Right now I'll have a mod open in iBooks but have to flip a lot of pages to reference maps & stat blocks. Is there a way to shortcut those, or have tabs, or extract maps & stat blocks from a PDF and have them in another app I can switch to? I seem to remember someone saying they did this.
Also,
What do you find best for looking things up, PrD d20pfsrd, PDF of rule books, or an app?
Also any good ideas for world-building, character/NPC building, managing campaign info, maps?
Tracking initiative and conditions?
Any other ideas?
Personally, I use GoodReader for rulebook pdfs, Dropbox for all character sheets and maps, Feudz Dice for dice rolling, any old web browser for the occasional d20pfsrd.com reference, and Evernote for all my notes.
I'll keep all those running and just switch between them as needed. I honestly think initiative and hit points are almost easier to keep track of on a piece of paper, though.
What do you find best for looking things up, PrD d20pfsrd, PDF of rule books, or an app?
I know nothing of iPads and such, but as for looking stuff up I prefer a mix of using the prd & d20pfsrd, depending on what I'm looking up. I keep them open in separate tabs.
World & NPC building I'm still a luddite who uses old hard-copy books when i need a reference to creative ideas. But probably some smart person has created an excel spreadsheet NPCbuilder and/or Monsterbuilder.
I'd be interested in links to those too if they exist and are any good.
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Right now I'll have a mod open in iBooks but have to flip a lot of pages to reference maps & stat blocks. Is there a way to shortcut those, or have tabs, or extract maps & stat blocks from a PDF and have them in another app I can switch to? I seem to remember someone saying they did this.
Also,
What do you find best for looking things up, PrD d20pfsrd, PDF of rule books, or an app?
Also any good ideas for world-building, character/NPC building, managing campaign info, maps?
Tracking initiative and conditions?
Any other ideas?
I have an acer tablet (at home) and I use a sweet app that has the whole prd as an off line file. It's really fast and is laid out in a far more intuitive manner than the website version. I can't recommend it enough. I can beat any of my players to a page in any book. Typically before they open it. with the website It gives me a list of results or SERP and that seriously slows the whole process down.
I grabbed an app called "PFRPG rd". For that. I picked it over "PFR" because it didn't require in-app purchases for additional books, it has all the major crunch hardcovers for 4 bucks. It's pretty cool but it's still divided up book by book like the official PRD. I prefer the way the unofficial srd has everything indexed together.
Personally, I use GoodReader for rulebook pdfs, Dropbox for all character sheets and maps, Feudz Dice for dice rolling, any old web browser for the occasional d20pfsrd.com reference, and Evernote for all my notes.
I'll keep all those running and just switch between them as needed. I honestly think initiative and hit points are almost easier to keep track of on a piece of paper, though.
Thanks. What does Good Reader do better then iBooks? I hadn't thought of using Dropbox for that, that's a great idea. Evernote I'll check out right away.
I will NEVER use a dice roller app though. That is going TOO FAR my friend!
ufisk's PFR App is really awesome on the iPad. Yeah, you have to buy the additional books, but it's all linked and lovely.
It is slightly unwieldy, but you can use Splashtop to use a PC virtually from the iPad. Not what I would use in-game, but it's fun to 'open' Hero Lab on an iPad.
I've heard (but have yet to try out) Character Folio on ipad. I believe it is more for players though so may not be that helpful. There are quite a few resources on Ipad that I haven't yet tried.
Good Reader and Dropbox are both useful. Dropbox lets you share folders with your players too so everyone with dropbox can access campaign information.
For dice rolling I prefer to use dice, something I like about actually rolling dice instead of using a program.
ufisk's PFR App is really awesome on the iPad. Yeah, you have to buy the additional books, but it's all linked and lovely.
It is slightly unwieldy, but you can use Splashtop to use a PC virtually from the iPad. Not what I would use in-game, but it's fun to 'open' Hero Lab on an iPad.
Is the ufisk that much better? I got the rd from "Lanza Giusseppe".
I haven't tried splash top yet but Herolab is already crazy slow on my Macbook and crashes a lot. I can barely use it in-game, but it's my go to for NPC creation and checking if the PC's are legal.
"Don't fry bacon while nekkid."
This tip brought to you by the letter "K" & the number 42.
