What Apps can't you live without for tabletops RPGs either on iPad, Android, or PC?

Arravis · Apr 21, 2013

So as some of you know from my earlier thread (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?336123-In-need-of-advice-laptop-vs-ipad-for-tabletop-gaming!) I'm considering purchasing some kind of tablet to help me as a DM and perhaps my players at the gaming table. I know the apps available for table-top gaming vary widely based on the OS you're using. So I would love to hear what apps you guys use and in what respective OS/tablet they are.

So are there any apps out there you guys can't live without?

-Arravis

techno · Apr 21, 2013

I am very dependent on Combat Manager for iPad to run my Pathfinder game. I have tried many combat management and rules reference apps but this is, by far, my favorite. It is easy to use and greatly speeds up our combats to help keep the story moving.

Whizbang Dustyboots · Apr 21, 2013

I'm all about the Dicenomicon.

Piratecat · Apr 22, 2013

What Apps can't you live without for tabletops RPGs either on iPad, Android, or

I use Machdice all the time. In Shadowrun I have to roll 23d6 and sort by result; it's a huge help. It also saved my butt while rolling iterative attacks with huge sneak attack dice for my epic level 3e rogue.

Radiating Gnome · Apr 22, 2013

For 4e, the iPad has a few key apps IMO:

1- The Compendium app. The search is actually better than the online search in the actual compendium, IMO.
2. i4e for character sheets.
3. A good PDF reader or two. I'm using iAnnotate PDF and Goodreader.
4. Evernote for all kinds of notes. Use it in combination with Skitch, which is an image grabber tool very handy.
5. Feedly, or some other pretty RSS reader.
6. A Twitter app. There's often good stuff going on out there.

Actually, only the first two are 4e related.

I'm a fanboy of Razeware's Battle Map -- it's terrific for quick maps if you're using some sort of digital tool to display maps for games.

There are a handful of random generator apps that are handy to have when you need a quick NPC name and you're not prepared.

Dicenomicon is very, very cool, but I mostly still roll dice. Call me a grognard. We also do initiative in a very lo-tech way, not on the ipad.

Gamer's abacus is pretty cool for tracking a bunch of different information.

I've played around with Comic Life and Keynote, both, to create more visually interesting recaps of previous sessions for my games, but don't often have the time to put in the work.

-rg

PS -- these old columns of mine might have a few more ideas:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?477-Gamehackery-Convention-Gear
http://www.enworld.org/forum/conten...agazines-Apps-and-Getting-Your-Gaming-Content

Tanstaafl_au · Apr 22, 2013

1) Dropbox. Lets you keep a much bigger library of books than your iPad could normally hold. Plus if you get your players to sign up, handling notes becomes paperless and effortless.

2) Good reader. Handles more tabs than the adobe pdf reader, handles lots of other formats (even zip/rar), intergates nicely with dropbox.

I have a few dice apps. and design apps, but those two I use every game now.

Ketherian · Apr 23, 2013

I use a PC.

1) Tiddlywiki. It holds almost all the campaign info I need, logs, etc. I use a variant from the basic version called Tiddly Tools.
2) System-specific character generator. It's for Harnmaster only. I also use Hero Lap (for a Mutants and Masterminds campaign) and have used PCGen in the past (for a Pathfinder campaign or two) as well as the default excel spreadsheet (usually with highly-customized campaigns or when I can't stand the print-outs available from the character generators).
3) Obsidian portal campaign specific website. Discovered it before I found out enworld offered similar services. It's the public face of the campaign and is the spot the PCs post their logs, and I provide proper spelling of NPCs, background and rules modifications on a forum almost everyone can see. Obsidian portal has a serious display issues when viewed from a mobile (phone) platform. iPad/tablet is ok.
4) Game-specific Online resources. House rules, other fan-run websites, etc. HarnMaster has a large and well-organized fan base, so finding articles (typically in PDF) is pretty easy.
5) Email. Online calendar. Shared documents. I use google, but any service would work for these three.

Vael · Apr 23, 2013

Any of these great iOS apps available on Android? I have both a phone and Android tablet, but iPlay4e is still just a web app, which works, but I'd kill for off-line options, and I could use a good DMing app for Android.

Mallus · Apr 23, 2013

For iOS: Dropbox, Goodreader, Evernote, Feudz Dice (a simple free dice roller).

Played around a bit with CloudOn, which allows you to edit cloud-stored MS Office files. It's kinda neat, but so far I don't find it markedly better than just dumping Word docs into Evernote.

I have Sketchbook Pro. I plan to use it for gaming --my wife makes lovely digital art with it and a stylus on her iPad-- but, sad to say, I'm not graphically-inclined, and thus am a bit a-scared of it (specifically, afraid to show my friends I have the drawing ability of a shaky, sugar-shocked, 5 year-old).

Janx · Apr 23, 2013

a spreadsheet program (Numbers on iOS)

I imagine that if there's a Google Docs (Google Drive now) spreadsheet tool, that would be the bomb as you can easily edit across platforms.

In any case, my reasoning is that a spreadsheet can be setup to show info, do calculations, and have multiple tabs for quick access. I use one for character sheets as I find I can handle any situation by modifying the spreadsheet's formulas, rather than depending on a programmer to have covered it.