Bardic Tools Update - May & June 2025
Hey folks!
Borja here, coming from sunny London (I know, I can't believe it either. It's currently 33 Celsius).
After a long recovery from the UK Games Expo, I'm so back and ready to share the exciting things that have been happening. In this email:
- 🎉 New features! Favorites in The Library and Dyslexia-friendly font
- 🧛🏼♂️ Snowy Maps + Bardic Tools = Creepy vampire caves?
- 😂 The best ad for Bardic Tools you've ever seen
- ✨ New Section just dropped: DM Tips!
- 🎪 Personal update: UK Games Expo
That's... honestly more packed than I thought it was going to be. Let's go!
New Features!
It's been taunting us all since the Library overhaul.
That greyed-out icon to the right of every sound, promising that if you wait just a little bit more, you'll be able to click it and save that unique sound for later. You know the one:
Well, the wait is over! You can now save any sound in The Library, and come back to it later. Even the ones you upload!
Check it out:
Pretty cool, huh?
Of course, this is not the only feature. I met a very kind person at UK Games Expo that let me know that one of the fonts we used in Bardic Tools was very hard to read for people with dyslexia, to the point of making Bardic Tools unusable.
Unacceptable!
So now there's a global setting that changes that font for OpenDyslexic, a much friendlier font. Check it out:
Very kind user-whose-name-I-won't-mention-in-public, if you're reading this: Thank you for your patience in letting me know this, hope this new feature helps you!
Moving on!
Snowy's Maps + Bardic Tools = Creepy vampire caves?
You know who else I met at UKGE? Snowy, from Snowy's Maps!
Our booths were close together, so we were able to scheme chat a lot and get to know each other's projects (ask her about the 10 meter dungeon). Of course, we had to collab!
She just released an amazing set of maps: A giant, beautiful lake, that might or might not be home to a vampire's lair...
It is. There's a vampire there. And not the sexy, "I'm tormented because I love you too much but I'm going to hurt you" kind. The "I'm just going to hurt you" kind.
How do I know that the vampire is bad?
Well. We were brainstorming sounds to go with her maps. When we got to the vampire lair she said, and I quote, "In terms of sounds for the vampire lair, we could include things like distant screams of pain [...]".
Of course, I thought that was a brilliant idea, and came up with this little piece:
So that's the mood of the map and the scenes. I love it, and I know you love it too, don't lie.
The details:
- Bardic Tools home for the collab: https://bardic.tools/snowy
- Get the maps on Snowy's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/131804383 - Check out the lake of blood variation, it's fantastic.
We had tons of fun putting this collab together, I hope you do too!
The Best Bardic Tools Ad Ever
And the list of cool people from UKGE continues!
One of the founders of the Nerdz D&D community visited our booth, and we got chatting. Nerdz D&D is a new, vibrant community for people wanting to play D&D. They also play on camera and stream their games! So it's an amazing place to see D&D being played.
They're super beginner-friendly, and the community is growing so fast.
Anyway, they were interested in using Bardic Tools for their games, so we got talking...
And now Bardic Tools is a sponsor for them! Wooho!
They even came up with the best ads for Bardic Tools:
Isn't this super cool? It cracks me up every time.
They're awesome people, and I couldn't have asked for a better partnership. Go give them a watch!
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nerdz_dnd
- Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/Nerdz_Dnd
New Section: DM Tips From The Community!
Folks, I'm starting to suspect something.
I'm starting to suspect a correlation between using nerdy advanced tools like Bardic Tools and having great ideas about DMing.
Because our Discord is full of great folks with great ideas about how to TTRPG better.
In an effort to capture that lore, I created the #dm-tips channel, where folks can drop bits of hard-earned wisdom, for those who come after.
Today, we're highlighting one of those tips, brought by user @Miz, about how important feedback is. Here's the original post in our Discord: link. I'll intersperse some of my notes, because this is my blog and if you didn't want to read my writing why would you be here.
Something I learned from my first DM was that feedback to everyone in the game is crazy important. Players letting other players know what they liked, and players telling the DM what stood out.
Likewise, the DM will point out what they liked from each of the players as well. We call this our "3 favorites". After a session, I'll throw on some funny, or "meme" music. Before BT, it was usually All Star by Smash Mouth, or Sea Shanty from RuneScape. We now use the Kazoo covers of William Tell Overture, and Flight of the Valkyries.
Borja's Note: If you haven't favorited William Tell Overture (Kazoo), you should do it right now. It's amazing. I also recommend "Fly Chicken", and its speedy cousin, "Fly Faster Chicken".
During this time, we just chat a bit and talk about the session. Theorize, finish up some notes, and just hang out.
Borja's Note: Note down those theories quietly! Players love guessing (and being right), and you may find opportunities to change the story to fit what they predicted. It will blow. Their. Minds.
Or sometimes, you know... their ideas may just be better than ours... and we go with those instead.
To fully finish the session, we do the 3 favorites. Each of the players will say the following:
Something they liked that another player did.
Something they liked that the DM did.
And something they liked that they did.
Obviously, you can say more if you want. Usually, we'll say something we liked from each player, or a scene involving more than 1 player. Then the DM will go around and say something that stood out that each player did.
Borja's Note: Miz does something really smart here: All of these are positive things.
Usually, if you play with people who like you, they may find it hard to talk about things they didn't like, because constructive feedback is hard to give. Talking about what they loved is so much easier, and you can just do more of that in the next sessions.
It's an amazing way to end sessions on a high note, with feedback and everyone feeling accomplished. It is especially useful after a rough session (PC death, big plot twist, etc...). I've done this on every single game I've run for the past 5 years. I've seen incredible growth from all of my players with this feedback.
It also gives me, the DM, knowledge about what specifically my players like, or what my strengths are.
I would highly recommend for people to give this a try.
This tip is gold. I implemented a similar system in my campaign (called Stars and Wishes), and it improved my games immediately. And if you think about it, how could it not? You're asking people "where did you have most fun?" and then giving them more of it each session.
What do you think about this new section? Wanna see more of it? Let me know in our Discord or at borja@bardic.tools.
Personal Update: UKGE And Full-Time
This one will be short.
UKGE was a lot of fun! Every person who came to the booth was super nice, and super excited about Bardic Tools. It was honestly an unforgettable experience that I will keep in my heart forever.
However, it was also very expensive (1) and not super great in terms of sales. Plus, I got really sick for two weeks after it, so I couldn't do the part-time freelance work I usually do to keep myself afloat while Bardic Tools grows.
That resulted in a noticeable financial hit.
So, to avoid spending too much more of my savings, I'm going to have to take a bit more freelance work for the foreseeable future, which will have an impact on Bardic Tools (as in, I won't have as much time for it). It's temporary, and the goal is to make more than I spend until I can confidently coast on savings for another stretch and re-focus on Bardic Tools :D
Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted.
Borja
(1) Ask me how much one power outlet to a booth costs. The answer will shock you 😉.