donjon - RPG Tabletop Games

An Old-School Gem That Remains Indispensable for Game Masters

Website: https://donjon.bin.sh
Author: EN World user “drow” (anonymous developer)
Best For: Game Masters, solo players, OSR fans, fantasy worldbuilders

Introduction

In a world filled with polished, commercial VTTs and premium RPG content, there exists a humble, utilitarian tool that has quietly helped thousands of Game Masters for decades: donjon.

The website—officially known as donjon: RPG Tools—is a sprawling suite of free, browser-based generators designed to take the pain out of prep and put creativity back in the hands of GMs. With just a few clicks, you can generate dungeons, cities, treasure hoards, random encounters, complete adventures, names, planets, star systems, magic items, and even entire fantasy worlds.

While its spartan visual design may look like a relic from 2005, its functionality is deep, fast, and reliable—earning it a devoted following across OSR, D&D, and sci-fi circles.

Key Features

🧭 Navigation & Interface

Donjon’s UI is unapologetically old-school: a no-nonsense sidebar full of hyperlinks organized by genre (Fantasy, D&D 5e, AD&D, Sci-Fi, etc.). Each section opens to a web form or generator with simple fields—no login required, no ads, no clutter.

It’s fast. Pages load instantly. Changes happen with a single click. The minimal UI makes it mobile-friendly and ideal for quick use during live sessions.

🧰 Generators & Tools (Fantasy)

🌍 World & City Generators

Fantasy World Generator: Create entire globes with regions, climate, trade routes, and hex overlays. You can zoom in on continents, name kingdoms, and export detailed regional data.
City Generator: Outputs fully-formed fantasy cities with population, trade hubs, government types, notable NPCs, and maps. Great for improvisation.

🗺️ Dungeon Generator

Arguably one of donjon’s most famous tools, the Random Dungeon Generator lets you quickly whip up a dungeon map, complete with:

Doors, secret passages, traps
Monster listings
Encounter tables
Full stat blocks (based on selected edition: 5e, Pathfinder, etc.)

Each dungeon includes a keyed map you can print or screen-share, perfect for sandbox and hexcrawl play.

📜 Adventure & Quest Generators

Generate entire plots with goals, twists, hooks, and villains.
Supports narrative scaffolding for one-shots or sandbox injections.
Good for OSR-style games or when your players go “off map.”

🧙 NPC, Name & Treasure Generators

Generate realistic names by culture, race, or theme (e.g., taverns, ships, elven names).
Build random NPCs with stats, quirks, and motivations.
Populate loot and magic item tables instantly.

These are especially handy during improvisation-heavy sessions or for solo play.

📦 System Support

Donjon supports a broad range of TTRPG systems, including:

D&D 5e
AD&D (1e & 2e)
3.5e / d20
Pathfinder 1e
Microlite20
OSR / B/X style games
Sci-fi systems (Traveler, Star Wars, Starfinder-like content)

Each section has generators tailored to the mechanics and flavor of that system, from Treasure Types in AD&D to random spells and monsters in 5e.

🔭 Sci-Fi & Modern Tools

The Sci-Fi section is criminally underrated. It includes:

Star system and planet generators
Alien species builders
Space encounters and adventure seeds
Cyberpunk name and gang generators

While not tied to a specific ruleset, these tools are perfect for Stars Without Number, Mothership, Starfinder, or homebrew sci-fi settings.

💾 Export & Utility

All results are printable and copyable.
Some maps are exportable as PNG or HTML.
Tables are plaintext and easy to customize.
Ideal for building campaign wikis or reference docs.

There’s no login or data capture—everything is stored locally or exportable. It’s simple, fast, and secure.

Pros

✅ Completely free, no sign-up required
✅ Blazing fast and reliable
✅ Covers a wide range of genres and editions
✅ Extremely versatile for prep or improv
✅ Offline use supported (print/export)
✅ Perfect for sandbox, hexcrawl, and solo RPGs

Cons

⚠️ Dated interface may turn off modern users
⚠️ No VTT integration or live play features
⚠️ Limited visual customization (esp. maps)
⚠️ Can’t save sessions unless you export manually
⚠️ Not ideal for narrative-heavy systems like PbtA or FATE

Ideal Use Cases

Donjon is a GM’s Swiss Army knife, best used for:

Quick dungeon generation on the fly
Naming cities, NPCs, or items during live play
Building hexcrawl or open-world campaigns
Creating prompts for solo or journaling RPGs
Emergency improv when players go off-script
Worldbuilding and sandbox setup

It shines in preparation and improvisation, and it’s particularly loved by OSR fans, solo gamers, and DIY worldbuilders who value substance over flash.

Final Verdict

In a hobby filled with high-tech solutions, donjon stands out for its clarity of purpose and functional brilliance. It doesn’t try to be a VTT, a rules reference, or a character builder. It simply helps you create—worlds, maps, NPCs, and adventures—at the speed of thought.

Though its appearance might suggest a forgotten corner of the internet, donjon remains one of the most trusted and useful tools for tabletop GMs of all experience levels. It’s the kind of site you visit for a quick name and end up staying an hour, designing a dungeon and mapping a kingdom.