Ok I'm getting good reader immediately. Tabs is what I'm after.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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The PFR app by ufisk is no better then PFRPG rd, and requires that you buy all of the book individually. My recommendation is PFRPG rd. You can bookmark rules and the search is pretty good.
For books I use Goodreader, a PDF reader that has great utility. You can highlight, underline, draw, circle, make notes, and all sorts of cool things. You can bookmark pages you need to look at the most.
I use RPG Calc for dice rolling. I don't care for dice rollers that show me dice, and it allows me to do some crazy dice calculations.
Initiative is a great initiative app, but I recommend you try out a bunch and find the one you like the most.
There really isn't a character sheet app that I like. They take too long to enter characters in and often don't do a good job in helping you keep track of stuff.
MagicPad is a wonderful app that I use to keep track of world stuff, like locations, NPCs, and treasure. If you have a player with the same app, you can set it up so that you can pass treasure over to him when they find it.
Evernote is amazing, and free. I use it for almost everything. Character sheets, GM notes, world information, and session logs.
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I use iAnnotate for PDF reading/markup. It allows you to set custom bookmarks, highlight text, and have multiple PDFs open in tabs. Plus, when last I checked, it had best search speed of all the apps I tried.
I use Tabletop Initiative Tracker for initiative.
I've also started using Evernote to keep notes for my PFS scenarios that I'm running, including Bestiary statblocks and notes on NPC spells that I don't have 100% memorized.
Safari, of course, for when I need to hit a web page for something.
"Don't fry bacon while nekkid."
This tip brought to you by the letter "K" & the number 42.
This one I keep reading over and over for intent, but so far no insight can be gleaned.
I'll echo what many have already said:
Goodreader and Dropbox very useful for all my pdfs
Evernote for my session notes/images/sheets etc.
PFRPG rd for offline rule checks
iCrit and iFumble for fun
Messed around with Penultimate (can export to Evernote) and Notability (cool zoom) for note taking but I like pencil and paper better.
I tried various initiative trackers, but never found one I liked. Too much futzing around inputing characters and NPCs. Paper works faster for me. I keep hoping for a better one to emerge.
Joining the chorus: GoodReader is incredibly handy for handling multiple PDFs as well as adding bookmarks and custom notes in margins.
A dice roller app can be handy when you're dealing with large amounts of rolls at once. For instance with a little preparation you can set up a "6x 4d6 drop lowest"-rule to roll a complete set of ability scores with one fingerswipe.
Finally, any good app that lets you share notes between your PC/Tablet/Smartphone. I use the Notes app included in the basic tablet since it interacts with my phone - sometimes you get a good idea for the next session and you don't have anything to jot it down on, typing it in on your phone and having it come up next time you fire up the tablet is useful. I'm guessing Evernotes and the like would work even better for this.
Related Question:
I use a Java based game table talled OSU-GT. Is an iPad or Android tablet capable of running a Java based program?
The OSU-GT is so simple that I don't see it being hard to use with a touch screen.
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Instead of evernote I use Google Docs and then give access to each player depending on story needs in the permission. It gives them a set of notes to refer from later and they can ask questions and strategize in a way that lets me plan out future encounters and see if my game is going off the rails early.
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Related Question:
I use a Java based game table talled OSU-GT. Is an iPad or Android tablet capable of running a Java based program?
The OSU-GT is so simple that I don't see it being hard to use with a touch screen.
AFAIK, the only web-based technology that absolutely doesn't work on an iPad is Flash.
That said, I've run into some weird behavior sometimes with some scripts, so YMMV.
Personally, I use GoodReader for rulebook pdfs
I hear a lot of people saying they use GoodReader. What's the benefit of GoodReader over iBook? I use iBook for my PDFs, and other than the slow drawing on the screen (fuzzy at first, then sharpens) I don't have any problems with it. Still wish it would be tabbed so I could have two PDFs open at once. I have to switch back and forth a lot.
I find that I keep two dead trees open and the iPad on the table for a game. At least one dead tree, in addition to the iPad.
I haven't used iBook, so I don't know how it is.
GoodReader lets me have multiple books open and switch between them pretty quickly. You can also annotate the book with your own notes, so if you have the AP in PDF format, you can put notes directly in it (like who's dead, where you left off, whatever).
