Best Apps for iPhone if you are a Massive Dungeons & Dragons Dork
As I was driving home from the latest DnD session with my fellow dorks last Sunday, I started to let my mind drift. As per usual my body was filled with Doritos and Dr. Pepper so I was all hopped up on pure ‘dorkatude.’ This is when I recalled a moment during my day where a co-worker came by my office and shared his opinion of the ‘Best Apps for iPhone.’ The fact is everyday he comes by and tells that he has found the latest and best new app for the iPhone.
This got me thinking about iPhones and Dungeons and Dragons.
I decided that I would research what was in my opinion the best apps for iphone that were related to Dungeons and Dragons. When I arrived at home I cracked open iTunes and started searching through the app store in search of the best iphone apps for DnD. Below is my list of the top (there are only 4!) apps for the iPhone related to Dungeons and Dragons.
The Dicenomicon: I found a lot of dice rolling apps. Most of them were pretty crappy looking and lacked any real aesthetic value. If you own and iPhone it seems obvious that aesthetics are important to you. The Dicenomicon was the most realistic looking iphone app. The best feature was the fact that you can give you iPhone a shake to roll the dice, and if you reroll the dice you can hold a die in place and roll the rest. There are a ton of different condition you can apply when it creates the total for you. For example: roll 4d6 and keep the highest 3 rolls. I think the Dicenomicon is a must have iPhone app for any DnD player, especially for those sessions where you forget your dice and have to borrow your friends crap dice.
Spellbook Master: If you ever play any kind of spellcasting class then you know how much of a pain it is to be constantly thumbing through your book to check out a few details of a spell, or if you are a DM and you need to quickly check and see if a spell requires a saving through even though your PC’s say “No it doesn’t require a save.” The Spellbook Master iphone app makes it easy to reference spells either by class, domain, school, element etc. all from your iPhone! It is the best tool you can have if you play any kind of spellcaster.
Quick Roll: This is another dice rolling iphone app, yet it is much different than the Dicenomicon. With this you can program specific dice roll variables into the interface and then quickly roll them. So you can have your initative roll modifier added in, your fortitude save and so on. You can pretty much have every item that you need to roll added into the app so you don’t have to slow down the game by constantly adding in all your modifiers from all over place. I am sure we have all had a moment where another player (never us) rolls to strike and then begins to keep adding in the modifiers: I have power attack, I’m using the weapon 2 handed, and on and on.
tCiMP Character in My Pocket: This great iPhone app allows you to keep your character and all of it’s information stored on your iPhone. Gone are the days where you can’t play because you forgot your character sheet at home.It has a built in rolling system so you can roll stats and create new characters. With this app you will never be without a character ever again!
So those are as far as I can tell the best apps for iPhone that pertain to Dungeons and Dragons. If you are browsing through the itunes app section and find another great DnD app please share it with us in the comment section below, or help spread the word to other dorks by clicking that precious Stumble Upon or Digg buttons!
May 28th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
well who would of thought it. I assumed D&D died with the invention of the computer. It doesnt seem right without the feel of dice and lead characters in your hand.
art brightons last blog post..Art Junky
Jun 8th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Wow, that sounds a cool app. As im getting older, i realise that all the ‘dorks’ as you label yourself have the coolest jobs
It seems you guys were right all along…
Alot my colleagues love D&D, i just hope they can still get their work done, with this added distraction!
Tom Gurney - Gustav Klimt Fans last blog post..Gustav Klimt Timeline, The Kiss History
Jun 14th, 2009 at 4:07 am
I have the spell book app and a couple of the free dice apps
and I really like the spellbook one. However, it’s missing a spell sheet
section so you can log spells per day and ones you’ve used.
In addition they should add the spells from the spell compendium.
But all in all it’s preatty good.
Jun 14th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I see these sorts of apps on my Treo, too. Please, SOMEONE explain to me what’s so “revolutionary” about the iPhone when everything it does except maybe tilt sensing (Of course, the Nintendo DS has the iPhone beat on this.) has been done for years already on smartphones?
Or is this Apple fanbois being Apple fanbois and not even acknowledging prior implementations. There’s nothing truly innovative about the iPhone.
Jun 19th, 2009 at 4:48 am
So this isn’t a native app, it’s a web app, but I believe it’s the coolest D&D on the iPhone to date:
iplay4e
Fully interactive character sheet optimized for use on the iPhone. It uses dnd4e files produced by the official Character Builder.
Cheers,
Andrew Reutter
iplay4e.com
Jun 23rd, 2009 at 1:22 am
All we need now is an app that will DM while I play
Great article. I never even thought of using the iPhone for D&D.
The Spellbook Master would be a life saver for me, the devout mage!
Jul 8th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
“So this isn’t a native app, it’s a web app, but I believe it’s the coolest D&D on the iPhone to date:
iplay4e
Fully interactive character sheet optimized for use on the iPhone. It uses dnd4e files produced by the official Character Builder.
Cheers,
Andrew Reutter
iplay4e.com”
Geez, you Apple fanboys are thick.
