dnd with roll20
The pandemic interrupted our semi-weekly dnd session so after a few weeks in lockdown I started looking into alternatives. There are a dozen of online map utilities available online with varying degrees of sophistication. Unfortunately all the open source versions were pretty rough so I settled on the big daddy of online role playing tools, roll20.
The interface is complex but you get a shared map, full voice and video chat (via webrtc), fog of war, tokens that snap to grid, drawing tools, measurement tools, a crazy number of dice mechanics, and an integrated audio player all for free. Were it not for the fact it can slow down in the evenings when their servers get overloaded, it would be too good to be true.
They have a search engine that will return rules, stats, monsters, and you can fill out a character sheet and link it to a particular token.
They offer a paid option. that removes the unobtrusive ads and gives you dynamic lighting and more storage space. I don't need any of these things but after putting 49 hours into the app I've been considering it.
One thing I'm still figuring out is when to use battle maps and when to just describe what is happening. I've been making my own maps and tokens and I've gotten much better at using gimp. In fact, the more I use it the more I like it. Once you figure out a few shortcuts and how to use layers, the UI does a good job anticipating what you're trying to do.
If you're interested in getting into the game I can recommend the fifth edition. You can download the basic rules here. It is much simpler than previous editions with an emphasis on story telling over mechanics. They got a lot of stuff right with the 5e design which could explain it's recent surge in popularity.
The infrequently updated blog.