Dungeons and Resources: Character Builder App

With so many advances in technology these days it is no surprise to me that there are now RPG apps. I myself am a iPhone user and I find myself using a lot of different apps for different things and GMing is no different.

I have spent a fair amount of time scouring the app store for any kind of app that would help me to build upon my game. As a GM keeping track of NPCs can be challenging especially in a world as in depth as shadowrun. Finally I made a discovery, an app that not only allows me to generate random characters but also lets me edit them how I need too. The app is called " RPG Character Generator " and let me start by say this needs to be included on every DM's iPhone or iPod Touch.

Granted that the random characters tend to be more fantasy based then sci-fi but it is a small detail that I can work around. One of the great features of this app is that it also stores the characters generated so as to be called upon at a later time. This becomes handy while behind a DM screen because sometimes my phone is easier to operate then a computer.

The code monkeys of lvl99games knew what they wanted when they put this wonderfully useful app together. After using this for a short while I could tell that this was designed with the kind of user in mind, because lets face it most DMs are the kind of people who are always changing things.

One of the advantages of having an app to do tasks like these is that now you can build your campaign while on the go. This allows that if you are out and have a random thought about some kind of enemy that would be awesome to throw at your players you can record it before you forget it.

A great big thank you goes out to one Mr. Steve Jobs for making geeks lives everywhere much easier. For the GM on the go this app is one I personally use and recommend for building a well integrated and complete fantasy world.

Dungeons and Resources: Imaginary Wars

It is Tuesday and this is the day I like to put some time aside to think of all the fantastic kinds of geeky and non-geeky games there are in the world. I like to find those games, expansions or little extras that make the games more fun and interesting but alas there is very few geekdom shops in my area of Calgary. But wait Great news everyone there is this new geek shop that has opened it's doors up to the public in the south east of Calgary. This haven of geekism goes by the handle IMAGINARY WARS.

Located on the corner of elbow and southland this is a fairly central location in the south east of Calgary and a hop, skip and a nice walking distance from a train. Situated right behind a good old Timmie Hoes so all the geeks can get their caffeine fix easily, and a giant tiger is in the perfect position (being just down the parking lot) for easy stocking of snacks.

The customer service is spot on, the staff is very knowledgable of the products carried which in the geek kingdom not being so could mean your demise. On top of that I had a very excellent experience when I went in to the shop with some friends, one of us purchased munchkin a game non of us had ever played. It was not busy being a Friday morning and the gentleman behind the counter offered to let us play in the store if we wanted. We took him up on his offer and he helped us learn how to play so we could teach our friends.

If you are a geek in Calgary this is a place to check out. They are a new shop right now and a bit of an underdog so let us show them that we appreciate the little guy and give them our business.

Dungeons and Resources: Elements of power

Every good DM knows that it can be hard to come up with half decent loot all the time. Especially when your crew decides to raid every single dead body after decimating an army. Some DM's myself include love to keep their players and themselves on their toes with complete and utter randomness.
Some people turn to random Internet based random generators, or random loot tables to put a bit of chaos into a run. Myself being a more visual person I like to see a picture of an item, as a player an a DM when I pick up an item I like to describe the hell out of it. The more intricate the weapon the more I feel it flushes out a character.
So when I was browsing through my local gaming shop, Sentry Box, I cam across this very helpful little item. Upon finding it I thought I had natural 20ed my search check and discovered a hidden treasure trove. What I had discovered was deck of cards, but not just any deck of cards this was a magical deck filled with images of powerful weapons and items. The deck so rightfully boasted it's name to be, The Elements of Power

It turns out that a company called Paizo most famous in the table top community for its RPG called Pathfinder. This company may not be affiliated with the actual Dungeons and Dragons RPG but they are a very similar fantasy game so a lot of the resources can be used with any fantasy style campaign.
Now the cards themselves are pretty basic with just an image and a simple weapon name, with a space for notes on the back. This is very helpful because it allows for the DM to be in charge of the stats and effects of the item on the card. The images that are on the cards are very detailed which help if players are imagination impaired and also can help a DM to spice up his campaign, we all know that everyone's imaginations sometimes can get stuck in a rut.


I highly recommend that every group has a set of cards like this just to keep the game spicy and fresh. And who knows maybe the items on the cards have shady backgrounds. So order them here: http://paizo.com/products/btpy7yi6?GameMastery-Item-Cards-Elements-of-Power-Deck