The online tabletop multitool Roll20, popular with Dungeons & Dragons players, has revealed plans to implement the map-making tool Dungeon Scrawl to its myriad features.
Roll20's official blog site posted an update confirming the addition of the service to the website, which will reportedly integrate user-made Dungeon Scrawl maps into players' online campaigns. Not only this, but Roll20 will now also allow players to create maps in real-time as players progress through the campaign, which opens up possibilities for dynamic storytelling and last-minute changes to the player area.
The leader in online map-making services for tabletop games, Dungeon Scrawl lets players create custom maps for their games, including a variety of customization options from grid shapes to furniture. On the site, users can choose between hexagonal or square-shaped grids, add furniture from both built-in assets within the website or their own custom-made ones, and even choose between aerial or isometric views.
While map-making tools have existed for D&D for years, Dungeon Scrawl is one of the most popular ones due to its apparent ease of use and accessibility features. While many online dungeon masters use premade maps created on the site for their campaigns, official integration of Dungeon Scrawl into what is known as the virtual tabletop — board or tabletop games played online — will reportedly lessen the number of steps necessary to use player-made dungeon maps.
Roll20, meanwhile, effectively serves as the virtual equivalent of a dinner table hosting various tabletop games like D&D. The site allows users to upload their own official D&D character sheets, manage stats and in-game inventory, and, soon, even create area maps on the fly, among a host of other features.
Andrew Searles, the principal product manager for Roll20, also mentioned several ideas the team has for future updates to Dungeon Scrawl's VTT integration, such as an easier method of map exports to the site and a shared library of user-made maps that players can download, along with other unrevealed concepts. However, he also iterates that these ideas are just that, and there are no official plans for their implementation at this time.
According to Roll20, there is no strict timeline for when the implementation of Dungeon Scrawl will occur, though they have assured fans that the website and its services will remain fully active in the meantime. From there, players can still export their maps to Roll20, and its overall design will remain unchanged even after the integration, maintaining user access to its full array of features.
Roll20's official Dungeon Scrawl integration still has no set date, though the site has already begun working on it, so it will only be a matter of time before DMs can make huge, expansive dungeons on the fly while their players explore. In the meantime, users can test the site's full array of features at Roll20's website.
Source: Roll20