The iPhone Will Kill D&D

[Croesus]

How do you figure?

You still have a DM, you still have the ability to make everything up as you go, and it's still communication between human beings.

As Umbran has aluded to, there's a conflict in what people want/expect from computer assisted gaming. If the computer enforces rules, then the GM has much less room for winging it. Implementing house rules is still one of the most difficult aspects of computer aids, such as character builders.

But if the computer doesn't adjudicate the rules, then how much help is it? A dice roller is nice and all, but I like rolling dice.

I'm not sure where the sweet spot is in this conflict. I agree that I play tabletop because I enjoy spending time with friends, and doing so online just isn't the same. Yet I also want computer aids to eliminate most of the grunt work, so I can focus on the game, not the numbers. When someone comes up with a game that solves this issue to most players satisfaction is when pen and paper RPG's will be on their way to extinction.

 

[darjr]

Simply put - a computer can only adjudicate rules-application to things it has been programmed to adjudicate. Flesh-and-blood GMs are required to apply the rules to unanticipated actions.

So, your online thing can know the rules for doig a to-hit. It cannot figure out what to do if the player wants ot attack the chandelier chain and drop it on the enemy, unless the programmer has thought of that beforehand.

The number of things the players can imagine at run time far exceeds the number of things a programmer can think of beforehand. Ergo, you cannot shift the game mechanics to devices to run the rules for you.

DMs and rules-knowledge will be necessary for the foreseeable future.

Yes I agree, and disagree.

You could programatically do something like page 42 and have the software ask the DM for a DC and flavor text and any hard number benifits of success or detriments for failure. The software could still handle all the other stuff.

I'm not talking graphics here. Some 3d first or third person dohicky would be a lot like you say. I'm really talking about glorified electronic character sheets and dice rollers communicating with each other and self updating.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Opinions?

The inability to get WotC and White Wolf rulebooks in a Kindle format -- particularly if I could flip between several bookmarks more or less instantly -- is what's kept me from buying a Kindle (now a Kindle 2). No foolin'.

When I can reduce my shelves and shelves of game books to a single electronic device comparable to my netbook that I can carry to games (or even to play over the Internet at work during downtime), I'm there.

And it'll happen, sooner or later. The success of the online SRD has spoiled me and I want back into the promised land ASAP.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There's just too much you can do in real life that you won't be able to do online, and real life games are always smoother and faster moving.

"Won't?" "Can't today" is more accurate.

I have a phone that's as powerful as all the non-weapon, non-transporter gadgets on the Starship Enterprise, combined. "Can't" is a very big word.

 

[Mark]

"Won't?" "Can't today" is more accurate.

I have a phone that's as powerful as all the non-weapon, non-transporter gadgets on the Starship Enterprise, combined. "Can't" is a very big word.

High five me on that one, Whiz. Wait. You're not here.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

My regular group games with four or five laptops on the tabletop, and a battlemat and minis and scenery and many other things. One player has an iPhone with a dice app we use for really big numbers of dice, like his 17th-level wizard's meteor swarm.

What's the name of the app so I can place it on my overhyped box of crap?

 

[Choronzon]

The inability to get WotC and White Wolf rulebooks in a Kindle format -- particularly if I could flip between several bookmarks more or less instantly -- is what's kept me from buying a Kindle (now a Kindle 2). No foolin'.

When I can reduce my shelves and shelves of game books to a single electronic device comparable to my netbook that I can carry to games (or even to play over the Internet at work during downtime), I'm there.

And it'll happen, sooner or later. The success of the online SRD has spoiled me and I want back into the promised land ASAP.

I have the Kindle, and have seen the Kindle 2, and I absolutely love them, but I fail to see what would be so great about having D&D stuff on them.

They're slow. It takes over a second just to flip a page, and everytime you try and run a search you're looking at some pretty hefty button pushing. Using the kindle for such things is way behind laptops and iphones.

The kindle is awesome for reading a novel, but I wouldn't even bother getting kindle editions of D&D products.

Just my opinion though.

 

[Mark]

What's the name of the app so I can place it on my overhyped box of crap?

I am not sure if there is more than one but I think it is this one -

[ame=http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1756776/demo_of_new_3g_iphone_3d_dice_game_iphone_3g_apps_games/]DEMO of New 3G IPhone 3D DICE Game (iPhone 3G Apps Games) - Video[/ame]

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have the Kindle, and have seen the Kindle 2, and I absolutely love them, but I fail to see what would be so great about having D&D stuff on them.

They're slow. It takes over a second just to flip a page, and everytime you try and run a search you're looking at some pretty hefty button pushing. Using the kindle for such things is way behind laptops and iphones.

The kindle is awesome for reading a novel, but I wouldn't even bother getting kindle editions of D&D products.

Just my opinion though.

I'll wait for a Kindle 4 or 5, then.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I am not sure if there is more than one but I think it is this one -

There's a bunch, but MachDice -- that one -- is the most popular. It's got a memory leak that he's never fixed, alas, so you need to turn on and off your phone periodically to fix it.