If you've visited the site before, you'll notice things look a little different. Over the past while I've been rebuilding DM Tools from the ground up and it's finally ready. The old site had been patched together over the years and had got to the point where adding anything new was more trouble than it was worth, and as many of you know, Dungeons had been offline for a long time. Rather than keep patching, I started again.
In this post, I will go over what's new, what's changed and what you need to do if you had an account on the old site.
Signing back in
Your old password hasn't carried over. The new site doesn't keep anything from the old login system, so the first time you come back, type your email on the sign in page and ask for a sign in link. Once you're in you can set a new password. There is also a "Keep me signed in" box now, so you don't have to do this every time you visit.
Your saved encounters are still there. Every encounter you saved in the initiative tracker has come across with your account. If you never got round to naming some of them, they've been named by the date they were last changed, so you can still find them.
Subscriptions carry on as normal. If you're on Silver or Gold you don't need to do anything, your plan is linked to your new account.
If you were on the free plan and have more than 10 saved encounters, you keep all of them. You can open, edit and delete them as normal, you just won't be able to make new ones until you're back under the limit or upgrade.
Dungeons is back
This is the big one. Dungeons, the 3D virtual tabletop, is back up and running. If you aren't signed in, heading to the Dungeons page drops you straight into a demo dungeon so you can have a play around before making an account. Nothing is saved in the demo, it's just there to try. Dungeons and the initiative tracker are also open source, so the code is on GitHub for anyone to read, run on their own machine or improve.
Some of the main changes:
- Fog of war - Players only see what their token can see. Walls and doors block their view, so you can finally hide what's in the next room.
- Map building - Build rooms with walls and doors right on the table.
- Campaigns and invite links - Make a campaign, send your players the invite link and move everyone between maps as the session goes on.
- Hand over the DM role - Useful if your group takes turns running games.
- Dice and initiative tracker built in - No need to swap tabs mid fight.
I do have to own up to one thing here. Campaigns, rooms and uploaded images from the old version of Dungeons have not been carried over. It had been offline for so long that bringing it across wasn't possible in a way I was happy with. I'm sorry if you had something set up in there.
Initiative Tracker
The tracker works the way it always has, but it's had a good clean up. Max HP sits next to current HP, creatures at 0 are marked as down, there's a Roll all button and you can drag rows to reorder them. You can still use it without an account, your encounters just stay in your browser until you sign in.
Dice
The dice roller has been rewritten. Click the dice you want or type a roll like 2d6 + 1d20 + 3 and throw. If your device can't handle the 3D dice, untick 3D and it'll give you the numbers instead.
Power Word-le
Power Word-le has the same list of spells, monsters and items, so the word on any given day is the same as it would have been. Your stats and streak should come across too if you play on the same browser as before. A few fixes while I was in there:
- Words with repeated letters are now scored properly.
- The marks use symbols as well as colours, so it's easier for anyone who is colour blind.
- Silver and Gold members can go back and play any past day.
No more ads
The ads are gone, for everyone. Google Analytics has gone with them, and so has the cookie banner. The only cookie the site uses is the one that keeps you signed in. I do still count visits so I know which pages people use, but it's done without cookies and I only see totals, not who you are. You can read more in the Privacy Policy. In place of the ads you'll see a small banner asking for a donation if you'd like to help keep the site running. Silver and Gold members don't see it.
The site also has a light and dark theme now. You'll find the switch at the bottom of every page, or leave it on System and it'll follow your device.
What's next
There's still plenty I want to add. Coming soon:
- Profile pictures on your account
- A newsletter for site updates (if you were signed up before, look out for an email asking if you'd still like it)
- 3D tokens
- Time and weather in Dungeons
- Premium & custom dice
If something isn't working or you're missing something from the old site, let me know at [email protected] or come and say hi on Discord.
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with the site over the years, and to everyone who has subscribed or donated. It's what has kept DM Tools going.