Software for DM'ing

[revlazaro]

Alright, just a fun post here.

A while back, some people discussed Nintendo DS games and mentioned they had an R4.
Tonight I managed to break it in for some actual tabletop use.

This is just a dirty run-down on some homebrewed applications;
don't bother me with questions about how to get things working or where to find this stuff.
Use Google and your common sense and you'll be fine.


First off, on the simple side, I found a D&D Dice Roller Application:


The other program I used tonight is a "Comic Book" reader called ComicDS.
Long story short: Converted the OGL rules and the Pathfinder Alpha test guide to the file format,
and now my DS is a little pocket-sized DM referrence. As a purchaser of indie pdf products but usually doesn't have the time or resources to print off entire books, this beats lugging them around on a laptop.

Using the Stylus interface to quick skim through the books actually felt more natural and in some ways quicker than scrolling through PDF's on my computer. So, huzzah to the homebrews!

[MatteKudesai]

aw.... now I want a DS.

mebbe I could steal my stepson's .....

[Kjallstrom]

One of my friend's perennial projects in high school, when he was teaching himself to program, was a suite of DM's tools. I don't think he ever finished, sadly.

I'm pretty excited about D&D Insider, if it ever is released - I saw a demo at PAX. The Character Generator in particular was quite impressive.

[tibbon]

I was never able to find software to do this well. I was REALLY excited about NWN, but it just didn't quite to it for me.

I find the best thing is still pen and paper... and finding a local group. I do understand the want to be able to handle things remotely as my roleplaying friends have moved away to all corners of the earth so I can no longer play with them.

At one point I attempted to write me own D&D management software in C++ for speeding up massive battles, but then I realized that its really best to just wing it and use dice when needed.

4e is supposed to speed things up, but I still prefer 2.5.

[vortel64]

Originally Posted by Kjallstrom

One of my friend's perennial projects in high school, when he was teaching himself to program, was a suite of DM's tools. I don't think he ever finished, sadly.

I'm pretty excited about D&D Insider, if it ever is released - I saw a demo at PAX. The Character Generator in particular was quite impressive.

For character generation, I'd check out Heroforge (http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/). It's an excel based character generator for both 3.5 and 4th editions. They are currently working on a stand-alone program for their 4th edition character generator that won't be reliant on Excel.

[Kjallstrom]

Originally Posted by tibbon

4e is supposed to speed things up, but I still prefer 2.5.

I think I played 2.5 more than any other version, since that was my long-running high school group... but 2.5 was broken in terms of the crazy powergaming you could do. I think I had a gnomish alchemist with 20 intellect by making him allergic to everything D.

I've only had a taste of 4e, but the biggest advantage so far is that casters don't run out of stuff to do without rest.