If its on the web it’s NOT FOR IPHONE ANY MORE THAN ITS FOR TREO.
Stop acting like the iPhone actually does anything new.
Jul 8th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
If it ain’t native to the iPhone it’s not for the iPhone and doesn’t qualify for lists like this.
And I also usually draw a line for apps that aren’t even exclusive to the iPhone either.
Show me something the iPhone has that I can’t already do with my Treo… oh wait… you can’t (Except for gimmicks like a motion sensor.).
The iPhone is nothing special… in fact, between the three big smartphones (Treo, Blackberry, iPhone) the iPhone lacks a LOT of functionality the others have.
Jul 20th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
“If it ain’t native to the iPhone it’s not for the iPhone and doesn’t qualify for lists like this.
And I also usually draw a line for apps that aren’t even exclusive to the iPhone either.
Show me something the iPhone has that I can’t already do with my Treo… oh wait… you can’t (Except for gimmicks like a motion sensor.).
The iPhone is nothing special… in fact, between the three big smartphones (Treo, Blackberry, iPhone) the iPhone lacks a LOT of functionality the others have.”
Obvious troll is obvious.
I didn’t see anywhere in his list where he claimed IPHONE IS GOD OF DND APPS GO AWAY TREO NUBS
It’s just a nice simple list to help people out…
But alas it must be fanboyism !!
Jul 21st, 2009 at 5:35 am
so what is the difference between an iPhone fanboy and a treo fanboy?
Jul 26th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
[Quote]
I see these sorts of apps on my Treo, too. Please, SOMEONE explain to me what’s so “revolutionary” about the iPhone when everything it does except maybe tilt sensing (Of course, the Nintendo DS has the iPhone beat on this.) has been done for years already on smartphones?
———-
Show me something the iPhone has that I can’t already do with my Treo… oh wait… you can’t (Except for gimmicks like a motion sensor.).
[Quote]
1) Multi touch
The iPhone app store
2) Mac OS X
3) up to 32 Gb of storage
4) 3 megapixel camera (vs the Treo 680’s 0.3 megapixel… tsk tsk)
5) Voice control
6) Compass
7) Fully functional web browser
9) Tilt sensing (btw, the DS is not a phone…)
10) Visual Voicemail
11) Polished UI
12) Phone + widescreen ipod + internet device
13) Reliability
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2451755/Reliability-Study-iPhone-Vs-Blackberry-Vs-Treo
Jul 26th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
1. Gimmick
2. OS X, the world’s worst UNIX implementation to date.
3. The iPhone is hardly the first device with 32 GiB of storage. Maybe I should rephrase this to what the hell the iPhone revolutionized and left the Treo out of it.
4. You’re comparing it to an OLD Treo? What, does the Palm Pre make the iPhone look that bad? Maybe the iPhone when compared to actual MODERN devices, whether smartphones are no, is actually behind.
5. Not invented here. Actually I could do that with my Treo 650. Not revolutionary.
6. Not invented here. Another gimmick.
7. HOLY FUCK. Treo’s had that since it was first a Smartphone. Are you Steve Jobs cultists honestly claiming the iPhone was the first to have a web browser? Typical Apple fanboyism. What next? You’re the only ones with Telnet/SSH/IM clients?
8. The iPhone is not the first to have an app store. Stop trying to claim thiongs that were not “innovated” by Apple as innovated by apple. hell, the vast majority of apps fr the iPhone 1. Have been done for years before there was an iPhone and 2. Are free. And at least I wouldn’t have to jailbreak my Treo to use them.
9. Gimmick. Still not invented by Apple.
10. Gimmick. Again, not invented by apple.
11. Gimmick. AGAIN not invented by Apple.
12. Not invented here + gimmick + not invented here.
13. First off, that’s a matter of opinion, second off, Palm OS is no less reliable than OS X. I love how Apple fanboys use this as a fallback when they have yet to prove that their platform is the most reliable beyond biased studies like what you linked there. Anything to Make the overrated Apple products look favorable, hmm?
I always love how when called for something that is 1. Invented by Apple, and 2. actually revolutionary by the iPhone, the iPhone fanboys always cite 1. Stuff done long before Apple did it and 2. Gimmicks that hardly revolutionize portable devices or smartphones
“Obvious troll is obvious.
I didn’t see anywhere in his list where he claimed IPHONE IS GOD OF DND APPS GO AWAY TREO NUBS
It’s just a nice simple list to help people out…
But alas it must be fanboyism !!”
He claimed WEB APPS were for the iPhone, whereas it’s for WEB. The WEB is a separate platform from the iPhone. Hence: Not apps for iPhone.
“so what is the difference between an iPhone fanboy and a treo fanboy?”
A Treo fanboy knows the difference between apps for the web and apps for the iPhone, unlike iPhone fanboys.
Again, show me REAL innovation. Something Apple INVENTED. By the way, implementing something not done before on a cell phone is NOT INNOVATION if it’s been done on a portable device anyway. Hence, if it’s been done on, say, the DS (Filled with gimmicks.), then I’d hardly call it revolutionary for the iPhone.Hence, widescreen, motion sensing, voice recording, homebrew, cameras, etc., is bullshit.
