# PDAs at the game table



## Eternalknight (Jan 12, 2005)

Following on from a thread in General about laptops at the game table, does anyone use a PDA?  If so, what do you use it for (playing / DMing), what sort of info do you track and what type of programs do you use?

I have a Palm myself and am curious to hear your answers.


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## MythosaAkira (Jan 13, 2005)

Up until recently, I've used my Palm (Zire 72) as a DMing aid. I used programs I wrote for keeping track of calendar time and weather, basic PC info, critical hits, name generation (with TableSmith eXpress), and tracking/assigning XP.

I'm going to be switching back to a laptop after my next campaign begins, however. The Palm worked well, but for some of the things I want to put together it'll be quicker to do them on a laptop rather than develop them for PalmOS.


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## Calico_Jack73 (Jan 13, 2005)

Oh heck ya!  For me it was almost essential.  I bought a copy of Tomeraider and loaded it up with a searchable Spell, Feat, and Monster database.  When playing a spellcaster it really earned it's keep especially in the realm of Monster Summoning spells.  I also had a neat program that figured Turning Results with the click of the stylus.  The only problem is that 3.5 came out and the databases were all written for 3.0.  That kind of spelled the end of my Palm Pilot usage.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Jan 13, 2005)

I have the SRD on my Palm, but still find it quicker to look things up in books.  

I should probably try using my laptop at the game table sometime.


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## Saeviomagy (Jan 13, 2005)

Olgar Shiverstone said:
			
		

> I have the SRD on my Palm, but still find it quicker to look things up in books.
> 
> I should probably try using my laptop at the game table sometime.




I've got the SRD (A linked html version) on my palm, using Plucker. Works great. Much, much quicker than looking anything up in the books, especially since I can do a whole document search.

I also have a spreadsheet with my spellbook on it.

Anyone found a good character generator for the palm? Or any useful DM aids (I did find A DM aid, but it's too smart for it's own good, and doesn't work).


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## MythosaAkira (Jan 13, 2005)

Saeviomagy said:
			
		

> Or any useful DM aids.




You might find TableSmith eXpress / Namemaker useful. It comes with tables to generate Angel/Demon Names, Arabic Names, Book Titles, Celtic Names, Dwarf/Norse Names, Elf Names, Fantasy Names, Fantasy Names, Herb Names, Lizardfolk Names, Lovecraftian Names, Orc Names, Orc Tribe Names, Organization Names, Shakespearean Insults, Tavern Names, and Town Names. You can also edit the tables and import your own.

I have a few other Palm utils on that page as well, but they're fairly specific to my world or campaign. The XP Tracker can be useful if you use the alternate XP system from _Unearthed Arcana_.

Personally, I haven't found that many good DM aids for the Palm out there. Or, rather, I haven't found many DM aids at all, which is why I wrote my own.


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## maransreth (Jan 13, 2005)

So far everyone has mentioned software for the Palm brand of PDAs, what about PocketPC?

I have an XDA and it uses PocketPC, not Palm OS. I did find a spell database for it, but it was 3.0 and wasnt compatible for some reason with my version of PocketPC.


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## diaglo (Jan 14, 2005)

my hat of electronics at the table knows no limits.     



diaglo "once had an electronic D&D board game back in the early 80's" Ooi


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## Seeten (Jan 15, 2005)

Assuming you have PDF books, you can copy and paste sections of the books using Adobe Acrobat Pro. I have my entire spellbook in a pdf form, per spell, makes the whole thing search free. Just flip through the 12 pages of spells in pdf.


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## Plane Sailing (Jan 18, 2005)

My Palm wouldn't be any good for DMing, but I used to use it for character sheets - I'd design them in Excel and sync them using tinysheet (and latterly documents to go so I could use 320x480 full screen).

The disadvantage vis a vis paper was that you haven't got it on all the time and you have less area to display stuff on. The advantage was on automatic calculation. Get buffed or a bonus from a spell? write the number in the appropriate box or update your attribute and see everything else change magically. For my barbarian character I had a little tick box that turned rage on. For my sorcerer character I had a second sheet will all her spells, keyed to automatically display the appropriate ranges, durations, DCs etc according to CHA and level.

Neat and handy, but it's now been replaced by my laptop at the gaming table.

