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Morrius

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 23, 2007
95
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Are there any tabletop RPG players (D&D, etc.) out there that use their iPad for their games? If so, what apps do you use in your game?
 
You mean DM assistants?

There's "Hit Track" (tracks hit points only)
"i4e" that is a character assistant (all kinds of fill in info)
"DnD Scribe" is an even better character tracking app

There are several dice roll generators (Crit, Dice Roller, and D20 gaming)

I dont' think any of these are iPad yet :(

I think there is a DM assistant type but can't find it right now.

"RPG Dungeon Room" is a random room generator...good for random encounters.

Anyone else?

Jay
 
You mean DM assistants?

There's "Hit Track" (tracks hit points only)
"i4e" that is a character assistant (all kinds of fill in info)
"DnD Scribe" is an even better character tracking app

There are several dice roll generators (Crit, Dice Roller, and D20 gaming)

I dont' think any of these are iPad yet :(

I think there is a DM assistant type but can't find it right now.

"RPG Dungeon Room" is a random room generator...good for random encounters.

Anyone else?

Jay

wow do people still play d&d. i haven't even thought about that in 20years.
 
Well, more than just DM assistants.

You can get PDFs of your rulebooks and read them from the iPad. You can keep your character sheet in there too. You can use a drawing utility to make maps... There's lots of things you can do. :)
 
Well, more than just DM assistants.

You can get PDFs of your rulebooks and read them from the iPad. You can keep your character sheet in there too. You can use a drawing utility to make maps... There's lots of things you can do. :)

oh man i totally forgot about the books i ordered on drivethrurpg.

thanks lol
 
I play and was thinking about this same thing a few days ago. I wanted something to manage my character and cards as I hate printing them, carrying them around and having to write and erase until I need a new character sheet. Ive never found anything I liked so I started writing one that would satisfy my needs. Wizards has very strict rules about software programs for managing characters, since they have one themselves, so I'm not sure if or how I could make it public.
 
You mean DM assistants?

There's "Hit Track" (tracks hit points only)
"i4e" that is a character assistant (all kinds of fill in info)
"DnD Scribe" is an even better character tracking app

There are several dice roll generators (Crit, Dice Roller, and D20 gaming)

I dont' think any of these are iPad yet :(

I think there is a DM assistant type but can't find it right now.

"RPG Dungeon Room" is a random room generator...good for random encounters.

Anyone else?

Jay

DnD Scribe seems good, but it doesn't support some of the alternative races and classes. I can't wait until someone writes a comprehensive character management app for 3.5e for the ipad. I'd love something that would allow me to check a box and adjust my stats for buff spells, etc. and to keep track of how many times you've used items, spells, or feats in a day.
 
Quite funny, I was actually working on an interactive 3.5 Character Sheet (with spell book) for the iPad but then I remembered how nazi Wizards is about the whole thing and left it on the backburner...
 
A slate type device has been one of the holy grails for roleplaying games for some time now, the iPad looks to be a wonderful tool for having at the table. You can have your entire RPG library at hand on pdf and you'll likely be able to track your character with an online character sheet or form fillable pdf.

Here is a pretty good review of its use for D&D 4th edition, along with several tools to use with the iPad.
 
It seems like this is an untapped revenue stream for Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro, whomever owns D&D right now to open up an app. Imagine D&D on an iPad + iTouch/iPhone similar to the way Scrabble plays.
 
have you guys thought about contacting wizards and maybe showing them what you've got, and if they're interested in buying it from you? Could be a win-win... unless they're already working on their own iPad app.
 
I have big D&D plans for me and my iPad. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting on the 3G model, so I can't tell you how well they work out.

When I heard about the iPad, I did some math. I had always wanted an smartphone (not for the phone but for the 3G) to stay connected to web/emails when I wasn't at home or near a computer, a new laptop for writing on the go (the best time to write, for me), a kindle to continue my consumption of books wihtout finding a place to store them, an ipod because I just never got around to buying one.

The iPad was a strong draw from day 1 because it combined a lot of these functions that I had put off buying devices for and now allowed me to sort of save money by just buying one device that does all of these things, but at 729 for a 32gig, 3G, I was still on the fence.

What finally pushed my over the edge and convinced me to put up the money for a pre-order was the idea of using it at the table at D&D, eliminating the need for physical books and a paper character sheet.

