In our last Generators segment, we explored many of the critical time savers brought to you by donjon which, TL;DR, I recommend for DMs new and veteran alike with the guarantee it’ll change the way you play! Today, however, we’re going to look into another all-in-one content site: Kassoon!

As you can already tell, there’s a lot to cover.

This site is a cornucopia of content begging to be used to cut down your prep time, allowing you to focus more on making your sessions fun and unpredictable. If you enjoy the content you find on their site, why not support Kassoon on their Patreon?

Sadly, the customization options are locked behind a paywall

Overall, this world map generator is impressive. For those of us who struggle with creating entire continents and civilizations from scratch, the World Map from Kassoon can guide your campaign from start to finish. As you can tell from the legend in the upper-left corner of the page, the World Map comes with pre-generated towns and dungeons baked in (which we’ll cover in more depth later). Whether you want to plug-and-play everything from this map or fine-tune the cities and dungeons to your liking, I think we can all agree this is a great starting point. To save the map, click the Permalink option in the top-right corner of the page. Then, save the link to always return to the exact map you generated. To keep a PNG version of the map (perhaps as a handout for your players), click Save Image.

Unfortunately, my biggest complaint about this map is the lack of customization features for non-premium users. There’s a fully customizable map generator, Azgaar, which provides similar features (minus the dungeons) for the low, low price of free. If you combine Azgaar with the dungeon generator from Kassoon or donjon, you’ll get the same quality, if not better, for no cost.

I enjoy the level of detail provided in the Personal section!

Compared to the NPC creator in donjon, there’s no doubt Kassoon is the clear winner. With full stat blocks available for Dungeons&Dragons 3e, 5e, and Pathfinder, and the level of detail provided for each NPC’s appearance, history, and motivations, this is the best tool I’ve found so far to create fully-realized personas in a matter of seconds. Even better, you can generate up to 10 NPCs simultaneously and save their information for later by clicking the Permalink option. Filling taverns has never been easier! The only improvement I can think of would be an expanded name list, but you can fix this by using the Name Generator (see more details later).

Jam-packed with detail

Once again, Kassoon is the one-stop shop for all of your town generation needs. In addition to the comprehensive demographics information (which could clue you in as to whether the town you’ve created is more agricultural or industrial) as shown above, this generator includes the primary points of interest your adventurers may want to seek while in town:

Yes, clicking the Quests and Rumors link leads to yet ANOTHER generator

As you may have already noticed, one thing I adore about Kassoon is how almost every generator is interwoven with different ones on the site. The people, places, and things created by this site feel more realized because they’re connected to each other almost seamlessly. When I create new towns for my campaigns, I can almost always rely on Kassoon to meet all of my needs.

My only improvement, however, would be to add more detail in the town descriptions; currently the settlements get less coverage than a store or NPC. Something as simple as one or two notable non-building landmarks (e.g. a water fountain, bazaar, or sculpture/mural) in the settlement would go a long way. For now, my solution is to use the demographic and geographic information to influence the settlement’s notable features.

Simple, yet effective

When I compare this with the donjon dungeon generator, I find myself simultaneously excited and disappointed. One thing Kassoon’s generator does well that I find lacking in donjon is the ability to customize the monsters and treasures found in the dungeon. While the donjon dungeons do well to incorporate these elements based on the theme you selected (e.g. a rust monster is found in a dungeon with the Abandoned motif), they may not match the dungeon you’re trying to create. Kassoon’s solution, providing a link to the respective treasure/encounter generator with a suggestion for the treasure rarity/encounter difficulty, gives me the flexibility I need to create my ideal dungeon.

My disappointment, however, comes from the lack of detail on the map itself. While the donjon maps have a variety of options to change the design of each dungeon you generate, Kassoon maps all use the same dark brown walls with light brown floors. Unlike donjon, I can’t grab a PNG copy of a Kassoon map and have it instinctively feel like the players are traversing icy catacombs. Additionally, trying to add my own set piece images (coffins, trap images, bones, etc.) creates a stark contrast to the simple, almost cartoonish, look of the Kassoon dungeon.

Unfortunately, the contrast in image quality is enough for me to say stick with donjon.

