When I first started creating my own adventures, the most daunting thing for me was creating my own maps. When I play in person, I use a simple square grid mat with markers to draw it out, fill in the blanks with some theater of the mind, and I’m good to go. When I’m publishing something however, that’s a whole different beast entirely. While handy with words, graphic design has never been my strong suit. Luckily, there’s a handful of apps that you can use to make creating your own maps all the easier.

Dungeon Scrawl

First up on my list is Dungeon Scrawl. Created by ProbableTrain and powered by Roll20, it’s probably the easiest tool out there to start using. It’s in the web, you can start right away with the free version, and it comes preloaded with tons of assets for your maps. For five bucks a month, you’re able to use the maps professionally, as they’re licensed under CC BY 4.0. With a handful of default styles to get started with and an easy to use point and click system to draw out your maps, they nail that old-school feel perfectly and are very high quality.

DungeonDraft

My current favorite to use is DungeonDraft. For a one time fee of twenty dollars, you get access to powerful map making tools and a large collection of assets that can be used to make your own maps. While Dungeon Scrawl is great for that old-school feel, DungeonDraft shines by creating more modern looking maps with a distinctive style. If you’re looking to expand the number of textures and assets, look no further than CartographyAssets. Many assets here offer commercial licenses and can be added right into the application itself. Just be warned that it does have a steeper learning curve, however I’ve been impressed so far with the functionality. And, hey, it’s a once time purchase. What’s not to love? Furthermore if you enjoy DungeonDraft, they also offer the program WonderDraft to build your own world maps.

CampaignCartographer/DungeonDesigner

Next up on my list is Campaign Cartographer/Dungeon Designer. Created by ProFantasy, they create a bundle of programs that all work together to allow you to create world and dungeon maps. While it’s a heavy application with a steep learning curve, it offers generally very good results. If you manage to pick it up through a HumbleBundle, you can pick up virtually all of their expansion packs, which provide many different styles and types of worlds you can build. While it can be daunting at first, it’s an expansive program that is definitely worth taking a look at.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. These are the three handy tools for map making that I’ve been able to try out so far. Did I miss your favorite? Leave a comment down below letting me know what it was and I’ll make sure to check it out.