Tools designed for game masters, authors, novelists, and other creators of fantasy adventures or other imaginary worlds—whether they generate names, maps, or other elements—can be a great help in sparking or sustaining inspiration.
Here is our selection of online generators, all of which are free for those on a tight budget.
Name generators
Aidedd.org
Designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, this tool lets you easily find names for your dwarves, elves, halflings, half-orcs, drakeids, gnomes, and tieflings. As a bonus, it also generates names for taverns—some of the most important locations in role-playing games, since that’s often where everything begins and ends.
Link: http://www.aidedd.org/dnd-gen/index.php
Behind the name
Although this generator is in English, it is very easy to use. Its main advantage is the wide variety of options it offers, including names of modern countries as well as ancient, mythological, biblical, fantasy, and fantastical names.
Link: http://www.behindthename.com/random/
Name Generator for Fun
Although this generator is in English, it stands out from the rest because of the variety it offers. It starts with several categories, each of which contains subcategories, as well as options to refine the results. It’s a very good generator that doesn’t produce overly repetitive results. One criticism, however, is that its organization can be a bit confusing—for example, to generate steampunk names, you have to go into the Star Wars category. Nevertheless, it’s a very good tool.
Link: https://www.namegeneratorfun.com/
Role-playing game generator
This French role-playing game generator stands out from the crowd because, while many focus solely on character names, this one also generates place names and item names. Plus, it can generate lists of treasures and even starting scenarios (in just a couple of sentences) to help you create your adventures. It’s a highly comprehensive generator that brings everything together in one place.
Link: http://www.generation-jdr.fr
Map generators
Azgaar’s Fantasy Map Generator
Undoubtedly one of the best in its category, because not only does it let you generate a random map with its own terrain and even its own borders, but it also allows you to edit it manually and save your map so you can reopen it in the generator to continue working on it.
Link: https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/
Dave’s Mapper
A very handy tool, especially for Game Masters, it allows you to generate maps of cities and dungeons. The tool stands out for the style of its maps, which are very old-school, reminiscent of classic role-playing games (or their older editions), giving them a very distinctive look.
Link: https://davesmapper.com/
Stone Sword
This generator is unique because it allows you to create maps of the world, as well as dungeons (or rooms), one square at a time. It’s ideal for role-playing games, but can also be used by anyone who wants to visualize the layout of a location in detail.
Link: http://www.stonesword.com/dungeonmaker.php
Medieval Fantasy City Generator
Created by the developer Watabou, it allows users to generate detailed maps of medieval cities, complete with all buildings and streets. A few options let you change the style of certain elements and modify parts of the map that you’d like to alter.
Link: https://watabou.itch.io/medieval-fantasy-city-generator
Card Generator
SMF Fun Cards Maker Online
Originally created for Magic, this French-language map generator can also be used for other purposes. It offers a variety of templates and numerous customization options for the elements displayed on the map, as well as the ability to include your own images (backgrounds, illustrations, etc.).
Link: http://funcardmaker.thaledric.fr/
Timeline Generator
Micetf Frise
One of the many tools offered by the Miceft website, this timeline generator can be useful for anyone who wants to visually map out the chronology of their world in a simple and clear way.
Link: https://micetf.fr/frise/
Complete generators
Roll for fantasy
Although it’s in English, it’s one of the most comprehensive tools available. It goes beyond just generating names for characters, places, objects, and maps, offering no fewer than 37 generators. Among the most useful features—which other tools don’t offer—are family trees, timelines, coats of arms, and many others. Plus, it lets you save your work so you can revisit it or continue later.
More than just a tool for role-playing games, it’s a true world-building tool that will always be useful for Game Masters as well as authors.
Link: https://rollforfantasy.com/
Dungeon
It is based on the same principle as the previous one, but is intended primarily for Game Masters. Based mainly on Dungeons & Dragons (and Pathfinder), it offers a wide range of generators, including a quest generator.
Link: http://donjon.bin.sh/