Cheers


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## d20fool (Jan 18, 2005)

*HTML SRD on Palm?*



			
				Saeviomagy said:
			
		

> I've got the SRD (A linked html version) on my palm, using Plucker. Works great. Much, much quicker than looking anything up in the books, especially since I can do a whole document search.




That's exactly what I want.  Where to I find Plucker and where is the html SRD?  Please and thank you! I have downloaded an Excel sheet of Monsters, Spells and Magic items which seems quite handy.  I tried to download Excel generators, but I can't find out how to get then to work, since Excel on Palm doesn't seem to have pull-down menus or a F5 button.

Cartoforge has some programs on RPGnow.com, but their demo only covers one program, and not the dungeon making one (which is the one I am interested in.)  Paladin Programming, makers of DMs Familiar, have made a PCs Familiar which is a spell-using program.  

What I really, really want though is a program that will allow me to roll x number of dice with x number of sides with x as a modifer.  You can get ones that do two but not all three.  

d20fool


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## MythosaAkira (Jan 18, 2005)

d20fool said:
			
		

> What I really, really want though is a program that will allow me to roll x number of dice with x number of sides with x as a modifer.  You can get ones that do two but not all three.




Have you looked at DicePro? It can do what you're looking for. And a lot more, for that matter. For a dice-roller, it's pretty powerful.


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## d20fool (Jan 18, 2005)

*Thank you & Freeware*



			
				MythosaAkira said:
			
		

> Have you looked at DicePro? It can do what you're looking for. And a lot more, for that matter. For a dice-roller, it's pretty powerful.




Thank you! That was very helpful.  I've also found Plucker on Tucows.com.  A program that allows me to view downloaded html is very useful.  Any suggestions on which hypertext SRD to use?
this one?
http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/home.html
or this one?
http://www.d20srd.org/
I know there's another one out there, with an orange background I believe.

I also found this page on freewarepalm.com, the apprentice program looks interesting.

http://www.freewarepalm.com/games/games_rpg.shtml

It also list a PCgen view program, the latest version is here:

http://www.pcgenview.com/

Has anyone used that Cartoforge program?  Is it worth it?

d20fool


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## d20fool (Jan 20, 2005)

*PDA readable SRD?*

I've downloaded Plucker and tried several times, unsuccessfully, to download the SRD as hyptertext from various sites.  I've even tried it from my on files using Andargor's HTML SRD.  Is there something I'm missing here?  

Does anyone else have any suggestions on a PDA readable SRD?  Honestly, this would make a good product if someone could make it.

I tried the TS Apprentice program out, it seems great.  The Dice roller program recommended to me was awesome too. Anyone know about the Cartoforge programs?  I'm disappointed in the demo, which isn't d20 specific (you have to customize it, with no place for a stat block) and the demo DOESN'T have the mapper, which is what I'm most interested in.

d20fool


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## Saeviomagy (Jan 21, 2005)

d20fool said:
			
		

> Thank you! That was very helpful.  I've also found Plucker on Tucows.com.  A program that allows me to view downloaded html is very useful.  Any suggestions on which hypertext SRD to use?
> this one?



I'd suggest you get a hold of Jpluck for doing conversions. It works far better than the standard converter.

As for the SRD? I use this SRD

The main points are that it doesn't use frames, colours or pictures. With a palm, the key thing is that the stuff has to be simple to be readable, and this SRD fits the bill. It's also pretty accurate, and very easy to find things quickly.


> I also found this page on freewarepalm.com, the apprentice program looks interesting.



While apprentice DOES look like it could be useful, in practise I find just rolling the dice and doing the math in my head to be far, far quicker. Add that to the bugs in the program (since it was a while since I tried it, I can't remember precisely what they were), and it turns into "great Idea, shame it doesn't work".


> Has anyone used that Cartoforge program?  Is it worth it?
> 
> d20fool




It looks really interesting, but I dare say that not providing a free demo of any kind is really hurting their sales. I doubt many people will splash out $30 for software that they've never laid eyes on.


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## MythosaAkira (Jan 21, 2005)

Saeviomagy said:
			
		

> It looks really interesting, but I dare say that not providing a free demo of any kind is really hurting their sales. I doubt many people will splash out $30 for software that they've never laid eyes on.