Show me something the iPhone has done that has NOT been done before by ANY device. Show me how Apple actually innovated instead of saying “Oh, look, this gimmick/shiny thing made this device popular, lets put it on ours, our fanboys will act like we invented it all!”
Seriously, the iPhone is still nothing special. And I can tell you all its problems, such as:
1. It’s a locked-down lump of plastic. You have to jailbreak the damn thing to actually get the real “capability” out of it. It may be simple to jailbreak, but it’s the principle of the thing. On Treo and Blackberry no one has to jailbreak to develop for it or get apps that didn’t pay Palm or Blackberry money for the “right” to be an app on their platform.
2. Only maybe two carriers worldwide even actually support it.
3. It’s overpriced. This is typical of Apple products. Macs are overpriced, too. You could find a Palm Pre that can do all an iPhone can do for cheaper, or a G1, or even older smartphones because I’m not a goldfish that doesn’t fall for gimmicks or already-been-done features like you people.
4. It is just as crash-prone as the Macs (Macs crash plenty, contrary to the claims of Steve Jobs Cultists like you.)
5. It’s not an open platform like the G1. (See #1 above.)
Jul 27th, 2009 at 1:57 am
You asked for things the treo can’t do. When I list them, you call them gimmicks. Then you start pimping the Pre. Are you arguing all of Palm’s products against the iPhone? If you could just clarify, that would be cool. I didn’t dis the Treo. I listed things it can’t do well. But, I’m guessing that Treo users are looking for something different in their phone. Otherwise, they would just buy an iPhone…
So what has Apple really done that’s revolutionary? They have relied on good design rather than one revolutionary feature. And, I’m not saying “good design” like Apple has the best design ever. Look at the sales numbers. Apple hasn’t innovated by creating new features (except for UI stuff like the flick-scrolling which you will of course call a gimmick). They’ve just packaged a bunch of great features together in a more user-friendly way. Apple has given the masses the power of the smartphone.
[quote]
Are you Steve Jobs cultists honestly claiming the iPhone was the first to have a web browser?
[quote]
First of all, I don’t speak for “Steve Jobs cultists”. I’m just one guy giving my opinion. Everyone can take it or leave it. Second, I didn’t say the iPhone was first to have a web browser. I said it has a “fully functional” web browser meaning there’s no difference between the page you see on your home PC and the page on the iPhone. (By the way, we wouldn’t even be here talking about smartphones if Jobs and Wozniak hadn’t pioneered the PC with the Apple II.)
[quote]
I love how Apple fanboys use this as a fallback when they have yet to prove that their platform is the most reliable beyond biased studies like what you linked there. Anything to Make the overrated Apple products look favorable, hmm?
[quote]
Maybe you didn’t notice that the company conducting the study was a third party not associated with Apple… Feel free to post your own response in an “unbiased” study. Anyway, Apple products look favorable on their own merits. That’s why you see so many of them in movies and TV shows.
[quote]
On Treo and Blackberry no one has to jailbreak to develop for it or get apps that didn’t pay Palm or Blackberry money for the “right” to be an app on their platform.
[quote]
Yet, the competing app stores (app catalog for Pre) have little to no selection. Maybe you should examine the app store numbers for Palm and Apple, then get back to me on that one…
[quote]
You could find a Palm Pre that can do all an iPhone can do for cheaper, or a G1, or even older smartphones because I’m not a goldfish that doesn’t fall for gimmicks or already-been-done features like you people.
[quote]
Have you even tried the Pre?! Maybe you just tried it with your eyes closed or something. Most of the design for the Pre was inspired by the iPhone. The Pre has the single button on the face (when closed). There is an incredible resemblance between apps. You say things that the Treo doesn’t have are gimmicks? Well, the guys at Palm who designed the Pre seem to disagree. You still can’t compete with multitouch.
Yes, the Pre is beautifully designed, but its apps will always be limited by its lack of multitouch. I would argue that multitouch is largely responsible for the plethora of apps in the iPhone App Store. Maybe the Pre 2.0 will have it and you’ll stop calling it a gimmick.
Also, what the heck does the G1 have to do with anything here? Is your argument EveryOtherSmartPhone vs iPhone? Because, I know the iPhone is great and all, but Apple is quite new to the smartphone game.
[quote]
[The iPhone is a] locked-down lump of plastic. You have to jailbreak the damn thing to actually get the real “capability” out of it.
[quote]
What is this “capability” you speak of that doesn’t exist with a factory iPhone?
Anyway, I don’t really care whether you prefer the Pre or the G1 or the Treo or whatever else is in your smartphone grab-bag to the iPhone. I’m not trying to sell you on Apple products. You don’t have to buy them. I would rather that you don’t spread lies about their invented shortcomings or label anyone who prefers an iPhone to a Treo/Pre a “Steve Jobs Cultist”. But, that’s probably too much to ask.
The difference between iPhone fanboys and Treo fanboys?
Easy. Treo fanboys are angry that the world likes the iPhone better.