Review of Diceman

(Product link itself can be found at http://software.palm.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?catalog=1&jid=A5F24631717B3X9783BEF7CX3AXDD1DC&platformId=1&productId=33931&productType=2§ionId=3258&siteId=291&zsortParams=true)

I recently succumbed to the temptation to buy a PDA, and it wasn't long before I started looking for ways to use the PDA for gaming. (Okay- I admit it- the possibility of using it for gaming was a big point in getting the palm.) Sorting through the programs available, I came upon the Diceman.

The Diceman is a simple program that randomly generates numbers, just like dice. Simple, but the major convenience payoff is that you can create different profiles for characters and customize up to 35 slots per profile for a specific die roll. (D4,D6,D8,D10,D12,D20,D100) For example, my first profile is for my Sorcerer, Terjon. The first screen has Seven slots. the first slot I can name "initiative" and select that the program should roll 1D20 3 for me. When I tap the button, it "rolls" for me and gives me my initiative result. A cool little animation shows the dice rolling and how each one turns out before totaling the result. I have buttons for "Melee attack" (1D20 1) and "Falchion" for when I hit that is set for 2D4 2 damage. Other slots have my saving throws, skills and spell damage. Fantastically great for D20 games.

Spell damage is a great use for the diceman. First, it saves the trouble of rolling up 15D6 and adding them. Second, you can select the dice results to be empowered or maximized, as per the feats in D D3e.

You can clone your character profile, beam it to another Diceman user and generally go nuts rolling any combination of dice you want. You can have as many profiles as you want too. i currently have two D D profiles and a Star Wars RPG character profile. I'll add more as our group plays different games. Oh- and a major point in its favour- it's free.

I haven't been able to playtest using the Diceman yet. The flaw that prevents me from doing so isn't the program. The DMs I run with don't want to allow the Diceman because they believe that a computer cannot generate a truly random number. As such, no dice. Personally, I don't agree. Anyone who's played for a while has seen players who deliver dice results that are most definitely not random. I plan to allow it when I run my own game.

The only improvements I might suggest to the program is the ability to combine different types of dice. As is, you are restricted to adding only one type of dice and modifiers (4D8-3, 7D4 1, Etc). Given some D D weapons (frost brand, flame tongue) you may be rolling 1D8 1D6. I'd love to see the ability to do that with one push of a button.

Great product. Now I can take my dice anywhere and don't have to fumble around my sheets to find out how many dice I have to roll. It's also fun to just take it out and roll the dice just for fun.