Role playing... there's an app for that!

Today I'd like to talk about a new app we created specifically for our role playing campaigns.  It's called Dungeon Whisper, and just went live at the app store.

As a GameMaster, you get passed a lot of notes in the course of a night of gaming.  The rogue is always pickpocketing or out right stealing from NPCs and/or players.  Or he might have missed his Disable Device roll and doesn't want to admit it, so he tells the tank to open the trapped chest.  Or players may want to plan some actions in private, like killing the rogue in his sleep.

The most often written note is to explain Listen or Spot checks to players who made their roll so you can keep the players that missed their roll in the dark.  The list goes on, and quite frankly, as a GameMaster, I tire of all the correspondence.

So, we decided to create an app for that.  Gone are the days of note writing, note passing, cheaters listening to explanations when they missed their rolls.  Gone are the days of explaining a spot check when a picture is worth a thousand words.  Gone are the days of asking for secret rolls aloud...

Dungeon Whisper fixes all of this.  And you don't even need wifi or an internet connection to use it.

Dungeon Whisper connects a group of players via the bluetooth connection on their iPhone/iPad/iTouch and creates a chat room specifically tailored to accommodate a complete gaming session.  Here are a few of its features:

1)  Create a profile and customize it to fit your character.  Stats, alignment, even upload a picture from your phone that will represent you graphically in the app.

2)  By selecting CHAT from the main menu you can either start a new chat or join an existing one. Connect up to sixteen players.  Talk to your teammate(s), plan strategy with the entire group, or even plot against an unruly player.  By selecting the player's profile name from the top of the menu, you can talk to them privately, or talk to the group in general chat.

3)  Upload pics from your iPhone/iPad/iTouch and send them to whomever you desire.  To do this, select the 'pic graphic' at the left of your chat window.  You will be prompted to select the file you wish to share and then fire away.  This is extremely useful for GamMasters as they can simple take pics of the dungeons, treasure maps, monsters the party will face, etc. and send them to the party as a whole or to whoever made their specific spot roll.  It's also nice to prepare pics of the geography the players will come across so they can 'see' where they're adventuring as you describe it.  The files sent ingame are automatically stored in the app's library which is easily accessed from the main menu.  Great for saving maps, town locations, names of pesky NPCs...

4)  We've also created macros to use in the app for often used requests.  For example, I ask for Spot Checks and Listen Checks quite often in the course of an evening of gaming.  You have the option of setting up a macro so you no longer need to type this out every single time.  DOUBLE TAP and TRIPLE TAP can be set to do this for you.  Simply go to the settings from the main menu, type in what you want for DOUBLE TAP, and every time you 'double tap' your screen, the text will always send.  EXAMPLE:  I set DOUBLE TAP to "Spot check please..."  Whenever I 'double tap' my chat window, the party or selected player will receive the text, "Spot check please..."

Dungeon Whisper was created because we wanted to revolutionize role playing and bring it into the modern age.  It's a lot of fun and greatly enhances our own campaigns.  In our current campaign, my favorite application of Dungeon Whisper is the ability to have Nightbringer talk to its owner so they can make the decision to obey its whims or not without being pressured by the party.  A close second is using it to allow the demon, Raysiel, to talk with Eric's wizard, Azazel, when he wants out or simply wants to give his 'advice'.  There's no better feeling for a GameMaster than to watch a player receive dire information--such as Raysiel demanding Azazel kill an enemy of his that might actually be currently helping the party--and then see them consider exactly how they are going to proceed without pressure from his companions.  It makes the game more cinematic.

And isn't that why we love role playing?  We all wish our lives were movies...

So check out Dungeon Whisper at www.dungeonwhisper.com or directly here.

Due to scheduling conflicts, we're not having a session this week, so the next few posts will center around the beginning of The Demon Queen Enclave, or I might just throw in an especially humorous Cthulhu session we all shared a few years ago.  If you have a preference, feel free to post your thoughts!