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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 6308008" data-attributes="member: 58197">Recently I've been thinking about electronic aids to DMing. Being a software developer, I got all excited about some ideas I had, and started whipping something up. Then it occurred to me that maybe I was reinventing the wheel here and somebody had already done it. I did some Googling, but most of what I found wasn't really what I was after.So, here's what I'm looking for. Does anyone know of something like this? If not, would you be interested in it?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tabletop DM aid. I am not looking for a virtual tabletop; I don't mind if the tool has VTT capability, but I'm an old-school DM who runs on an actual tabletop with minis and battlemats and dice and pizza. Not looking to get rid of any of that.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Usable with 5th Edition D&D.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Quick, easy access to my materials--monsters, notes, et cetera--during the game. I'm less interested in tools to help me create those materials (I can do that in Google Docs) than in tools to help me retrieve them efficiently. I don't want to have to stop the game and spend a lot of time hunting for the thing I want.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Support for rapidly putting together encounters on the fly. I don't mind doing a bunch of one-time work to enter monsters into the system; indeed, I'm sure I'll have to, since 5E won't have any 3PP licensing for a while. But once they're entered, I would like to be able to throw together an unplanned, unscripted encounter in less time than it would take me to do it with a Monster Manual and a pencil.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Once the encounter is built, I want to be able to view statblocks and track initiative, hit points, and so forth... again, in no more time than it would take to do it with a pencil. And I'm fast with a pencil. If an orc has taken 5 damage, and a player hits it for 7 more, I can track that in the time it takes to spot the orc's hit point column on my scratchpad, write "7," add 7 and 5 in my head, and write "12." If tracking damage in the app takes any longer than that, I'm not going to use it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Works well on a tablet. I've found the form factor of a laptop is something of a problem at the table. It takes up too much room, and I feel like staring at an upright screen disconnects me from the players. The tablet is more book-like. Plus, it's less distracting to tap a tablet screen than it is to slide my hands into home position on a keyboard or fumble with a trackpad.</li> </ul>Thoughts?Thanks in advance for any suggestions!</blockquote>

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