The free demo can be downloaded from the bottom of this page; it's the "Get the Demo" button right next to the "Buy it Now" button.


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## d20fool (Jan 21, 2005)

*Sunrise and SRD*



			
				Saeviomagy said:
			
		

> I'd suggest you get a hold of Jpluck for doing conversions. It works far better than the standard converter.




I found the heir apparent to Jpluck, Sunrise at palmgear.com <http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&PartnerREF=&siteid=1&prodID=70927>




			
				As for the SRD? I use this [url=http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/index.htm?35/stephenh.htm said:
			
		

> SRD[/url]



I have said browser converting this beautifully simple SRD as we speak.  It's not taking nearly as long as previous attempts.




			
				It looks really interesting said:
			
		

> They DO have a demo on RPG.ow, but I couldn't find the maps feature on the first one.  The one that is referred to in the post above does work and has a map however.  The mapping feature is very cool. However, as I used it, it crashed my palm.
> 
> d20fool


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## d20fool (Jan 25, 2005)

*Palmgear.com*

I found some programs at Palmgear.com.  Most are shareware or commerical, but I don't remember any outrageous prices.

Grasshopper 3.0 Jump calculator 


Ki Roller dice utility 

ACE XP Calculator 

PC Gen View 

ACE customizabe dice roller 

Combat Q- Combat initiative tracker 

TS Apprentice for 3.5 & TS Apprenice 3.5 for OS5 devices 

D&D Income 

D&D Names 

Cartoforge Dungeons 

Cartoforge Desktop 

Tatyamber Dice Roller 

We've discussed some of these before.  I found the mapping utility on Cartoforge.  It's pretty cool after all.  Wish it was configured for D&D though.


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## Plane Sailing (Jan 26, 2005)

Sounds like you've got an HTML converter you are perfectly happy with, and that's cool.

I always use iSilo - there is a freeware viewer and a pay-for viewer with more facilities which is worth the tiny cost, and a freeware converter. I've got the 3.5 SRD, d20Modern SRD and several big storyhours on there.  The Enworld.org archive facility is great for downloading whole bunches of messageboard threads too, for hours of fun reading.

Cheers


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## talmar (Jan 26, 2005)

For Pocket PC's there's DS Forgeworks

Check it out at http://www.digitalsloth.com/D20/

From their website.



> DSForgeworks (DSF) is a Pocket PC application for use with Dungeons & Dragons v3.0 and v3.5.  Designed for both players and DMs, DSF delivers everything you want, when you want it, wherever you are.   Gone are the days of carrying around reams of paper, stacks of books, and countless dice.  DSF has everything a player needs to track their character's hit points, skills, feats, equipment, spells, weapons, familiars, henchman, and much more.  With an integrated, fully cross-referenced SRD, the rules you need for any situation are never more than a click away.
> 
> DSF has attractive features for DMs as well.  With random generators for names, treasure, encounters, doors, and weather you'll never be caught off gaurd again.   Managing combat has never been easier with DSF's combat and spell tracker.   Each creature or character is automatically highlighted when it's their turn to act, and you'll be instantly notified when spells expire.
> 
> DSF is all about freedom, mobility, and ease of use.  With DSF, you can easily add your own classes, races, skills, feats, spells, and more.  Custom data can be easily shared with other users of DSF through the powerful import/export features.   Our attractive, intuitive user interface makes the software easy to use for anyone, and context sensitive help is available instantly at the touch of your stylus.


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## Dominic (Jan 26, 2005)

I have used Cartoforge, and it has some great features for setting up an adventure, and laying out the specific plot points.  The mapping tool takes a little getting used to, but is very full featured for the Palm.  My biggest complaint is that while you can sync your adventure to your PC, you cannot then make changes and send the results back to your palm.  This means that you will be doing all your typing/writing from the Palm itself - can get tedious.  

The PC client is otherwise very nice, and does allow you to save your scenes, and maps to HTML/jpgs which is great for posting to the web for players, or just viewing from your laptop.

I also have used CombatQ for initiative tracking - works well, but still not as useful/fast as putting info on 3x5 cards.

