I’ve always loved playing D&D in person, but prepping physical battlemaps used to eat up hours of my prep time.

I tried everything: tiling in Photoshop, printing by hand, cutting and gluing sections together, overlaying grids in GIMP… and honestly, it often felt like more work than it was worth.

So a year ago, I started building a tool to fix that.

I shared the first version with a D&D group, half-expecting no one to care. But it exploded. 900+ comments, hundreds of likes, and so much interest it tripped Facebook’s spam filter when I tried responding to everyone.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one frustrated by how hard it is to bring digital maps into physical games.

The tool is called Paper Map Generator. You upload any digital battlemap, and it turns it into a printable, to-scale PDF, with all the hard stuff handled for you.

• Slices your map across multiple pages (based on your preferred paper size)
• Adds a grid if needed (square, hex, isometric, or universal)
• Aligns the cut lines with your grid to avoid messy seams and half tiles
• Supports 1-inch accurate scaling and borderless printing for no cutting
• Numbers each piece and includes a final-page assembly guide

"But isn't this basically just Posterazor?"

Totally fair question - Posterazor was actually one of the first tools I tried back in the day!

It’s great for general poster slicing, but I ran into a few D&D-specific issues that it doesn’t really solve:

• No support for grid alignment (which matters when you’re trying to keep 1-inch squares consistent across multiple sheets)
• No way to add or customize grids if the map doesn’t already have one
• No assembly guide or automatic numbering - which makes it harder to assemble at the table
• No built-in borderless printing or scale control without doing the math yourself

So I built this tool specifically for DMs trying to bring their digital maps into physical play without spending hours in Photoshop, GIMP or doing the math by hand.

Here's a video of it in action.

I also just added Room Mode, where you can mark specific areas of your map and generate a PDF with only those rooms. It’s a super practical way to implement IRL fog of war at a physical table - you print and reveal only what the players explore, no post-its or spoilers.

The tool’s still in closed beta, and I’m looking for more folks from r/DnDIY to test it out and help make it better.

If that’s something you’d use, drop a comment or send me a message so I don't miss you - I’ll send over a beta invite (via Discord).

Curious too:
What’s been your biggest challenge when trying to use digital resources in your physical game setup?
Always looking to improve this for the DIY crowd.

Happy to answer any questions if you're curious. Thanks for reading!

So don't jusldge too harshly, it's mostly made from used pallet wood and cheap or free fb marketplace finds.

We have an unfinished basement that was just collecting junk.

Hi, I wanted to show off my DIY setup. I really wanted a DM screen with a built-in monitor, since I always use my PC and never a laptop. The battlemap is pretty “standard,” except that I use the Corsair Xeneon Edge to display the turn order. I built this together with a friend, though “together” is a bit of an exaggeration because he actually did most of the work :D

I’m definitely very proud of it and think it turned out really well.

EDIT: Since some of you have asked how exactly this was built, I can only emphasize again: I got a ton of help from a friend who owns some big machines. I’ll give a rough explanation of how we went about it in the comments, but if you want detailed information, you can contact my friend directly (advertisement, I guess?): https://hawiwe.de/

He might give you the milling plans in exchange for a small donation or make something for you if you need it. He’s definitely better at answering technical questions than I am right now.

Edit2: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDIY/comments/1wrggbg/making_of_my_dnddiysetup/ Making of by my friend PhilroyJones

I utilize this whiteboard a lot while running dnd and my first time players just finished their first campaign. I picked it up for free from a church who was doing renovations.

I also had my players paint minis and stick magnets under them so we could have them up on the board. Here’s a compilation of the different looks the board has taken over the last year of play.

The final slide is a timeline I made so new members could understand what has happened thus far, before we begin Storm Kings Thunder

Campaign Source Materials:

• Dragon of Icespire Peak

• Lost Mines of Phandelver

• Clockwork Odyssey (Homebrew)

cya next year :)

Edit: i’ll compile the rest of the designs in a future post!

I'm the IT director for my company and we are moving offices soon. This 90" advertisement tv that we were using as a conference room tv wont be moving with us. This is a 12 year old model and only gets to 1080p so its not great as a tv. But i think it could have a new home as a massive DnD table.

Ive only played a few DnD oneshots, the last being with a false hydra. But figure someone would want such a table. Or at least the tv for a table.

Could probably find a pane of glass large enough to place over it as protection.

Hi Folks,

I'm Dafydd with Terraintronics. I run an EZD6 game for my 14-year old and his friends. I created bosstags to help up the theatrics at the table, as modern video games leave them expecting a little more from their entertainment!

