Easy 3d Drawing Software Dungeons and Dragons

Everyone who has played Dungeons and Dragons knows that battle maps help make a game more immersive. But one thing dungeon masters often don't know is how to create a great-looking battle map without taking up too much of their precious prep time or needing great artistic skills. There are many tools available on the market today for creating D&D maps, and we're going to take a look at the best ones.

Types of Map Makers

There are 2 types of map maker tools, tools that create world maps and those that create dungeon maps.

• Battle Map Makers – these tools are specifically for mapping out dungeons and other in-game maps, generally used with tokens or miniatures to represent players and monsters during exploration or battle. This could be a dungeon, but it could also entail a city, tavern, or outdoor maps. This is the type of map we are looking at in this article.
• World Map Makers – these tools create a map of the world or region that you're building, to give a birds-eye view of the location – if you are interested in these see our article on the Best World Map Makers.

Our Quick Recommendation

There are a lot of different map makers available for battle maps, and to be honest, they're all pretty good options for different reasons. We've based our top choice on simplicity, as we want something that will get you going quickly while preferably still being powerful enough to grow into.

We go through a lot of details of the features of available software below. If you want a quick recommendation these are our top picks for map maker tools:

Ranking	Tool	Price	Main Features
#1	Dungeondraft	$19.99	Powerful yet intuitive 3rd party art packs available One time fee Install on your computer
#2	DungeonScrawl	Free	Completely free Hand-drawn style Simple enough to get started in minutes
#3	Inkarnate	Free – $25/year	Battle and World Maps Online subscription service 10 maps for free Powerful yet intuitive Many map styles

Best Free Dungeons and Dragons Battle Map Makers

#1 Dungeon Scrawl (Simplest to use)

Dungeon Scrawl is an online map maker that lets you make basic maps that look hand-drawn.

Dungeon Scrawl is a basic program that excels at what it does but only does one thing. Because of the simplistic design, you can make any sort of battle area you desire, from buildings to cave caverns and dungeons, and you don't have to worry about what assets you have available.

Because the UI is incredibly easy to use, Dungeon Scrawl is the ideal solution for rapidly creating maps.

Inkarnate is a preferable option if you want your dungeon to be filled with detailed features, but it will take considerably longer to make a map and the free version is limited in the number of maps you can make. All of the maps made in Dungeon Scrawl are in the same hand-drawn style, so this isn't the solution for you if you want to be able to emulate real-world textures.

You can also import and alter pre-generated maps using the Donjon Random Dungeon generator (which we talk about in our article on map generators), which could speed up your map creation process.

This is the option for you if you just want to get started building a simple map for free.

Pros:

• It's online & free
• You can get started in minutes
• Maps are nice and simple

Cons:

• Only makes hand-drawn looking maps
• Can't save online – need to download your files

#2 Inkarnate (Most Popular)

Constructing a battle map is a more recent addition to Inkarnate, but it's ideal for creating encounter maps and then having the same familiar software to create world maps. There are quite a few different types of tiles available for maps, so you'll end up making quite an aesthetically pleasing map.

Because of the excellent UI design and navigation, Inkarnate is an easy to use option. It's possibly the best free map maker on the market, however, the free edition only allows you to make 10 maps and has limited assets so you'll likely end up wanting to upgrade.

Pros:

• Can make battle and world maps
• Online editor – you don't need to install the software and can edit from anywhere
• Intuitive UI so quick to get started
• A powerful tool that will grow with you

Cons:

• Limited assets in free version
• Can only make 10 maps in the free version
• Large maps can take time to make

#3 BattleMapp.io (Most features)

This is an in-browser map creator that creates combat maps using tiles from a big asset collection (in a similar way to how Inkarnate works). The maps can be top-down 2d or isometric 2d in design (which looks 3d). BattleMapp focuses on making maps for a single encounter for use in online games, so it may not be the best choice if you want to save or export your maps.

BattleMapp is created by a single individual who is highly active and responsive, and new features are added regularly.

This software is available for free, but you can also pay for extra models and content through a Patreon membership. This is the most feature rich map making software that is available for free, but the learning curve can be a bit steep to learn to use this powerful software.

Pros:

• It's online & free
• Offers 2D and 3D maps
• Powerful map-making software
• Lots of assets that match the given style

Cons:

• Still in Beta
• Steep learning curve
• No way to save maps, export maps or undo/redo

#4 Dungeon Fog

There are tons of pre-made tiles included in Dungeon Fog, and you can quickly design a dungeon or adventure map by mixing and matching these tiles. If the stock tiles don't exactly match your adventure, Dungeon Fog also has drawing tools that you may use to change the tiles or build your own, as well as the ability to upload your own assets from the internet.

You can access all the assets with a free account, but you can only have three maps at a time. If you simply want a one-time map, this is a fine choice, but if you want to upgrade the membership is much more expensive than Inkarnate, plus it's less user-friendly and has fewer capabilities.

The same company is currently working on Project Deios, which seems like a terrific improved mapping program that can handle world, region, and dungeon maps and will be a rival to something like Inkarnate.

Pros:

• Free version gives you all assets for 3 maps
• Marketplace if you need more assets
• Sell on-demand codes (one time codes so you can make a bunch of maps rather than sign up to a subscription service)

Cons:

• Ongoing subscription fee or on-demand codes – we prefer 1 time purchases
• More expensive than Inkarnate
• Not as nice UI as Inkarnate

Best Paid Dungeons and Dragons Battle Map Makers

#1 Dungeon Draft (Best choice for quick dungeons)

Our preferred battle map program is Dungeondraft. It's a low-cost one-time purchase, the learning curve is short, the maps are attractive, and it exports nicely to virtual tabletop software.

