GM GUIDES
7 Best Discord Bots for D&D and TTRPGs
The best Discord bots make your sessions easier to run, more immersive, or both. Archivist AI tops our list because it automates the admin work for any TTRPG, alongside specialists like Avrae for D&D 5e.
Published July 17, 2026 • 5 min read
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Why Discord Bots Matter for TTRPGs
A Discord server does not get better by adding more bots. It gets better when each bot has exactly one job and nothing overlaps. This guide covers seven: Archivist AI, Avrae, Dice Maiden, Tupperbox, Sesh, Craig, and Soncraft.
Most servers do not start out this tidy. Someone adds a dice bot, then an event bot, then something for voice recording, and six months later nobody remembers which command does what. The fix is not fewer features. It is fewer overlapping jobs.
Summary Table
A quick comparison of the seven bots and the problem each one solves best.
| Bot | Best For | Use It When | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign memory, recaps, and searchable recall | You want Discord sessions remembered, summarized, and searchable later. | Campaign memory | |
| D&D 5e mechanics, dice, and initiative | You want a bot that handles rolls, sheets, combat flow, and other 5e commands. | Mechanics | |
| Simple, system-agnostic dice rolling | You want fast rolls without learning a heavy command system. | Dice | |
| Character personas and roleplay posting | You want players or NPCs to speak in character inside Discord. | Roleplay | |
| Scheduling, RSVPs, reminders, and time zones | Your table spans time zones or keeps missing the same reminder messages. | Logistics | |
| Raw multi-track Discord voice recording | You want separate speaker tracks or an editable audio archive. | Recording | |
| Curated music and soundscapes for the table | You want cinematic background music and ambience without hosting your own audio. | Audio |
Campaign Memory
1. Archivist AI: Best for Campaign Memory and Recaps
Three sessions from now, someone is going to ask who that NPC at the tavern was, and nobody will remember. Archivist records your Discord sessions, writes the recap, and keeps everything searchable, so that question gets answered in ten seconds instead of derailing the next session.
It works the same way for play-by-post. Ask who promised what, or when that faction first showed up, and Archivist pulls the answer straight from the campaign instead of making you scroll back through months of messages.
What it does well
- Live Discord session recording and recap generation
- Ask campaign questions right in Discord with @archivist and /ask
- Searchable campaign history and recall
- A compendium that tracks characters, items, locations, and factions
- Share Session Handouts, Digital Trading Cards, and Artifacts with the table
Already playing on Discord? Archivist turns every session into organized campaign memory.
Try Archivist AI free
Mechanics
2. Avrae: Best for D&D 5e Mechanics
If your table runs 5e, Avrae already won. It handles dice, character sheets, initiative, attacks, and saves directly in Discord, and nothing else has caught up.
Avrae runs combat. Archivist runs the story after combat ends. Neither one tries to do the other's job.
One limit: Avrae is 5e-only. Playing Pathfinder 2e instead? Kobold is the equivalent.
Dice
3. Dice Maiden: Best for Simple Dice Rolling
Sometimes you do not want a rules engine, you want dice that roll when you type a command and stay out of the way otherwise. That is Dice Maiden: no character sheets, no system-specific syntax to learn, just fast rolls that work the same whether the table is running 5e on Tuesday or Blades in the Dark on Thursday.
Roleplay
4. Tupperbox: Best for Character Personas and Roleplay
Tupperbox lets a player post as their character instead of as themselves. Behind the scenes, a Discord webhook swaps their username and avatar for the character's, so a paladin's in-character line does not show up next to someone's Discord profile picture.
It is built for downtime scenes and NPC-heavy threads that play out in text, not for servers that just want quick banter between rolls. If your players already do voices at the table, Tupperbox is what lets them do it in the text channel too.
Logistics
5. Sesh: Best for Scheduling
Six people in four time zones trying to agree on a session time in a group chat is how campaigns quietly die. Sesh handles the event post, the RSVPs, the reminders, and the time zone math automatically, so scheduling stops being the thing that kills your game.
It is not exciting. It is also the bot most long-running groups would miss first if it disappeared.
Recording
6. Craig: Best for Raw Discord Recording
Craig records every speaker on their own audio track and stops there. No recap, no summary, no searchable transcript.
If you edit a podcast from your sessions or just want a clean archive, separate tracks per speaker are what make that editing possible instead of miserable. Pair it with something that transcribes and organizes if you want more than raw files. It is the right kind of boring.
Audio
7. Soncraft: Best for Music and Ambience
Soncraft is built for exactly this: invite it to your server, run /play, and it streams themed, cinematic music and soundscapes into your voice channel, so a tavern scene actually sounds like a tavern instead of five people talking over dead air. It was designed for D&D and other tabletop games, and it draws on a curated, licensed library, so you are not gambling on the copyright-strike shutdowns that took out older music bots.
Want a general-purpose option you drive with your own playlists instead? Jockie Music is the reliable heavyweight, in millions of servers and pulling from Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and Tidal.
Some tables will not notice the difference. The ones running horror or heavy roleplay usually cannot go back once they have used it.
Niche Bots Worth Knowing
A few specialized bots are worth knowing about, but they are niche enough that they do not belong in the main list for most D&D tables.
- Kobold for Pathfinder 2e play-by-post.
- RPG Sessions for Star Wars RPG and Genesys.
- RPG Sage for play-by-post tables.
- DiceParser for advanced dice syntax.
FAQ
What is the best starter stack for D&D on Discord?
The best starter stack for D&D on Discord is Archivist, Avrae, and Sesh. Add Craig if you want a clean audio archive, and add Soncraft only if music or ambience is part of the table experience.
What is the best stack for a play-by-post or text-heavy campaign?
For a play-by-post or text-heavy campaign, the core stack is Archivist, Tupperbox, and Dice Maiden. Add Avrae if the system is D&D 5e.
Do I need all seven bots?
No, most tables only need three or four of these Discord bots. The right stack is the one that covers your table's recurring jobs without creating command overlap.
Should Archivist replace Avrae?
No. Avrae handles D&D 5e mechanics. Archivist handles campaign memory, recaps, and recall. They solve different problems and work best together when you want both.
What is the easiest dice bot for a mixed-system server?
Dice Maiden is the easiest dice bot for a mixed-system server. It keeps the dice workflow simple, which matters when your table rotates between systems or does not want a lot of command syntax.
If we use Craig, do we still need Archivist?
If you only want raw audio, Craig may be enough. But someone still has to turn that audio into notes. Archivist transcribes it automatically and uses Vocal Fingerprints to identify who is speaking by voice, not just context, so recaps and campaign Q&A stay accurate even with multiple people talking.
Final Takeaway
The best Discord bot stack is the smallest stack that still covers your table's recurring jobs. If your stack gives you memory, mechanics, scheduling, and atmosphere without overlap, it is doing its job. Any bot that is only adding noise probably does not belong.
Related Guides
Discord recording and recap workflow: D&D on Discord with Archivist AI. Session capture basics: How to Record Your In-Person D&D Sessions. Broader note workflow: How to Take Better TTRPG & D&D Notes. Speaker-accurate transcripts: Vocal Fingerprints and Better Audio Inputs.