I've always felt that a computer at the gaming table had the potential to be the most useful play-aid you will ever own, but I've always been dissapointed by just how intrusive even a little netbook is at the game table. I even bought myself a DS-Lite and a R4 card and started writing my own custom combat trackers and character sheets in C, but the screens were just too small and the video-game optimized interface wasn't cutting it. The iPad is the first device to come along that is as discreet and portable as a handheld device, but nearly as big and easily manipulated as a real computer.
 
I wrote a 4e app for OS X that just manages powers. I'd like to make an iPad version, as it'd be pretty easy to bring over, but I'd rather not get sued into oblivion by WotC (I'm the only user of the desktop version, at the moment). Does anyone have any info on their approval process? Or where to contact them?
 
Quite funny, I was actually working on an interactive 3.5 Character Sheet (with spell book) for the iPad but then I remembered how nazi Wizards is about the whole thing and left it on the backburner...

Maybe since 3.5 is no longer the current edition, they wouldn't care as much. I would buy it if you ever release it. They haven't madeanyove to release their own apps, so I think debs should go for it.
 
Maybe since 3.5 is no longer the current edition, they wouldn't care as much. I would buy it if you ever release it. They haven't madeanyove to release their own apps, so I think debs should go for it.

They are so nazi that you either develop for 3.5 or 4.0 edition. Not both.

But that may just be for books.

I could try and dedicate a few days this month to have a working prototype and see what they say about it.
 
Been doing it since the iPad came out, but the use is a bit limited as my DM (as is his right) decreed that character sheets must be physical and hand written AND dice must be physical and actually rolled.

One thing I'm wondering, and since this seems to be the proper audience for the question.....has anyone tried any of the other PDF programs aside from GoodReader? Don't get me wrong, I love it....and for most of my books it works fine, but it tends to very much not like my PDF copy of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. Granted, it's 100 megs, kinda image heavy, and 580 pages. But the moment you put a picture on the page, even a small one, it goes it takes 4-5 seconds for a page, and the chapter images usually take about ten seconds. Just wondering if anyone has tried any of the other PDF apps.

They are so nazi that you either develop for 3.5 or 4.0 edition. Not both.

Hehehehe...ever hear of Ema's Character Record sheets? Wizards shut them down, and I think it was over something as trivial as using the sidebar graphic found in the books and the D&D logo. I still think it's cause he made a much better sheet than they did! :D
 
Hehehehe...ever hear of Ema's Character Record sheets? Wizards shut them down, and I think it was over something as trivial as using the sidebar graphic found in the books and the D&D logo. I still think it's cause he made a much better sheet than they did! :D

I suppose I have to make it a generic D20 character sheet to avoid such a thing. My plan was always to use my own artwork anyway.
 
Your Ipad is entering a Large Dark room, with cobwebs and a breeze blowing. Your ipad moves toward the center of the room, Oh no, your Ipad has stepped into a trap. It is surounded by three Mine flairs. Your Ipad pulls out its vopal sword. (dice roll) You roll a 4 (Monster dice roll) they roll a six. The mind flair suck the brains out of your ipad, it falls to the ground Dead!

But your clerick has a potion of healing, he pours it on your ipad. Oh No that has caused your ipads moisture sensors to turn red. Now your ipad is dead, and apple wont give you a new one. Better luck next time adventurer.
 
Beyond just using it for character sheets, books and dice rollers, I'm still setting up an ipad friendly wiki site for our group to use to keep track of campaign notes.
 
Just want to mention a site I found last night called iPlay4e (don't have a link on hand, but it's probably google-able).

It uses google docs to make interactive character sheets and, if you have a logged in D&D insider account, displays rules text in the sheet for powers.

Only downside that I can see is that on a pc, you can hover over a value to see all of the modifiers that are contributing to it, but we have no hover on the ipad.

There's a standard view for desktops/notebooks, a tighter tablet view that fits everything in a 1024x768 frame, and a super tight view for the iphone.
 
I carry my character sheets and power cards with me but do use my laptop to combat track and my iPad to bring along all my books. As a DM, I'm running adventures right off of the iPad through Goodreader and as a player I'm using iplay4e.com along with the WotC Character Builder to run characters. It's amazingly helpful! :D
 
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