A virtual tabletop for D&D that looks like the table you wish you had
TerrainTale runs a D&D fight the way a painted miniature table does: a real place in three dimensions, minis you drag, a ruler that counts feet, and a turn tracker that stays out of the way. No rules engine, no character sheets to maintain, nothing to learn before session one.
Built around the 5-foot square
Every model in the library is authored to the same cell, so a floor tile is one square, a wall is one edge, and a Medium creature stands in one square with a Large one taking two by two. The ruler counts squares and reports feet, with your table's diagonal rule: every diagonal as 5 ft (the 5e default), 5/10/5 (the DMG variant and Pathfinder), or true distance.
Movement is charged as a mini is dragged and accumulates per turn, so "how far have I gone?" has an answer next to the name. A waypoint (Space or right-click mid-drag) charges a route around a pillar fairly.
Initiative, HP and conditions without the spreadsheet
Start combat and every miniature on the map is in the order. Roll a d20 or type the number, press N for the next turn, and the current token glows while its movement resets. The token card holds HP with quick damage and heal buttons, conditions, size and a portrait.
- Round counter and turn pointer in the top bar
- Hostile, ally and neutral rings on the bases
- Pings by double-click to point without touching tokens
Maps in minutes, not evenings
Sixteen starter scenes cover the session-one staples and far beyond: a tavern, a dungeon, a graveyard and crypt, a forest-road ambush, a castle gate, a market town, a snowbound hamlet, a witch’s swamp, a desert oasis, a storm-lashed cemetery and two cyberpunk streets. The room tool drags a floored, walled room in one motion using a kit (Dungeon, Castle, Tavern, Crypt, Cave, Manor, Cottage). The tile brush paints floors and walls that snap to the grid and orient themselves. Everything on the shelf is drag-and-drop.
Bring your own miniatures
Drop a model file on the window and it is on the table: .glb, .obj, .fbx, .stl and more; Meshy generations, Sketchfab downloads, Blender exports, Draco and meshopt compressed files included. Heavy files are simplified to a detail budget so one photoscan cannot stall the scene. For a creature with no model, any image becomes a standee token with a base.
Questions
Does TerrainTale have D&D 5e rules built in?
No, on purpose. It tracks HP, conditions, initiative and movement, and measures distance, but it does not roll attacks or resolve rules. Your books and your rulings stay in charge.
Can I use it with a different edition or system?
Yes. Anything on a 5-foot grid works as-is, and the diagonal rule is a setting. Pathfinder, older D&D editions and most OSR games fit without changes.
Does it work for in-person games?
Very well. Put the browser on a TV lying flat or a projector, switch to Play mode and the top-down view, and drag minis as the players call their moves.
Is it free?
The free plan has the whole table and keeps one saved scene; Premium keeps up to 200 and imports your own models, for $6 a month. The built-in library is entirely CC0/CC BY content, and the app is self-hostable under the repository licence.
Keep reading
3D Virtual Tabletop (3D VTT): Free, in the Browser
A 3D virtual tabletop that runs in a browser tab: realistic battle maps with walls, light and height, painted-miniature figures, a ruler in feet and initiative.
3D Battle Maps for Tabletop RPGs
Make 3D battle maps in the browser from a realistic, CC0/CC BY library: PBR floors and walls, photoscanned props, trees and lights.
D&D Initiative Tracker on the 3D Table
An initiative tracker that lives on the same 3D map as your minis: turn order, a round counter, HP with damage and heal buttons, conditions, size, and hostile/ally/neutral rings — no separate app.
D&D Distance Ruler: Feet, Diagonals, Elevation
Measure distance in feet on a real 3D grid: pick 5e's every-diagonal-5-ft, the 5/10/5 DMG/Pathfinder variant, or true distance.
D&D Beyond Maps alternative
Want more than a flat map? A D&D Beyond Maps alternative that builds the battle map in 3D: real walls, torchlight and height, realistic minis, a ruler in feet and initiative.
From the blog
The 5-foot square, and why every grid rule comes back to it
Squares, creature sizes, reach, squeezing and difficult terrain, explained as one system built on the 5-foot cell — and what breaks when a map is not authored to it.
· 6 min read
Diagonal movement in 5e: three rules, and when to use each
Every diagonal as 5 ft, the 5/10/5 variant, and true distance — how each one plays, which one your table probably wants, and how to stop arguing about it mid-fight.
· 5 min read
Running combat online without slowing the game to a crawl
Why online fights take twice as long as table fights, and eight concrete changes — turn order, telegraphing, pre-rolled initiative, a shared timer — that get the pace back.
· 7 min read
All articles on battle maps, grid rules and running the game
Ready to put a map on the table?
Open the builder and start, no account needed. Sixteen starter scenes are on the welcome screen; sign up free when you want to save one or play it with your group.