I’ve sat around one good game table over the last… let’s just go with “many moons,” and while that was a big bag of super-fun (Maschine Zeit), I do miss gaming on a semi-regular basis. Time and distance are not fond friends to the process, of course, but it doesn’t stop me from pretending I’m gaming in my own head. My wife is surely concerned about me, because there I sit, lonely at the dinner table. I roll dice. I mumble. I cheer. I swipe the dice angrily from the table. I have reams of character sheets. Stacks of books. I cry a little. I eat cake and get it all over my beard. I take off my pants. I put them back on again.

Maybe that’s why nobody invites me to game anymore. It’s the pants thing. Or maybe the cakebeard?

Anyway. Over at Mob United, Malcolm Sheppard talks “next-gen” RPG experiences, and while perfectly awesome a notion, I can’t help but look down at my little iPhone buddy and see what he can’t do for me now at the game table. I mean, he’s such a perfect little pal. All black and shiny. Responsive to my tickling touch!

*pauses for a moment to make out with iPhone*

Okay. Back. *wipes mouth*

So, here’s my crazy thoughts on the usefulness of iPhone apps at the game table. The iPhone will never rule the gaming experience; it’s simply not comprehensive enough. But it can accentuate the process and maybe solve some niggling issues that I know I’ve had at the game table. Mind you, none of this is particularly revolutionary, but it pleases me to think about it. So you shut up. You shut up hard.

Evernote

Whether running a game or playing it, I am total pants at keeping good notes. Even the simplest note-taking for me looks like a suicide note written by a dangerous schizophrenic. Worse, even if I take good notes one session, I’ve no guarantee that they’re coming with me to the next session — I might’ve used them for toilet paper or to make origami boulders or something. And it helps to have consistent notes, because from session to session (especially if you go weeks between them) everybody’s always trying to get caught up. “What’s the cab driver’s name? Wait, wait, what did the Vampire Prince of Parties tell me? Didn’t we find out something about an Elf Gate where the Mayonnaise of Darkness is kept? Shit.”

So, I propose: Evernote.

Evernote lets you take persistent notes — notes that go wherever you have your Evernote account. Enter it into the iPhone at the table (text, voice, snapshot), and it’ll go with you to your PC or Mac at home (or right there at the table should a laptop be in play). Thus, it goes in reverse, too — in session-prep, you have a quick note or plot turn or character name, you just slap it into here and let it come back to you at the game table during a fast moment of recall. (Or, at your PC you think, “Hey, that website has some cool images, so I’m just going to bring them into Evernote so I can use them for reference at the table.)

Heck, you could even snapshot a character sheet, because Lord knows, peeps do lose their character sheets from time to time. No more of that, “I forget: did I have seven dots in Goblin Pastries, or seven dots in Clay Magic?”

Cost on that puppy is a big eff arr double ee. Free.

SimpleMind Mind Map App

Hey, if you say “Mind Map App” over and over again, you start to sound like the aliens from Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks. MIND MAP APP! MIND MAP APP!

Right. Moving on.

I am a whore for the mind map.

I expect soon that I will rely on mind maps to chart out even the simplest of decisions. “So, do I buy Vlasic pickles? Or Mt. Olive? Let’s mind map this shit as two branching paths. At the end of the one, Vlasic is a decrepit Romanian vampire who has been brined in spices and vinegar…”

At the game table, I can see mind maps being very, very useful.

First, you could use it for very simplistic maps, though you’re limited as you can’t draw lines between already-connected map bubbles. Still, for rudimentary dungeon-mapping, it might fly okay.

Me, though, I’d use it for planning. See, I don’t do a fuckbasket of prep for games. I do just enough, because I know the players are going to string up any plans I make and leave them hanging and drifting in a cold, merciless wind. Mind mapping gives you light and loose planning ability, and with the branching nature, you can play with outcomes-based plotting rather than The One True Way. Meaning, players take Path A and fight the Kobold Morgue Attendant, they gain access to Frankenstein’s Trampoline. Players take Path B, they make friends with the Kobold Morgue Attendant, and rocks fall, and everybody dies. Stuff like that. Not that a player group easily gives into crass dichotomies, but we’re talking rough planning, here.

Express version is free, though I bought the full version to access robust exporting features.

Draw Some Shit, Drawman

I know, they call drawmen “artists” these days. Me, I like drawman. Much clearer a term. Man Who Draws. Fucking language.

I can’t lie to you, I haven’t settled on a good specific app for this yet, but the point is this:

A good drawing program will help you immensely at the table, regardless of your art ability, or utter lack of it. I have the artistic ability of an epileptic ferret, but even still, this can be useful at the game table. Howso?

Ever need to draw a quick map of a room? “The Beast of Punxatawney is here. The vanity and dresser is here. The bed here. The secret cache of laser weapons is beneath this trap door. And you guys are here.”

Ever need a reference for a creature’s weaknesses? “The dragon’s balls — see them swinging? — dangle like low-hanging fruit. But they’re protected by a flared asbestos shield here. Four flanges. Is flange the right word? Fuck you, I don’t care. Flange. Four flanges. Eat it, suckers.”

You could use it to tick off Health, or magic points, or Willpower, or whatever. Instead of marking up your sheet with constant eraser marks (eventually wearing that precious hole in the paper), just a quick swipe on the ol’ drawing program to track resources.

You could use it to pass quick messages — you write, “I stab Martha in the face with a broken broomstick” in hasty scrawl and tilt the screen toward the gamemaster. He narrows his gaze at you, because “Martha” is a player, not a character, and then he quietly dials 911 on his iPhone while you break a broomstick over your knee.

Alternately, you could just be a jerk and draw penises all day.

What program to use? I dunno. Let’s start with free — Whiteboard serves as an easy, free app. Not fancy, but it does allow for some collaborative efforts, which has merit at the game table if other people have iPhones handy. It has a paid version that lets you do more robust editing.

Brushes is a favorite for people, though I don’t own it. It’s robust. It has layers. Some dude painted a New Yorker cover. Not awful for five bucks.

The Sketches app has some cool whiz-bang to it — you can sketch on maps, which is neat, and it looks like you can sketch on graph paper (which is doubly useful for gamers). Again, five buck-a-roos.

Google Maps

This one only really works in games played in the real world, but you could always use Google Maps to check driving times or basic maps. “How long will it take me to get to Fisherman’s Wharf to feed this body to the voracious seals that dwell there?”

Or something like that.

Again, it won’t work if you’re playing in the Kingdom of Furlandia or something. You can’t ask, “How long will it take me to fly my pteropelican to the Northern Bogs of Grimpernod?” I mean, you can ask it. Go ahead, ask it. But Google Maps won’t answer. It’ll stare balefully at you.

Dice Rolling Apps

I won’t comment on this one — I’ll let others talk that talk.

Your Input

You got an iPhone or other mobile device? What do you use at the game table? I know I’m missing some shit. Inform. Enlighten. Throw things at my head. Come on. I know you got it in you. Speak up. Don’t make me come over there.