Bodgering Apps for IKRPG

The iPad arrived today, which happened to coincide nicely with me being under the weather and taking it easy. With an IKRPG game tomorrow (health permitting), it seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring my game to the next level.

Zach, also known as Mercir the Undead Smacking Priest of Morrow, found a neat little app after my post about finally getting an iPad. DM Minion, an app designed specifically for Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, looked good on paper (well... you know what I mean), but I wondered how well I could make it transfer to an entirely different system. As it turns out, it handles it quite well.

I've only messed with the free version, but right now it looks like it can at least handle basic enemies, encounter notes, treasure, and initiative tracking.

Here is the basic screen of a Human Thug from the IKRPG Core Book. If you're at all familiar with Warmachine, you'll notice number by a lot of stuff not found in the game. It took a bit of trial and error, but when looking at the finished "creature" it actually flows pretty well.

If you hit the button in the upper-right, you are taken the the following screen. It's here that I'm handling all the unique stuff like weapons, abilities, and stats that aren't easily covered in the previous screen. I've used both XP and the creatures level to remind me how many encounter points they're worth.

And when you tie it all together in an encounter, it looks like this:

The program handles initiative automatically. In the green area I can look at the 3 important stats of my Human Thug 1: HP (7/7), Defense (the first 12) and Armor (the second 12). The letters next to the numbers are irrelevant, especially since "A" in D&D represents a creature's Armor.

To the right, I can see any abilities I've created for each creature. If I click "stats," it brings up the Human Thug's Detect, Sneak, Willpower, and any other stats unique to him (in his case, intimidation). If I click Anatomical Precision, it brings up a description of the ability.

It's not perfect, especially since it won't let me track bosses or warjacks who use more than just a set amount of HP to determine their health. However, I hold no illusions about finding an app that will give me everything I want unless it's designed specifically for IKRPG. Still, I'm excited to fire up the app tomorrow and put my players through a world of hurt. It gives me everything I need for basic encounters, and I think it will save me a lot of wasted time in the long run.

See you tomorrow!