Dice rollers are cool, but there is still nothing to match the moment of expectation between the dice leaving your hand and seeing the result  

Still waiting for the "Killer Palm Gaming App"


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## Dimwhit (Jan 26, 2005)

Plane Sailing said:
			
		

> My Palm wouldn't be any good for DMing, but I used to use it for character sheets - I'd design them in Excel and sync them using tinysheet (and latterly documents to go so I could use 320x480 full screen).




What is tinysheet?

I have a character sheet and exp calculator in excel, but I can't use them on my Palm. The reason? Documents To Go can't handle a few calculations in Excel (ROUNDDOWN being one--and one that I use a lot in my sheet), so when I open the file, it's locked and I can't edit this.

Does anyone know of a way around this? Is there another program that can open/edit excel files for the Palm and that can handle all the functions from excel?


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## Eternalknight (Jan 26, 2005)

Dimwhit said:
			
		

> What is tinysheet?
> 
> I have a character sheet and exp calculator in excel, but I can't use them on my Palm. The reason? Documents To Go can't handle a few calculations in Excel (ROUNDDOWN being one--and one that I use a lot in my sheet), so when I open the file, it's locked and I can't edit this.
> 
> Does anyone know of a way around this? Is there another program that can open/edit excel files for the Palm and that can handle all the functions from excel?





I'm also having the same problem.


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## Dimwhit (Jan 26, 2005)

OK, I just found Tinysheet: http://www.iambic.com/tinysheet/palmos/

It looks to support the functions I need. However, I'm not sure I can use it with a Mac. Gotta keep looking. (I'm also not sure I want to pay $30.)


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## d20fool (Jan 27, 2005)

*Finally got SRD downloaded!*



			
				Plane Sailing said:
			
		

> Sounds like you've got an HTML converter you are perfectly happy with, and that's cool.




I ended up using Plucker after all.  I had to reinstall it, and restart the computer to get it to parse the thing, all 2.5 megs of it.  But it worked.  I had to set the limit of links on three to get everything.
_Edit: I am still missing artifacts in this version, I cannot get it to compile versions with a depth of 4 links._ 

I LOVE my SRD on my palm.  It's too cool, I can hardly wait to use it at the gaming table.  It's very tempting to make an SRD + OGC site with added rules, monsters, spells, variants, and so on.  That'll have to be a dream for now.

A lot of people have noted that programs replicate things that are simple to do at the table, and you're right.  I however am hoping to get my palm to the point where it helps not only at the game table, but would allow me to DM a game, say, in a moving car (perfect for going to a convention) or running a pickup game easily with a box of miniature character sheets, maps and minis I could keep in my trunk.

Of the programs I've downloaded, here are some reviews:

Combat-Q Nice for initiative tracking, but the price is VERY high for something that can me noted on scratch paper.

Apprentice continues to impress me.  I haven't run into any crash issues yet.

D&D tools is great, with XP calculator, travel time calculator, and undead turning calculator.  You have to upload a bunch of other programs to make it work though.

DicePro is awesome, 'nuff said

DnD Income is curious, a program to show profitibility of running a medieval tavern.  Interesting, apparently well done, but of dubious utility.

DnD Names generates tavern names, group names, and store names.  I wonder if the registered version does character names, 'cause that's what I want in a program.

KiRoller, I still haven't figured this one out.  

ACE XP Calculator- Nice, although the freeware one above does the same thing to a limited degree. This version tallies but does not give a total (!)_Edit: Not true, the total is in the upper part of the screen, apologies.  This program rocks._  The registered version is suppoused to keep track of XP over time, but I'm not sure that's worth $10.

I haven't used any of these in a session.  We'll see how it goes.


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## d20fool (Jan 27, 2005)

*Moblie DB and Excel?*

Does anyone have the ability to turn Excel Spreadsheet into Mobile DB sheets?  I've got some Excel sheets in documents to go, but the DB program is more Palm friendly and allows you to see a whole row at a time (perfect for a monster or spell database.)

I don't want to spend $30 on a program to convert Excel to DB files, and I'm hoping someone here has the program and would be willing to share.

What sort of files would be converted?  I've got a spiffy Excel file containing all the SRD monsters and another of 3.5 tables. I would really like to see one on spells.  Any pointers?

d20fool


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## d20fool (Feb 2, 2005)

*Cartoforge and SRD*

Well, I've played around with Cartoforge quite a bit.  If you try it, you have to name an "act" and then hit the M button to get to the mapper, which is the most brillant part of this program.  Honestly, the little mapper is terrific.  

