"When improvising material, it’s lovely to be able to generate complex results quickly. For instance, I made a wand generator a few days ago, and now, when improvising wizards, I know I can always say exactly what sort of wand the wizard is carrying. And, because of chart-linking, I can expand this to a full on generator at a later time."
If you like to tinker with random charts then take a look at Chartopia.
Chartopia
Chartopia has a sea of charts useful for roleplaying games, with new ones being added daily. Popular ones include 101 Star Wars Encounters, adventurer corpse loot and 1000 NPC Traits.
Collections are groups of related tables, such as these Stars Without Numbers tables or collection of d100 tables.
Find charts you like with the main search bar, quick filters or collections. If you are logged in you can then save charts or rolled results you like within your chartopia account.
Build Your Own Charts
Where Chartopia excels is in building your own charts. Other tools exist for doing this but this is my favourite so far. Here is a walkthrough on how to create a simple chart.
My favourite features include importing charts from csv files, the template editor and test rolls. The developers continue to add new features every month.
I've used Chartopia to create simple charts, ones using multiple charts and the image-based Fantasy Adventure Icons. If you've got any questions about creating charts on Chartopia I'll try to help.
You can add inputs and filters to your table, such as with the simple 5E Encounter generator I created to demonstrate this.
You can use charts built by other users when you build your own. I've started a collection of tables specifically for this.
The Chartopia Team
We've interviewed Glenn McCord in the past, who creates it with another developer, Olga. They create it as a labour of love and appreciate any support.
Chartopia are active on social media, with a twitter account, presence on Reddit andpatreon page. There is also a discord channel for patreon supporters.
In the Words of a Fan
I asked one patreon supporter, Daniel J. Davis of Detect Magic, why he used it...
"1) to make all those random tables I’ve saved actually usable. Random tables in PDFs and physical books are great for inspiration or for use beforehand if you have all the tables you need in front of you. But, for actually using in a game, it’s too slow and tedious. Converting these tables to Chartopia gives me easy access to them anywhere."
"2) to make improv richer. When improvising material, it’s lovely to be able to generate complex results quickly. For instance, I made a wand generator a few days ago, and now, when improvising wizards, I know I can always say exactly what sort of wand the wizard is carrying. And, because of chart-linking, I can expand this to a full on generator at a later time."
"3) to make GM-facing and player-facing dashboards. Because you can organize charts (your own, or public ones) in folders and collections, you can easily assemble context-specific palettes of random tables. That way, you never have to flip in a book or search in a browser or app to find the information you need. Everything you need to run Dungeon X can be in your Dungeon X Collection or folder."