You can transfer documents using a web browser with GoodReader. So if a player has a PDF of his character sheet, he can upload a copy of it to you using his web browser and now you can look at it in GoodReader. This works with pretty much any web browser on any operating system too, your friend doesn't need iTunes.
Spells is another great app. It costs $0.99 and is one of the best and fastest operating apps for looking up spells and monsters on an iPad. It's a little tricky finding the correct app in the app store, but its definitely worth it. Has all the items, spells, feats, monsters from every OGL paizo publication. Items and feats aren't the best for searching through, but the monsters and spells is pretty easy and extremely fast.
Oh, I can read various word processing documents with GoodReader as well. I was playing in a Kingmaker campaign and I copied the text from the kingdom rules, reorganized them and kept it as a word document. I cleaned up the step-by-step process of the a kingdom phase, so we can get through them easier and faster with our group.
There's a nice app somewhat vaguely labeled as Spells that i find hugely useful. It has full spell lists, and monsters, feats, equipment and more. Searchable content and you can make a custom list in each category. I give it a double thumbs up, mega super useful.
edit for linky*
I use an android tablet while 2 to 3 of my players use ipads. I found a great app for android (not sure if available for ipad) it is called Masterwork Tools and it has a great data base that is offline. It has the crb, apg, all the bestiarys, even has um and uc and all feats, skills etc. It is very easy to search through and i can find any item or spell etc in a couple of seconds.
As for pdf readers i use ezpdf or repligo reader as i can create bookmarks and make notes right on the document, or even hand written notes, and then later search for those notes via a search tool. And players could use a pdf version of their character (from herolab or whatever) and keep track of used items, components, spells cast etc. As well as HP and conditions by just writing on the pdf and updating it as easily as using paper and pen/pencil.
And with image capture i snap an image of maps from pdfs so I can just quickly reference them without needing to escape out of my pdf reader by toggling between running applications.
I have tried using dice rollers but havent found one that i really seem to like, so i have stuck to the real dice. Besides it is easier (and by far less costly) to chuck physical dice at my players rather than a $500 tablet...
I downloaded Good Reader & Evernote last night. Thanks for the tips. Dropbox I already had but hadn't considered using it for maps and character sheets, so thanks for that too.
For iPad GMing we just released the Combat Tracker for PFRPG app. You might be interested in it:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/combat-tracker-for-pfrpg/id532579558?mt=8&am p;ign-mpt=uo%3D2
It has all the OGL monsters and the next version (soon to be out) will let you add your own monsters.
Take a look at the link / screenshots and see if it's interesting to you.
There's a nice app somewhat vaguely labeled as Spells that i find hugely useful. It has full spell lists, and monsters, feats, equipment and more. Searchable content and you can make a custom list in each category. I give it a double thumbs up, mega super useful.
edit for linky*
That's the one, I can never 'refind' it for others in the app store. The app is super light weight, moves very quickly and is pretty intuitive to use. I wouldn't mind a couple more features to it. It's worth soooo much more than its 99 cent price tag.
GoodReader, Dropbox (or Google Drive), Evernote. A magic happy-making combo for my gaming.
There's a nice app somewhat vaguely labeled as Spells that i find hugely useful. It has full spell lists, and monsters, feats, equipment and more. Searchable content and you can make a custom list in each category. I give it a double thumbs up, mega super useful.
edit for linky*
Thanks for posting this - awesome app!
It's not an ap, but try this website for randomizing various things.
http://www.random.org/
google and dropbox are bad...they hurt the feelings of glorious chinese leader...
...And have ruined many an attempt to use roll20 on my part.
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Any other ideas?
In addition to using Goodreader, I also use SpalshTop to connect back to my PC at home an access HeroLab.
Since I have a 1st gen iPad, I can't run the HL app that Lone Wolf released. Also, since it's running on my PC at home, I'm only using 1 license and I'm using the full version with all the bells and whistles.
-Skeld
I use Initiativeboard to track combat. It's not flawless but it does the job.
Im old school when it comes to DMing. I like having all of my items on hard copy. I have them available on iPad in Goodreader, iBooks or MS Office Word app (stat blocks and notes). Prior to the release of Office on iPad I used Evernote.
I just find it easier to have things arranged on paper as I can prep quicker with paper.