However, the way the program is set up, the mapper is an "extra" and not the feature it should be.  I would much rather see these changes.

The ability to add keyed numbers to the map that, when tapped, would lead you to an encounter description.

The adventure portoin set up around encounters, with the ability to add SRD monsters, traps, and treasure easily (along with adding your own monsters and traps.) 

An editible wandering monster table that rolls itself (including chance of monster)

The ability to write using the desktop companion.

Are you out there digital alchemy?  I'd like to see some changes in your product!

These features would make Cartoforge something I would actually USE at the table. I've really had fun with the mapper, but the "customizable attributes" for the "cast" section only take numerals, so naming one "damage" is pointless, since you can't put in the "d" and "+" of 1d8+3.  Again, I want d20 specific.

I LOVE the ACE XP calculator.  It's the bomb.  Don't know what I did without it.  Probably pay for the shareware when payday comes around.

John


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## BeerSkunk (Feb 2, 2005)

*DSForgeworks*

Thanks for the plug, Talmar.  Checks in the mail.   

I am currently working on the next version of DSForgeworks.  We've been hosting a beta test since November of 04, and based on the feedback from that test we've begun developing a more robust solution that will incorporate all of the features listed on our website.  We expect to have v2.0 ready for launch by the end of August 2005.

If anyone would like to preview the latest version of the software, you're more than welcome to post a message on our message boards requesting access to the beta test forums.


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## Plane Sailing (Feb 3, 2005)

Doh! I can't believe I failed to plug my OWN PalmOS utilities!

Designed to speed up needlessly complex rules, my 3.0 jump calculator worked out the DC to jump any distance (not needed since 3.5 streamlined the rules beautifully there) and a craft calculator which you can input the value, the DC, the skill and then click either "take 10" or "roll normally" and it calculates how long it takes and how much it costs (including wastage of materials rolls"). Incidentally it demonstrates nicely that if "take 10" will meet the DC, you are almost always better off doing that than risking a failure


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## Ranger REG (Feb 3, 2005)

diaglo said:
			
		

> my hat of electronics at the table knows no limits.
> 
> 
> diaglo "once had an electronic D&D board game back in the early 80's" Ooi



Diaglo, our Resident _D&D_ Amish.


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## MonsterMash (Feb 4, 2005)

Once again I find myself agreeing with Diaglo, no PDA or Laptops allowed at the table when I GM.


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## Breakdaddy (Feb 4, 2005)

diaglo said:
			
		

> my hat of electronics at the table knows no limits.
> 
> 
> 
> diaglo "once had an electronic D&D board game back in the early 80's" Ooi




More on that later, though.


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## Plane Sailing (Feb 4, 2005)

MonsterMash said:
			
		

> Once again I find myself agreeing with Diaglo, no PDA or Laptops allowed at the table when I GM.




Out of interest, is it the possibility of distraction (they are fiddling around on the computer rather than listening to the game) or something else? I know the distraction effect can be a problem.

Cheers


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## barsoomcore (Feb 5, 2005)

As a DM, I am using a Newton as an Initiative counter/combat tracker and I'm not convinced it's working out. I think I spend more time looking at the little screen than I do looking at my players, and that's bad.

So I think I'll go back to scratch paper and scribbled notes.


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## d20fool (Feb 6, 2005)

*What programs to use*

After some work, I have to agree.  I'm way to active at the table to use a palm for something like combat, further, I think role-playing should be personally interactive, not done via computer.

Having said that, there are some programs and uses that I can see a Palm valuable for.  Some exist, some I wish exisited.

Hypertext SRD-  Got it, love it.  Very handy.  Would like one of OGC content.

XP calculator- The ACE XP calculator has sped up time at my table considerably.

Random Dungeon generator- Like Jamis', it makes a map and a description, good for when players go awry or that "pick-up" session.  pulldown menus for type of dungeon, such as typical, cave, building, etc. would be way cool.  

Encounter tables.  Pull down menus for CR and terrain and viola!, encounter.

Eberron/Forgotten Realms/Greyhawk Calender.  Allows you to check dates, moon phases, sunrise/set times, even constellations

Name generator- This exists in limited form, but I want a program with big buttons for "human" "dwarf" that I can tap and get a name on the spot.