If you're a DM that keeps a laptop to hand, this setup is a Chrome browser website that you open from your PC. (no subscriptions, no special apps needed!).
It works with player facing screen and an RFID card scanner that can read small 1" tags you can fit in the bases of your mini's, or ID cards that are easily sourced.

I'm still developing the tool, adding features to help the DM, like initiative trackers and hit point trackers that can run quickly and efficiently. I want to add a sound effects system that allows the laptop to play your atmospheric effects etc.

If you're interested in providing feedback, or getting early access to this technology, I have a discord server that you're welcome to join where you'll get rapid access to the files (and keyboard shortcuts that emulate the scanner!)

http://discord.terraintronics.com/

There's a basic question to keep scammers out, but I'm pretty quick to approve if you mention Bosstags!

Happy to answer a few questions here too! Thanks again for checking it out!

EDIT: Yes. This Prototype used AI Art. I'm an electronic engineer, not an artist. However, 12 characters are already commissioned from an artist and in the latest build (at an upfront cost of $400). More will be added as the tool develops.

Spent the last couple weeks building a DnD TV table from scratch with a litle help from my dad. The planks are made from alder.

House rule: Hit by fireball, drink some fireball!

Me and my daughter made this over a weekend almost 2 years ago, it has served me and my group well. I just wanted to show it off, it's nothing special and not without its flaws, but we built it together. The pictures are at my old house (basement game room) and new house (living room gaming room). Also, Im never going to burn the legs like I did the top (I just don't want to) and the blue piece of wood is intentional, I put a blue piece in everything I build.

I got a cheap $40 projector on Amazon and rigged it up today. I would like to use miniatures on the projected maps. I think it turned out pretty good, and I'm wondering what digital resources you DMs out there may use for a setup like this?

My first DMing experience will be soon with Stormwreck Isle, and I have the digital assets through DnD Beyond. I'll be using the DND beyond VTT for those maps, but I'm sure there will be other maps needed that aren't part of their set (like misc encounters). What resources do you all recommend for making other maps, and what is your preferred VTT (if not DND beyond)? I saw Dungeon Alchemist on steam and that looked pretty promising.

Woodcarving is a seriously sweet hobby!

You need several things, a sharp knife, a leather strop with compound for honing your blade, safety gloves (A5 or better) and basswood (to carve like i do at least.)

Solid Knife brands, Flexcut, Badger State Blades (USA), Mstein (Europe) there are a lot of great knife brands. Stay away from kits on amazon of several knives. They're much much lower quality with inconsistently tempered steel. (What that means is its not hardened, and so it won't stay sharp easy, meaning you're fighting the knife and dont understand why its harder for you to carve when its easy for others.)

Why Basswood? Its softer than other hardwoods and holds detail well. Learning to carve with basswood is akin to learning to drive on an automatic. It simplifies and streamlines learning. Woods like Walnut and oak can be carved, but learning to carve with them as the starting point is like learning to drive on an 18 wheeler Semi Truck with manual transmission. Its needlessly difficult.

I received a 43-inch TV as a gift from one of my players to use for D&D. Of course, we couldn't say no! It works fantastically. The TV is protected by plexiglass, and the crossbar, which also houses the power strip, is very stable. And of course, LED lighting makes it look great!

Had some stage lights leftover from roommates wedding, some random planks, clamps, and rope.

Recently joined the dnd group of a friend of mine. They’ve been talking about a custom table for years, but never had someone handy enough to help them. So I helped them build it. The DM needed 2 sockets and a drawer, all the players a dicetray and usb-c charger. Ofcourse a tv in the middle protected with glass

Really happy with it.

Started playing dnd in januari and really am in love with it. I wanted a display on the table for battles, but didnt had enough room for it to place. So I crafted a DM screen.

Was in the market for getting a custom dnd/ board game table. Looking around the cheapest ones are still around the 2k range. I decided to see if I can make the table instead. I bought some plans, wood and equipment. After a month of working on my off days I’m finally done! Can’t wait to play some games on this bad boy. Plus the sense of accomplishment on building something from scratch is so satisfying.

My printer broke and I wanted very basic character sheets for a one-shot. I have an iterative process, so the first page has a lot of whiteout that I needed less over time.

This is what I did for 3 players mind you. We're going to play SkelJW (itch) and I wanted a bit more DnD5e for the last one-shot before we start our 5e campaign. These sheets should be used mostly for combat. I originally wanted to make the 6 presets to surprise my players at the table, but I'm letting them make their characters already so I only end up needing 3 of the 8. Which I'm so fine and happy about.

Made my first dice box for my wife so she can finally stop storing her dice in a plastic container.

Cut with an 80w CO2 laser with box structure from Vasily39.