG Stories, and Dungeon Alchemist – all of which allow you to create maps for the best tabletop RPGs, though only the first three have virtual tabletop functionality.
In order to get a good idea of what other softwares could achieve against Sigil, I’ve been attempting to recreate Thanara’s Throne Room – the iconic setting from the first season of Dimension 20’s Dungeons & Drag Queens, in which (minor spoiler alert, although it’s telegraphed early on) DM Brennan Lee Mulligan set his Questing Queens face-to-face with the Goddess of the Underworld herself.
Sigil | D&D Beyond
Our Benjamin Abbott made his opinions of Sigil as a VTT known when it first came out. Benj and I had spent the best part of a day playing with the software, and weren’t best pleased as we fumbled our way through with no keybind help. But having now spent a little more time with it, the functionality makes a lot more sense now, and it’s far easier to see Sigil’s potential as a map maker.
As much as this (very early stage) software has some definite and prolific bugs weighing it down – along with a few minor inconveniences like the inability to undo with Ctrl + Z – Sigil has more than a few tricks up its sleeve as a map-maker. I’m talking about the non-restrictive and easy-to-use free placement tool, the godsend of a random rotation checkbox, and the great lighting presets there are to choose from. Along with a relatively intuitive and well-laid out UI, Sigil isn’t half bad for quickly throwing down a map and having it look half decent… Even if you can’t yet rotate grouped objects, or sculpt the terrain outside of placing grassy blocks about the place.
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There’s even a much appreciated level-switching mechanism that automatically assigns placed assets depending on their height. The main issue, as has been aired by the map-making competition, is that a lot of Sigil’s best assets are stuck behind the D&D Beyond subscription model. With no access to Steam workshops through the software, it’s going to be a darn sight more difficult to import fan-made content into the engine. Despite the lack of community asset integration meaning the asset library is still a little barren at this stage, there’s an evident quality to the current Sigil assets. These are gorgeous models with well-made textures, all of which fit together stylistically as opposed to feeling disparate, like they’re made by a 3D team that doesn’t talk to each other (I’m looking at you, The Sims).
The results speak for themselves in terms of visual fidelity, but I’m not sure I can fully recommend you spend a full year’s subscription on it yet, especially not if you’re only using it to make maps, there are far better choices there. Maybe have a go with the D&D Beyond trial subscription before you dive into spending $54.99 / £45 on a full year.
Realm Engine | Pixel Ghost
As a free software I was pretty blown away with what could be done in Realm Engine’s map-making software. While the visual fidelity didn’t quite match that of Sigil, the functionality and stability were far and beyond the D&D Beyond software. For one thing Realm Engine lets you undo with Ctrl + Z. It’s a small thing, but just so ingrained. Why remove it?
There are gizmos in Realm Engine that will feel far more familiar to anyone who’s used Unreal Engine before, too. With them, you can rotate and scale the wealth of assets on all axes. Not to mention the devs have even added layered paint tools for you to play with, alongside terrain sculpting, and comprehensive lighting tools. Sadly there doesn’t appear to be a photo mode, so the screenshots all have the grid lines still on them and are taken from a very unflattering angle. But the wealth of features like ambient sounds and music really help to make up for little gripes like this.
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My main gripe is that there don’t appear to be any female minis in this one. Aside from that, the elephant character’s trunk is a little janky when you drag him around, but I’ve seen no major game breaking bugs aside from that. There’s a paid version of Realm Engine coming that will let game masters host online games, and actually opens up the number of imported models from five to unlimited, and allows for custom dice, procedurally generated environments, and dedicated servers. You’ll also be able to export your maps, which you can’t do in the standard version.
As far as the standard version goes, the visual fidelity isn’t the greatest I’ve seen and the grandeur of the models has certainly been outdone by others, but as a free map maker you could do a heck of a lot worse. You can nab Realm Engine right now on Steam for absolutely nothing, though there’s no word on pricing for the upcoming GM Version yet.
RPG Stories | Brave Alice Games
RPG Stories was a lot easier to get the hang of controlling than some of the others, with easy widgets and a super handy UI that can be scaled to your preference. While searching through assets is a breeze, and the few models that are included are gorgeously designed and well-rendered, I had to do quite a lot of finagling to design my own assets. The throne for example is made from a bookcase and two benches scaled to look like armrests.
That said, this is one map maker that has a bursting workshop asset library. It’s got everything including the kitchen sink, and a goose Hydra in case you wanted to hit your players with something truly evil. Besides there are plenty of DLCs all under a fiver. And, of course, you can use RPG Stories as a VTT online with your pals.
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I had a few issues with changing object height, and clicking in the menu when you have an object selected automatically places it, which is odd, but at least this one comes with Ctrl + Z functionality. And while there’s not a heck of a lot to customize asset-wise, RPG Stories comes with some great post-processing effects, such as LUT Color mode presets, and lighting sliders.
RPG Stories is $18.99/£16 for the basic version, or $20.99/£19 for the GM Version upgrade. For that price you could definitely do worse. This one hits a nice middleground if you need both a good map maker and a comprehensive VTT.
Dungeon Alchemist | Briganti
It took me far longer than it should have to figure out the controls for this one, only realising you could make rounded walls after the community manager showed me how, which says something about the intuitiveness of the controls I suppose. Still, the widgets for scaling and rotating all make heaps of sense and the UI is super easy to navigate.
For me, the main draw is the ability to randomly generate rooms within a few clicks. It’s a feature that’s simply unparalleled in the space and makes designing large maps so much faster. That’s not even mentioning the quality of assets and textures, including heaps of workshop content I’ve not even felt the need to dive into yet. The object lighting is customizable along with some of the asset colours, the terrain can be generated and resized to make dioramas, and the skybox is editable too. My major gripe with customization is that you’re limited to a super garish sliding scale with no way to mute or brighten colors.
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There’s a big gap in the design currently where building levels are concerned, with Dungeon Alchemist only allowing you to connect upper and lower levels on exporting separate maps, but this is functionality you can look forward to in the upcoming Fun With Objects free update. Aside from that, the main function I wanted to see was better use of the brush tool for scattering objects and sprites. It’s a little limited at the moment, but that’s also getting a revamp in the coming update.
Dungeon Alchemist is by far one of the best options for map making. The main issue here is that while you can cast the map to your pals via screen share, or pop it up on a big screen when you’re all in a room together, it’s not possible to use as a proper VTT to play with friends online. That doesn’t stop it from being a fantastic and comprehensive map maker. Dungeon Alchemist is a single payment of $44.99 / £31.99, with no hidden fees and loads of great free updates incoming.
Which is the best 3D D&D map maker?
In terms of functionality and comprehensive map making, Dungeon Alchemist is top of my list, though Sigil absolutely aces things where visual fidelity is concerned. The other two offer a great middle-ground, though each one has it’s flaws.
In testing, I discovered that the more a software leans into making a working VTT, the less attention the developers tend to give the map-making side of things. As such, there’s a real sense of compromise with a lot of these as map makers. There’s a huge spectrum of options at all kinds of price ranges, but the main question you need to ask yourself when thinking of downloading one is this: What are you willing to sacrifice in order to get VTT functionality?
For some people whose campaign groups are spread across the globe, a virtual tabletop is going to be an absolute must, but if you can get all your friends in a room together (a rare occurrence, I know) it might just be worth working around VTT functionality for a smoother map-making experience.
For more, why not check out the best tableto RPGs, or learn about some of the D&D Monster Manual revamps.