Mobile DB databases for skills  (one for tables, the other for uses), feats, spells, monsters, and magic items.

NPC generator, pull downs for race, class, level, any of which may be left random.  

I COULD see an initiative program that had a large screen up top that showed whose turn it was, along with a list below showing current order, hit points, spell durations, and a pull-down menu for condition.  Tap the upper screen and it shows the next in order.  would need a delay function too for those who delay their action.

Just a few ideas.  I downloaded PDAtoolbox but it's ANOTHER $30 program.  Why is it everybody wants $30?

I am also using some mundane programs at the table. I've download an insult generator, a spin-the-bottle program for determing where grenades and stray arrows go, and a simple counter program.  

There are a couple of tomeraider files in the downloads.  Are they current 3.5?  I'm not sure if I want to install Tomeraider yet.

John McCarty


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## d20fool (Feb 8, 2005)

*Last session*

OK, it's been two sessions now.  I now swear by my hyperlinked SRD and the  ACE XP calculator.  I can look up something so easily now and experience takes all of a minute to calculate.  I've eliminated all dice roller other than dice pro, which I haven't used yet but could easily see using at higher levels with massive dice rolls.  My new campaigns are just babies at 1st level right now.

I am definately interested in writing some freeware programs.  Anybody have an idea where I can start?

John "d20fool" McCarty


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## d20fool (Feb 9, 2005)

*New program*

I came across this program yesterday.  Very interesting.

http://www.geocities.com/iz_software/dungeondelver.html

It has a suite of programs for recording adventure and character details, like treasure, equipment (with location!), spells, monsters killed, etc.  Coolest is a message sender, which is something I could really see happening if I had any players that used a palm!  Silly me, I sold my old ones.

I am terrible at taking notes about my sessions, so I might end up using these.  Even if they are aimed mainly at players.


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## d20fool (Feb 9, 2005)

*Woo-hoo! Two more!*

I found two more cool programs.

Dice pro is very cool, but this program may top it.  I might actually use it at my table!

Check out DiceMan at

http://www.pundak.co.il/resource/tools.html

Cooler is the name generator at:

http://spitfire.ausys.se/johan/workshop/

which has a simple pull-down menu then gives you a choice of names.  Very cool.

Rich day for the Palm Pilot!


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## reddist (Feb 9, 2005)

Hey d20fool!

I just wanted to toss out a personal thanks for all your "review" footwork here.  I too am looking to make more use of my PDA at the table, but so much of the software either seems too simple (as in, I'd rather just roll dice or use init cards) or too useless (how much money does the baker make?  I'd only care of the PCs were robbing him!).

So, thanks for trailblazing.

-Reddist


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## d20fool (Feb 10, 2005)

reddist said:
			
		

> Hey d20fool!
> 
> I just wanted to toss out a personal thanks for all your "review" footwork here. (snip)
> 
> ...




You are very welcome.  Here's some more I turned up while web crawling

http://www.palmgamingworld.com/rpg/pdawarrior.shtml

Demo of a program that works as a character database, player and DM friendly.  It even allows you to sketch the character (in color!)  They want money in 30 days though.  Nice little program however.

http://www.palmgamingworld.com/rpg/pdacombat.shtml

The sequel to PDA Warrior, PDA Combat let's you fight with the character you've entered into PDA Warrior.  Haven't had a chance to use it, but I must admit to liking programs that build on each other.

http://rumkin.com/software/dnd_helper/

A program that runs lots of tables, including critical hits, names, and various languages to produce words.  All that and freeware too.  Definate addition to the table.

http://www.mythosa.net/Utils.html

Several palm applications.  A tablesmith express/namemanager pair that lets you have two tables each unless you fork over $5, but many tables available and I like how they work.  I'll be buying as soon as I'm sure I've $5 to spare.  An almanac showing dates, weather, moon cycle, etc. for a homebrew world he mentions wanting to expand.  I would love to have one for Eberron, it's a cool little program.  There is a character manager that lists attributes, AC (various), saves, hit points and XP.  Not bad, and it's free.  I would like a place for skills though, then I could look up rolls I need to roll of PCs easy.  There's an XP track for Unearthed Arcana style XP that goes hand in hand with the character manager, also free.

