The Apple iPad debuted yesterday to mixed reactions. While many championed its HD-ready touch screen, feather-weight sleek design, and decidedly reasonable price, much criticism was made claiming that the device is more of an iPhone than a Mac. Regardless of what my overall opinion of the device is, I had to ask the important question: What can the iPad do for D&D players?
Some fantastic D&D iPhone apps already exist, and have been written about extensively on the web (check out this blog post at DorkandBeans.com for a few great suggestions). However, most of these apps are designed for use by individuals at a gaming table, and rightfully so; character managing apps can only display one player’s character at a time, and it would be annoying to pass around something as small as an iPhone so everyone could roll their dice on it. But I think that with the iPad, we will begin to see apps designed around communal use.
With almost 10 inches of touch screen, so many different possibilities open up. An app could be developed to use it as a miniatures surface, displaying pre-rendered dungeon tiles for smaller rooms. DM’s would no longer have to print large poster-sized dungeon rooms, or waste time drawing details onto a dry-erase grid. A prototype of a program like this was shown in the Microsoft Surface D&D video, but that setup and technology looked super expensive to replicate. The iPad could make this technology accessible, practical, and somewhat economical.
An app could also be developed to manage the party’s collective inventory, so that items could be removed or added in real time, in front of everyone, instead of forcing one player to keep a micromanaged running tally of what’s in the Bag of Holding. This would make it a lot easier to keep track of exactly how many potions of healing are left.
There really is a huge realm of possibility surrounding the tabletop gaming uses of the new Apple iPad. Do you think we will ever see apps like this developed for the device? What other ways do you think the iPad could alter the way a group plays D&D?
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Let me start off by saying that I realize that this video is a tech demo for Microsoft Surface’s gaming applications, and that this program is not necessarily under development for the consumer market. Now watch this video. WARNING: Have a change of pants nearby! Yours might become soiled.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-BTwHAEECs&hl=en&fs=1&]
When I see this video I get super giddy with excitement.
And not just at the pretty animations and Minority Report-esque menu control. I, as a lover of the art of DMing, get crazy excited about the game-enhancing capabilities of such a setup. Or maybe I should say game-streamlining capabilities. Either way, I know what I mean.
No more waiting for players to sit there figuring out what the range on their powers is. No more triple-tracing my monsters steps to make sure they successfully avoid all hazards and opportunity attacks. Players can see all regular options for movement, powers, magic items, skills, etc. right there on their gorgeous little touch screen menu wheel.
And not to mention the incredible possibilities for downloadable published adventures: professional quality audio narration, video and artwork with background music to introduce NPC’s and set the tone and mood, and dungeon grids from which the DM can hide details and reveal them at his discretion. Supplemental functions would be limited by the imaginations of the programmers.
And that’s where the giddiness stops.
When I see all this fantastic technology melding with the realms of RPG’s, from MMO games, to real-time Twitter campaigns, to playing D&D online through the Insider, I can’t help but wonder if all this is actually stunting our imaginations a bit. Occasionally it feels a little like these various tools and programs are giving us less incentive to think outside the box, simply because they make thinking inside the box so much easier.
Technology like this raises questions. How will house rules be incorporated? To what extent will the applications support user-generated content, like monsters, paragon paths, and magic items? Will the DM have the option to override the programming to bend the rules a bit in certain situations? For a moment, I get a little concerned about things like this.
Then I go back to squealing with glee. Thoughts? Opinions?
Tags: adventures, Dragons, Dungeons, Dungeons and Dragons, encounter, gaming, Magic Item, Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, module, monster, movement, MS, MS Surface, NPC, RPG, rules, Surface, technology, Twitter, video
