Frugal GM

TableForge is an AI-powered virtual tabletop that runs your Dungeons & Dragons 5e games for you. Create a character, gather your party, and play through a living fantasy world guided by an AI Dungeon Master that narrates the story, runs combat, and reacts to whatever you decide to do. Every adventure generates its own characters, locations, encounters, and battle maps, so you can go from "let's play tonight" to actually playing in a few minutes. No DM, no prep, no scheduling marathon. /images/general-media/1785090300_1dWltGXR.png Full description TableForge started with a familiar problem: a group of friends who wanted to play D&D together but lived in different cities and could never get their calendars to line up. No regular DM, no reliable session night, just a game everyone wanted to play and no practical way to play it. TableForge is built for exactly that situation, whether you're a full party, two friends grabbing an hour, or one person who wants to disappear into a story alone. You create a character, start (or join) a campaign, and play in natural language. The AI Dungeon Master sets the scene, voices the NPCs, calls for rolls, runs encounters, and remembers what you've done, then responds to what you actually try, not just the path it expected. Talk your way past the guard, torch the bridge, befriend the monster you were sent to kill: the world reacts. That player-driven freedom is the point. The AI handles worldbuilding, encounter generation, and narration so the discovery, improvisation, and agency that make tabletop roleplaying worth it stay firmly in your hands. Under the hood, narration and rules are kept separate. A dedicated rules engine enforces 5e mechanics (AC and DCs, initiative, conditions, hit points, death saves) while the AI focuses on story and table feel. That split is why the DM can stay loose and responsive without losing track of your HP or fudging the math: the numbers are handled, so the storytelling stays free. Whether you want a one-shot, a months-long campaign, solo play, or a co-op night with friends scattered across time zones, TableForge runs in your browser (mobile, too!) and is ready whenever you are. /images/general-media/1785090304_bDgGCr3B.png Features AI Dungeon Master Runs the whole DM role: narrates scenes, voices NPCs, sets difficulty, calls for rolls, and resolves the action. It keeps the game moving, so a session feels like playing with a DM rather than filling out a form. Player-driven story The DM responds to whatever you actually try, and your choices carry forward as the campaign unfolds. The generation builds the world; you decide where the story goes. Real 5e rules, enforced A dedicated rules engine handles the mechanics (the d20 system, initiative, conditions, HP, death saves) instead of leaving them to the AI. Every roll is shown openly, so you can trust the result. Tactical combat and battle maps Fights generate a battle map and run by the book, with encounters tuned to your party. The mechanical state stays visible so you always know where everyone stands. Dynamic adventures and campaigns Every quest generates its own premise, locations, NPCs, and encounters. Campaigns persist across sessions, from quick one-shots to months-long stories as you climb toward level 20. Character creation and progression Build a full 5e hero (species, class, abilities, skills, gear) on a sheet that feels thematic, not like a spreadsheet. Level up and your features, HP, and inventory update as you go. Generated scene illustrations Key moments and locations are illustrated automatically, giving each scene a visual anchor instead of pure description. It does a lot for immersion in solo and remote play. Solo or multiplayer co-op Play solo for a focused story, or invite friends to share a campaign. Built for groups who can't get everyone together at the same time. No prep, play in your browser Nothing to install or prepare. Sign in with Google or Discord, make a character, and start playing in minutes from any browser or on your smartphone. Blog TableForge's blog has resources for players interested in using AI as a tool for their adventures: getting the most out of an AI DM, running solo and remote games, and notes on how the platform works. Links tableforge.gg - Official website r/TableForgeDM - Subreddit