http://pda.iconet.com.br/palm/preview/274475.html

RPG Shell 3E is another character database that's very clean and usable.  Gives nice, simple run-down for character, and includes a messenger you can write in directly (very nice, especially if someone else at the table had a palm!)  along with databases for a spellbook, skills and feats.  You must enter in the spells into the spellbook, and the skills and feats are 3.0 but easily customized and updatable.  Of this and PDA Warrior, I would probably choose this one.

http://www.geocities.com/lmolls/dnd.html

At the bottom of this page are four txt files that can be compiled for PalmReader.  To do so, you need a program called DropBook, which I found at http://ebooks.palmone.com/search?keywords=dropbook&x=32&y=10

You drag the txt. file onto the window in dropbook and viola, instant e-book.  There are four for different parts of the rules.  Although I have this material with my Plucker program, it's useful to have them seperated out like this.

Well, I think that's all for now.

John "d20fool" McCarty


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## d20fool (Feb 15, 2005)

*Craft calculator?*



			
				Plane Sailing said:
			
		

> Doh! I can't believe I failed to plug my OWN PalmOS utilities!
> 
> Designed to speed up needlessly complex rules, my 3.0 jump calculator worked out the DC to jump any distance (not needed since 3.5 streamlined the rules beautifully there) and a craft calculator which you can input the value, the DC, the skill and then click either "take 10" or "roll normally" and it calculates how long it takes and how much it costs (including wastage of materials rolls"). Incidentally it demonstrates nicely that if "take 10" will meet the DC, you are almost always better off doing that than risking a failure




I checked out your website, very cool BTW.  I look forward to using Wordsmith.  I found your character roller, but not your craft DC thingie.  I'd love to give it a whirl.

For everyone, I actually forked over the $5 for tablesmith express/namemaker at mythosa.net.  Those programs just seemed to handy, I couldn't resist.  I'm considering PDAWarrior OR RPGSuite for keeping my stats for my players on.  It would really help in planning if I knew what spells a character had or special feat, etc.  And it allows me to look up their skill ranks during a session for that secret roll.

I'll post what I decide.  Adieu.

John "d20fool" McCarty


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## d20fool (Feb 21, 2005)

*Cartoforge, interested renewed*

OK, so browsing RPGnow.com I've found an expanded version of Cartoforge with new features.  It indicates "templates" for NPCs and creatures.  Apparently, you can use their cool little mapper to print out maps for minis.  It has expanded art and even a gamemaster's journal (something I've been wanting, I actually got Dungeon Delver just for that alone.)  

Still no word on direct d20 support, but very promising.  Unfortunately, their website seems to be down.  I hope it's not dead.  It's www.cartoforge.com

I would like to know if I still need to buy the desktop companion if I buy the new package.  I'm definately looking at this again though.  Being able to write adventures while waiting for the kids during dance class or while tolerating my wife watching the "news" waiting for the weather report is interesting.  The price is a little steep though if I have to buy both, almost as much as Dunjinni which I might prefer.

My Plucker hypertext SRD is missing descriptions of magic items, so I made a seperate document for magic items.   Some descriptions are STILL missing, so I'm trying it again with another level added.  Wish me luck.

I've also been attempting to convert some of the Tablesmith tables to Tablesmith Express.  Sometimes this is very easy, othertimes seemingly impossible.  I'll post results when I have more.

John "d20fool" McCarty

PDA programs used last session, Tablesmith Express (name generation), Plucker SRD (spell lookup), ACE XP Calculator, Palm Reader SRD (conditions), I haven't used Dungeon Delver to record yet, but plan to use Slayer and Itemiser today to note last session.


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## d20fool (Mar 1, 2005)

*Cartoforge is working*

The Cartoforge site is up and working again.  I got the "big" demo with even more tile sets for the mapper.  I might have to break down and get this after all.

The Desktop Companion is suppoused to let you print out minature size sheets.  The demo version just seems to let you print.  It does not let you write in it.  I posted to the Cartoforge forums to see if this is a demo version thing (I think it is) or is it a flaw of the system.

My magic item SRD _still_ doesn't have all the descriptions.  I'm going to try again tonight.

I've been having fun converting and even writing tables for Tablesmith.  I might be attaching some soon.  You can easily make custom tables.  I plan to adapt sourcebooks I have to this, like 101 Unusual Treasures and such.