There are many assets in a cartoony style supplied, and you can also import new assets if you don't want to keep with the in-built asset style. There are both free and premium asset packs available, however, they all have diverse art styles that often don't mix well.

This is software that you must install on your computer rather than using in your browser like Inkarnate, so keep that in mind if that is a concern for you. Its companion application, Wonderdraft (which we talk about in our article on world map makers), is also a fantastic choice for creating world maps.

Pros:

• Powerful yet intuitive
• 3rd party art packs available
• One time fee
• Installs on your computer

Cons:

• Not online – can't edit from anywhere
• Only cartoony art style included, need to get more asset packs for other styles (though some are free)

#2 Inkarnate Pro (Best overall choice)

We've already talked about this software's features in our section on the free version above. This is probably the best paid choice if you want software that can do everything – you can make some very awesome world, regional, and battle maps. Inkarnate is probably the most popular choice for making all sorts of maps for D&D and for good reason. It's full featured, intuitive to use, and the asserts included make all the maps look good.

However, it can be a bit time-consuming to make a large map with many rooms because of the level of detail needed. The other major con of this in comparison to Dungeon Draft is it's a yearly subscription instead of a one-time cost, but it's not very expensive if you're making maps for your games often.

Pros:

• Can make battle and world maps
• Online editor – don't need to install the software and can edit from anywhere
• Intuitive UI so quick to get started
• A powerful tool that will grow with you
• Many assets for different style maps

Cons:

• Ongoing subscription fee – you'll get charged every year
• Large maps can take time to make

#3 Dungeon Painter Studio

Dungeon Painter Studio is available through Steam and you then install it on your computer. It is a one-time purchase and is quite reasonably priced.

The software comes with a good number of assets, and you can also add your own. It takes a little artistic talent to make something that looks decent, but the elements are all available and the UI is relatively user-friendly.

The assets that the community shares are the program's main benefit. For many other applications you need to subscribe to or purchase assets in order to create maps, but with Dungeon Painter Studio, you'll almost certainly be able to find any sort of material you're looking for already created by someone in the community.

Pros:

• One time fee
• Installs on your computer
• Huge amount of assets made by the community

Cons:

• Older software with older UI

3D Map Makers

We've added some additional map makers to this list that are quite new to the scene, that is 3D map makers. These are best used if you're running a game online or want to have a map to display on your TV. You need a computer that can handle the 3D modeling, but these maps will provide a unique experience for your game.

Talespire

In Talespire, you create 3D battle maps, which you can then export or use in the software for tabletop or online play. You can create awesome looking 3D battle maps with the simple yet powerful map editor.

This application uses a tile-based system, so although the maps are three-dimensional, you can quickly create some pretty nice looking maps. The learning curve for this application isn't too steep once you get the hang of it, it's pretty natural and comfortable. The assets are stunning, and they all compliment one another beautifully.

The only drawback is the cost, it's cheap for the quantity of content, but if you're playing online and want to utilize the virtual tabletop functionality then each player must purchase their own copy of the software.

Pros:

• 3D maps look awesome
• A tile-based system means it's still easy to make maps

Cons:

• Expensive for the DM and all players to buy
• 3D maps are further from traditional tabletop game and look more like a video game

Wildshape

Is a brand-new rival to Talespire, with a vibrant community that loves it. The amount of realism and natural beauty that Wildshape allows you to achieve is just unrivaled. Wildshape is a simulation for those extremely detailed real-world battle map models you see on the likes of professional tabletops such as in Critical Role.

This is a very different product from Talespire in that it is much more free-form, which comes with a learning curve. Expect to take some time getting used to producing in a 3D world, as it won't be as simple as dragging and dropping like in tile-based software. The maps developed appear to be far more realistic and allow for a 3d landscape that you won't find in any other software. Learning Wildshape takes time, but the payoff is worth it.

Like Talespire both the DM and the players must buy this on Steam if you want to use the virtual tabletop capabilities, which is a bit of an investment. You'll also need to ensure that your computer has adequate graphics for 3D modeling.

Pros:

• 3D maps look awesome
• Complete power over the 3D maps you can make

Cons:

• Expensive for the DM and all players to buy
• Steep learning curve
• 3D maps are further from traditional tabletop game and look more like a video game

Dungeon Alchemist

This is top-down 3D rather than true 3D, but the fact that it's an AI map builder is what makes it so cool. When you drag to create a room, the room is automatically populated with things that you may move around and adjust the size of objects if you want to. This allows you to create detailed dungeons on the fly.

It's a one-time fee, and it has yet to be launched out of beta and to the general public, but it's definitely one to keep an eye on.

Pros:

• Quickly get a map up that looks immersive
• 3D maps still look like a tabletop, not a video game
• Can convert maps to 2D for printing
• Editing features still give control of the map

Cons:

• Only creates maps in a single style
• Still in Beta Access so you'd be pledging for software that's not 100% ready yet
• Pre-filled maps could cramp your style

Map Generators

If you don't have enough time to make your own battle maps even using the tools we have outlined above, you should check out our article on the best map generators for software that will create a map for you.

Closing Thoughts

With the overwhelming number of map-making tools out there, it can be hard to choose which one is best for you. We've provided some great information about each tool and what makes them unique so that you can make an informed decision on your own. If you're still overwhelmed, go check out the free version of Inkarnate as you can get started online for free.

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Source: https://sordbord.com/the-best-dungeon-and-dragons-battle-map-makers/

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