Fun, but mileage may vary

If you need some help starting adventures for your players, this can be a nice tool to get you going. Both Kassoon and donjon are a bit lacking in the side-quest generation department, so work with both and see what fits you best. To create a new list of plot hooks, click Another!

Why aren’t these included with the NPC Generator?

As mentioned in the NPC Generator section, here is where you can create lists of character names based on gender, race, and (for humans and monsters) sub-race. All of the names inspired by real cultures (Greek, Japanese, German, Arabic, etc.) are found strictly under the Human Subrace drop-down list box. In addition, you can generate kingdom names by selecting Kingdom in the Race drop-down list box.

For all your weather, foraging, and wild encounter needs.

A feature sorely lacking in donjon (the best you have is this weather generator), the Wilderness Travel generator is perfect for adding that extra punch to your between-city adventures. As per usual with Kassoon, I love the little details they provide in the foraged items and possible sights. It’s quite impressive how much useful adventuring information you can receive on a short page.

Though the images are detailed, don’t enlarge them too much.

When I need building interiors in a flash, my first stop is the Kassoon House Map generator. Whether you’re looking for a single-room cottage, a complex mansion, or anything in-between, this generator can likely build the map for you. Using the sliders at the top of the page, you can adjust the size of the rooms, the amount of furniture on the map, or even the width of the walls. As a note of caution, you cannot rearrange the furniture placed on the map; if you need specific furniture in specific rooms, I recommend setting the Furniture Amount slider to 0% and adding your own images.

My only downside with this generator is the image quality of the map can get quite granular once you try to enlarge it, especially if furniture is placed in any of the rooms. My recommendation for this is to either add your own furniture images or to not resize the image.

Interesting, but less helpful than the Encounter Generator

Mislabeled Random Monster on the website, this page generates a list of monsters for your adventurers to possibly encounter during their travels. While it does separate each encounter per environment, each environment only displays one monster. Unfortunately, this means you may end up clicking Reroll numerous times to get all of the monsters you want for one specific encounter. In the end, I would recommend just using the Encounter Generator.

Full disclosure: I have never used this feature

The Random Dungeon Generator, unlike the Dungeon Map Generator, allows you to build classic-style dungeon maps right on the Kassoon website. However, because you have to drag each tile onto a separate web page, the back-and-forth you’ll have to do for this is more cumbersome than if you just created a map from scratch. Because I use other applications (most notably Dungeon Painter Studio) to create/fine-tune maps, I think generating an empty map in donjon and customizing it from there is a better use of your time.

Fun, but definitely homebrew

If you’re looking for some new, zany magic items to spice up your campaign, the Magic Item Generator is a great place to look. While I still prefer the donjon magic item generator, the Kassoon version offers some interesting homebrew options worth considering. Be careful when implementing these items, however, as their rarity as displayed on the website may not be in alignment with Dungeons&Dragons 5e. For example, a suit of armor which provides a +3 bonus to Wisdom would likely be Very Rare or Legendary, not Rare.

Does a player need help creating their backstory? Look no further

This generator is useful for players and DMs alike! If you need a functional history for a character, this is a great place to start. Yet again, it’s Kassoon’s level of detail that helps this generator shine. While mileage will vary per player (or even per character), this resource doesn’t hurt to have in your back pocket.

Traps of all shapes and sizes for even the most sadistic of DMs!

If the available trap options in the Dungeon Master’s Guide or Xanathar’s Guide to Everything weren’t enough for you, Kassoon has got you covered. Using the drop-down list boxes at the top of the page, you can specify the level and severity of the traps you want to generate, each with their own descriptions of effects, triggers, and possible countermeasures for your players to suffer through enjoy.

Short, simple, and possibly effective!

Ending our list of Kassoon generators with a short one, the Interesting Locations generator provides two randomly created points of interest for DMs to use as a spark of inspiration for adventures, treasures, or anything else they may need. With only two or three sentence descriptions, the usefulness of this generator will depend entirely on the DM.

Conclusion

So many generators, but at last we’re done! Take a look through Kassoon’s massive library of resources and let me know your thoughts via comments on this post. Do you agree with my assessments, or did you find some of these generators work better (or worse) for your needs?

Until next time,

Matthew Wulf

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