Adidos amigos,

John "d20fool" McCarty

PDA programs used last session.

Plucker SRD, Palm Reader Books, ACE XP calculator,


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## Saeviomagy (Mar 1, 2005)

d20fool said:
			
		

> My Plucker hypertext SRD is missing descriptions of magic items, so I made a seperate document for magic items.   Some descriptions are STILL missing, so I'm trying it again with another level added.  Wish me luck.



Using Jpluck: If you download the SRD onto your home system, then you can just set the depth for something stupid (I think mine is at 43) and check the box that says "stay on host" to prevent it from following links into the wide blue yonder. That gets the whole thing done.


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## d20fool (Mar 7, 2005)

*Plucker*



			
				Saeviomagy said:
			
		

> Using Jpluck: If you download the SRD onto your home system, then you can just set the depth for something stupid (I think mine is at 43) and check the box that says "stay on host" to prevent it from following links into the wide blue yonder. That gets the whole thing done.




I've tried that this week, but no luck.  My virtual memory on my machine keeps shutting it down.  Maybe if I delete some old crap to free up memory it'll work.  I am still in love with my Plucker SRD.  Is there any OGC set out in a similar format?  I'd love to see that project, an "Ultimate SRD" sort of thing.

I've still been having fun writing and transcribing tables to Tablesmith Express.  However, it did give me a fatal error this last session.  I was able to reboot successfully and use it again. I wonder if there is a memory limit.

I still would really like a Mobile DB of all the SRD monster stats.  I have them in Excel, but Mobile DB lays each row in an easy to read format.  DOES ANYONE HAVE THE SOFTWARE TO CONVERT EXCEL TO MOBILE DM?

That's it for this week.  I plan to retry using RPGsuite to load all the PCs into.  I would be really handy for planning and seeing at a notice what anyones alignment or Spot ranks are.

d20fool

Programs used this week, ACE XP calculator, Tablesmith, Plucker SRD


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## Saeviomagy (Mar 9, 2005)

d20fool said:
			
		

> I've tried that this week, but no luck.  My virtual memory on my machine keeps shutting it down.  Maybe if I delete some old crap to free up memory it'll work.  I am still in love with my Plucker SRD.  Is there any OGC set out in a similar format?  I'd love to see that project, an "Ultimate SRD" sort of thing.




1. How much actual physical memory do you have
2. What operating system?
3. Do you let windows manage your memory?
4. Is your hard disk totally full or something?


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## d20fool (Mar 15, 2005)

*Oh, Plucker, I stab at thee!*



			
				Saeviomagy said:
			
		

> 1. How much actual physical memory do you have
> 2. What operating system?
> 3. Do you let windows manage your memory?
> 4. Is your hard disk totally full or something?




I've got an HP pavilion with Windows XP on it.  30 GB of memory, of which "only" 787 MB are free.  I inherited the computer from my stepfather, who is notorious for loading programs on them.  I'm trying to clean up the drive, but haven't had much time lately.

Plucker was again useful this week.  Great for looking up spells in particular.  I would really like to see a SRD+ with OGC on it.  Does anyone know of such a project.  I'm also planning on compiling the D&D/d20 index this week. The index is here
http://www.juicymango.co.uk/dndindex/

I got to use my "Spin the Bottle" program this week too!  It's at this link.
http://www.freewarepalm.com/misc/spinthebottle.shtml 

I used it to randomly determine where missles went.  It worked beautifully.

I tried to use the Dungeon Delver's suite "Messenger" program with one of my players who also has a palm and a love of sending me notes of what he's stealing/killing next.  It didn' work though.

Programs used this week:  Name Maker, TableSmith Express, Plucker, ACE XP Calculator, Spin the Bottle.



d20 fool


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## d20fool (Mar 21, 2005)

*New tinkers*

I've been adding doc. files from the ENWorld download section.  I still haven't gotten a very usable index from the dndindex site.  It seems to show that you can pick and choose which books you want indexed, but I can't find out how to do it.  Anyone know?

I'm toying with the idea of putting adventures I write in HTML and then using Plucker on them.  

Programs used this last session: Palm Reader book (conditions), Plucker SRD (spells, equipment, etc.) ACE XP calculator.  

d20fool


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