Monday, February 3, 2014

OSR resources

Yesterday I found the OSR resource center maintained by Richard J. LeBlanc.

It is has a nice breakdown of the various resource to the following sections: "Mapping", "Dungeon Filler", "Characters", "Forms/Records", "OSR Groups", and "Rules/Systems".

The first three sections are mostly random generators, mixed with some downloads. The "Forms/Records" section has downloadable PDFs to fill.
While the "Rules/Systems" is not as complete as some other lists (compare to OSR resources on the  Mage of the Striped Tower, or D&D Retroclones on the Taxidermic Owlbear), it is easier to read (well laid out).

All and all a very nice resource.

Android RPG tools review 1

Last week I got a new phone, an Android device (my first Android device). Like most RPG geeks my first thought was, what cool apps for RPG can I install on my new toy?

This is the first of a number of reviews about various apps I've tried.

The first app I would like to review is Pocket Tabletop RPG Helper. From the description I expected a PC sheet display app, but that is not the case. This app is used for tracking some stats in combat, with a minimalist dice roller.

The minimalist dice roller let you roll a variable amount of one of the standard dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d100) with one modifier.
The stats on the tracker page are not configurable, and the roller on the tracking pages are not even more limited than on the 'Dice Roller' page. For example the D20 tracker page has HP (max, and current), ammo count for two weapons, initiative count and spells per day for all spell levels. The tracker will not remember the last settings used on the page (like HP or spells per day), so using the dice roller page and going back to the tracker you will have to enter all the stats again.

The UI is usable, but not very inviting. You have to go to the 'main' page to navigate between the various pages.

I'm afraid I was very disappointed.

Price: Free (ads supported)
Style: 1 (of 5)
Usability: 1 (of 5)