Forge Steel is a community-developed, locally-hosted web application and digital utility designed for Draw Steel, the cinematic fantasy tabletop role-playing game created by MCDM Productions. Developed by independent community members during the game's playtest phase, the application functions as a lightweight encounter builder and combat manager. It is specifically built to assist Directors in organizing game data and tracking real-time combat statistics during a session. Description Forge Steel serves as a digital toolkit for preparing and executing combat encounters in Draw Steel. In contrast to cloud-based alternatives, Forge Steel relies on local browser storage. This means the application does not require users to create an account or rely on external servers to save their data. All created encounters, customized monsters, and campaign notes are stored directly within the cache of the user's web browser. This architecture prioritizes data privacy, offline accessibility, and fast load times, though it requires manual file exporting to transfer data between different devices. System Overview & Key Features Local Storage Architecture The application operates entirely within the user's web browser without communicating with a backend database for everyday use. Because it utilizes local storage, no login credentials are required. This ensures the tool remains highly responsive and can continue to function even if the user loses their internet connection during a game session. Encounter Construction Directors can use the tool to design combat encounters by selecting monsters from an integrated database. The application automatically calculates the total Encounter Value, allowing the Director to balance the difficulty of the fight against the level and size of the player character party. Active Combat Tracking During gameplay, Forge Steel provides a dashboard to manage the flow of combat. It tracks essential Draw Steel mechanics, including monster Stamina, current initiative groups, temporary status effects, and the accumulation of Villain Power. This centralized view reduces the amount of physical bookkeeping required by the Director. Integrated Bestiary The application includes a searchable bestiary containing the official monsters released during the Draw Steel playtest and early access periods. Directors can quickly filter these creatures by role, level, or faction, and view their complete stat blocks, abilities, and passives directly within the app. Import and Export Functionality To mitigate the limitations of local-only storage, Forge Steel includes manual data management tools. Users can export their prepared encounters, custom bestiaries, and campaign data as JSON files. These files can then be saved as backups or imported into Forge Steel on a different computer or browser, allowing for manual cross-device syncing. Homebrew Integration Directors have the ability to manually input and modify monster statistics. This allows users to create custom adversaries or tweak existing official monsters to fit their specific campaign needs. These custom entries are saved locally alongside the official bestiary. Additional links forgesteel.net - Official toolkit website

Released in 2014 by Chaosium, Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition is the latest version of the cult-classic cosmic eldritch horror role-playing system originally launched in 1981. The story is based off of the  literary works of H.P. Lovecraft and lovecraftian works. Instead of setting the players up as heroes, the characters are regular investigators who are exploring cults, forbidden knowledge and various eldritch-cosmic entitites and threats. Description Occupations in the game for the characters include academics, reporters, and private investigators. The gameplay loop revolves around uncovering information, analyzing clues, and evading dangers. As the supernatural elements in the game are considered more powerful than the investigators, they have are not expected to actually confront most of the threats head on. Instead they usually have to resort to avoiding or escaping any situation that may arise. Combat is lethal and usually leads to characters getting permanently killed or pushed to insanity (which eventually is the same).  System Overview & Key Features Percentile Framework (d100) Every action is resolved by rolling two ten-sided (d10) dice to get a result from 1 to 100. If you roll is equal to or under your skill rating, the action is deemed a success. This approach simplifies the mechanical process of the game, as there are no complex tables to keep track of and compare to decypher whether it is a success or failure. Pushed Rolls If a character fails a skill check, they may attempt to "push" the roll, allowing for a second attempt. This requires the player to come up with a new, more desperate approach to performing the task. If this subsequent pushed roll also fails, the Keeper describes a severe and immediate negative consequence. Sanity and Madness A core mechanic of the system is the tracking of mental stability. Investigators lose points from their Sanity gauge when exposed to anomalous creatures or disturbing truths. Drops in Sanity result in the character experiencing temporary or permanent forms of madness, which can manifest as new phobias, delusions, or a temporary loss of player agency over the character. Bonus and Penalty Dice To account for situational advantages or disadvantages, the game employs a system of bonus and penalty dice. If a character possesses a distinct advantage when performing a task, an extra d10 is rolled and taking the higher result. A disadvantage means rolling an extra d10 and taking the lower result. Combat Lethality Physical altercations are inherently dangerous by design. Investigators possess limited hit points, and the damage output of both conventional firearms and anomalous entities is high. Recovery mechanics are slow, simulating realistic healing times. This structural lethality serves to discourage combat and incentivize stealth and investigation. Expendable Luck Players can spend points from their character's Luck pool to retroactively lower a dice roll. The points are subtracted on a one-to-one basis until the dice result qualifies as a success. This ensures that the Luck pool is a limited resource which should be used and utilized in the most critical situations. Additional links chaosium.com - Official publisher website and digital storefront drivethrurpg.com - Digital repository for official scenarios and sourcebooks