Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
New iOS app for 5E encounter tracking (DM's only)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="designbot" data-source="post: 6940333" data-attributes="member: 6777589"><p>I downloaded the app. The visual presentation of the monsters and spells looks spot-on. Really nice job. I'm a fan of <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/game-master-5th-edition/id908176026?mt=8" target="_blank">Game Master 5</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fight-club-5th-edition/id901057473?mt=8" target="_blank">d20 Fight Club</a>, but I think there's room for a faster, more lightweight combat manager. I'd be happy to be a beta tester.</p><p></p><p>Here's my feedback:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The app needs to be focused and fast to differentiate itself from Game Master. The workflow for managing encounters in that app is sometimes a bit clunky and unintuitive, particularly on an iPhone. You have an opportunity to make that smoother. The goal should be to get a combat set up and started with as few taps as possible.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The visual style of the initiative list is clean, but the font (Avenir?) looks more like an Android app. It clashes with the controls at the bottom of the screen (set in the iOS system font, San Francisco) and the book-style fonts and sepia backgrounds of the monster and spell stats. I'd pick one look and stick with it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Adding multiple monsters takes too long. If I want (say) 15 goblins, I have to look up the goblin, then press the plus button 15 times, keeping count in my head, waiting a second for the "Game updated" modal each time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I would also automatically go back to the intiative list after adding a monster, to save a few taps.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It would be nice to be able to name monsters.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It would be useful to see players' AC in the list (and maybe speed), like monsters.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">We don't need a full alphanumeric keyboard to type in damage. It could be just numbers, or a custom control. Figuring out how to type a negative number to represent healing is a bit unintuitive.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tapping the player's name (the largest target area) just to view a photo is not really useful. Why not show the photos in the list (if they're needed at all), and allow tapping the name to adjust damage? Or make it possible to track more of a player's stats, like creatures.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It's not clear how to import monsters and spells. I couldn't find any instructions. Can the app import the <a href="https://github.com/ceryliae/DnDAppFiles" target="_blank">fan-created files</a> for Lion's Den apps? Those are usually stored on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/34p4uc/lions_den_dd5e_ios_app_community_dropbox_files/" target="_blank">Dropbox</a>, but the app only seems to import from iCloud Drive, which is a minor inconvenience.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It would be useful to be able to add monsters mid-combat (representing reinforcements), without losing initiative or round count.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It's a bit confusing if you start combat without rolling or entering initiative for some of the creatures. The buttons don't look any different, but they don't work because the creatures are inactive. If a button is disabled, it should look disabled, and it should be clear why.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It would really differentiate the app if you had a split view of the combat list at the top (with something like 1-3 characters visible at a time), and the stat block for the selected creature below. Maybe you could tap the creature again to switch between the split view and the full combat list. (I'm talking specifically about the iPhone here. I think you already have a split view on the iPad.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It could be useful to have the option to roll initiative for players (of course, you'd need to store the players' intiative modifiers).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It would differentiate the app if you supported alternate initiative methods, like the ones on page 270-271 of the DMG. Speed Factor Initiative in particular would be a lot more practical with an app managing the rolls and modifiers.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It would be very useful if it calculated the difficulty of the encounter in real-time like <a href="http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder" target="_blank">Kobold Fight Club</a>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It would be useful to track conditions, and super-useful if you could set things like "until player's next round" or reminders to roll saving throws.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="designbot, post: 6940333, member: 6777589"] I downloaded the app. The visual presentation of the monsters and spells looks spot-on. Really nice job. I'm a fan of [URL="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/game-master-5th-edition/id908176026?mt=8"]Game Master 5[/URL] and [URL="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fight-club-5th-edition/id901057473?mt=8"]d20 Fight Club[/URL], but I think there's room for a faster, more lightweight combat manager. I'd be happy to be a beta tester. Here's my feedback: [LIST] [*]The app needs to be focused and fast to differentiate itself from Game Master. The workflow for managing encounters in that app is sometimes a bit clunky and unintuitive, particularly on an iPhone. You have an opportunity to make that smoother. The goal should be to get a combat set up and started with as few taps as possible. [*]The visual style of the initiative list is clean, but the font (Avenir?) looks more like an Android app. It clashes with the controls at the bottom of the screen (set in the iOS system font, San Francisco) and the book-style fonts and sepia backgrounds of the monster and spell stats. I'd pick one look and stick with it. [*]Adding multiple monsters takes too long. If I want (say) 15 goblins, I have to look up the goblin, then press the plus button 15 times, keeping count in my head, waiting a second for the "Game updated" modal each time. [*]I would also automatically go back to the intiative list after adding a monster, to save a few taps. [*]It would be nice to be able to name monsters. [*]It would be useful to see players' AC in the list (and maybe speed), like monsters. [*]We don't need a full alphanumeric keyboard to type in damage. It could be just numbers, or a custom control. Figuring out how to type a negative number to represent healing is a bit unintuitive. [*]Tapping the player's name (the largest target area) just to view a photo is not really useful. Why not show the photos in the list (if they're needed at all), and allow tapping the name to adjust damage? Or make it possible to track more of a player's stats, like creatures. [*]It's not clear how to import monsters and spells. I couldn't find any instructions. Can the app import the [URL="https://github.com/ceryliae/DnDAppFiles"]fan-created files[/URL] for Lion's Den apps? Those are usually stored on [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/34p4uc/lions_den_dd5e_ios_app_community_dropbox_files/"]Dropbox[/URL], but the app only seems to import from iCloud Drive, which is a minor inconvenience. [*]It would be useful to be able to add monsters mid-combat (representing reinforcements), without losing initiative or round count. [*]It's a bit confusing if you start combat without rolling or entering initiative for some of the creatures. The buttons don't look any different, but they don't work because the creatures are inactive. If a button is disabled, it should look disabled, and it should be clear why. [*]It would really differentiate the app if you had a split view of the combat list at the top (with something like 1-3 characters visible at a time), and the stat block for the selected creature below. Maybe you could tap the creature again to switch between the split view and the full combat list. (I'm talking specifically about the iPhone here. I think you already have a split view on the iPad.) [*]It could be useful to have the option to roll initiative for players (of course, you'd need to store the players' intiative modifiers). [*]It would differentiate the app if you supported alternate initiative methods, like the ones on page 270-271 of the DMG. Speed Factor Initiative in particular would be a lot more practical with an app managing the rolls and modifiers. [*]It would be very useful if it calculated the difficulty of the encounter in real-time like [URL="http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder"]Kobold Fight Club[/URL]. [*]It would be useful to track conditions, and super-useful if you could set things like "until player's next round" or reminders to roll saving throws. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
New iOS app for 5E encounter tracking (DM's only)
Top