Dungeon master-ing can be a tough job.
All those rules to keep track of, imaginations to align, and all of it while you still need to be so charming and playful. We can all agree that DMs need an assist sometimes. While many seek tabletop gaming out as a means to unplug, there’s no harm in staying just a little wired if it improves the experience, is there? Previously, we pointed out a handful of smartphone apps to level up board gaming. This batch, however, speaks directly to the needs of those calling the dice rolls.
Dungeon Master Buddy is pretty self-explanatory. Crafted specifically for Dungeons & Dragons, it helps DMs track initiative for monsters and PCs, log battle stats, and automatically sync creature libraries, among other niceties. You know, all the things buddies just do for each other.
GM Wizard: Character Generator streamlines the process of peopling, proposing characters that can serve as NPCs or be adopted by players when everybody’s think tank is too tapped. It even takes the second-guesses out of a choosing made-up character name that sounds appropriate; providing thousands of potential handles for dwarves, elves, orc, halflings, and all their hybrid breeds.
5th Edition Spellbook updates grimoires for the touchscreen era. Designed for D&D‘s 5E, it lets users create spellbooks for all their characters and quickly manage the spells therein at any time. Remember that line about any sufficiently-advanced technology seeming indistinguishable from magic? Here you go.
Loot Generator is also tailored for D&D 5E. This app help DMs swiftly create items, spells, and entire treasure hordes for a campaign. It’s all accounting at the end of the day, isn’t it? So, why not use a calculator? This doesn’t provide maps to find treasure, per se, but that’s what the next app is for.
Tayasui Sketches makes cartography easy. While the app has a wide focus–simulating many kinds of traditional illustration–it’s of particular interest to anybody who wants to draw a map that looks like a credible vacation spot, and not a bunch of blobs and squiggles.
ElvenSpeak is a Rosetta Stone for the “Quenya” language Prof. Tolken devised. It boasts an extensive dictionary, a 20-course-lesson for learning Elvish, Elven music, and even specific lessons on Elven astronomy, botany, and anatomy. Over a weekend, any DM can basically become a better expert on Elves than Lord Elrond himself.
A Soft Murmur sets the scene with a dash of ASMR. Part of a DM’s duty is to make players feel like they’re in another space and time. This app’s assortment of natural ambiance, available on cue, can set just the right background noise to complete that illusion.
Would these apps add to your game, or distract from it? What other apps have made your DM duties a little easier? Fill the talkback with all your suggestions!
Images: Richard Cassan, Ixie Studios, m&m Apps, Paul M. Dante, Tayasui / Lassiquendi, Gabriel Martin
This article was originally published on Geek & Sundry.