Wizards & Blizzards
Tools we love to use for running and playing games
This is a collection of links to online tools that are free to use and largely represent labors of love. There is a brief description of what the tools does, when you use it and why it is sweet. We hope you enjoy the resources and support the creators when you can!
Our friends Jonathan and Simon have a little project and part of that includes a Pendragon Character creator. Setting up your player is often complex and time consuming, but these guys are offering this up to the community for free.
Password: dollhouse
If you love RPGs and 80s Marvel comics, then you also probably collected Star Wars figures, maybe even had a Schwinn Sting Ray. If this sounds like you or a genre you identify with then Marvel Heroes Classic is a site to bookmark in your toolbox! This is a companion for the Marvel Super Heroes game from TSR and includes info from both the 1984 and 1986 versions of the rules. This site is developed by the Keyholders’ own Matt Raskin and is a really nifty tool if you want to run this game.
For starters, it makes cool character sheets: if you are looking for a set of tabletop ready pre-generated characters then look no further. There are 41 heroes of the 1986 flavor and 8 heroes and 6 villains from the 1984 vintage and the Matt is always adding more.
The rules are easy to find by topic for in game reference. This isn’t a terribly complex system, but it relies on a Universal Table that has a number of modifiers (Column Shifts). This resource includes the Universal Table and summarizes combat rules so that the GM can track these column shifts more easily. A quick read for familiarity and you are off to the table with these handy references at your fingertips.
As a fan of the early 80’s Claremont, Cockburn and Byrne Uncanny X-Men I was stoked to rediscover the 1984 RPG TSR Marvel Superheroes last winter. While I was able to find the box set, there is a huge set of resources that the author has been working on for the last 25 years. Whether you need Superheroes (Marvel, DC and more ), Villains, PDFs of the game rules, fan based house rules, or a primer on the Hellfire Club or Vibranium, this site has more than enough to satisfy that itch lives between your RPG hobby and comic collecting.
The system itself is lightweight to use and these online tools make character creation, world building and adventure design a simpler process by presenting all the data and mechanics you can use.
25 years of forum material
Historically, I’ve found it most useful during setup for games: fleshing out regions, naming rivers and towns, generating random parties or encounters, and finding sparks of inspiration when putting together a new story. It’s one of those resources you can casually browse for ten minutes and suddenly walk away with ideas for an entire session.
Looking through it today, I noticed how much broader it has become. There are now extensive monster and spell references for D&D, including 5E and 5.5, alongside support for a growing list of other systems. It’s genuinely cool to see games like Alien RPG and Blade Runner sitting alongside Pathfinder, AD&D, and multiple editions of Dungeons & Dragons. The author clearly has a deep understanding of the source material and an exceptional ability to present complex information in clean, simple, highly searchable formats.
I’ve been using this website for years, and I’m still amazed by how useful it is. It keeps getting updated by a quiet, faceless developer — supposedly somewhere in the Upper Midwest — and it has become one of those hidden gems in the tabletop RPG community that deserves far more recognition than it gets.
The site is essentially an enormous reference and utility hub for multiple RPG systems. It includes indexes, monster charts, spell lists, random generators, dungeon builders, character names, encounter tables, and even tools capable of inspiring entire campaigns. It quietly does an incredible amount of heavy lifting for Dungeon Masters and game organizers, especially during preparation and worldbuilding.
Generic Name Generator
Historically, I’ve found it most useful during setup for games: fleshing out regions, naming rivers and towns, generating random parties or encounters, and finding sparks of inspiration when putting together a new story. It’s one of those resources you can casually browse for ten minutes and suddenly walk away with ideas for an entire session.
Looking through it today, I noticed how much broader it has become. There are now extensive monster and spell references for D&D, including 5E and 5.5, alongside support for a growing list of other systems. It’s genuinely cool to see games like Alien RPG and Blade Runner sitting alongside Pathfinder, AD&D, and multiple editions of Dungeons & Dragons. The author clearly has a deep understanding of the source material and an exceptional ability to present complex information in clean, simple, highly searchable formats.
2014 5e Spell Sheet
What makes the site stand out is its straightforward approach. There’s no clutter or unnecessary presentation — just useful information organized in a way that makes it fast and practical at the table or during prep. For many DMs, it’s exactly the kind of tool that becomes indispensable over time.
Best of all, it’s free. And if you end up appreciating how much work it saves you, there’s always the option to buy the mysterious creator a coffee — whoever they are.