Infinitas DM Transforms Your Mobile Device Into an RPG Campaign Machine

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
Jan 5, 2013
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Infinitas DM Transforms Your Mobile Device Into an RPG Campaign Machine

Atom Switch's Infinitas DM will allow DMs and players to create and play campaigns using their mobile devices.

One of the universal truths of tabletop role-playing games is that a good DM can make or break a game. One of the other universal truths of RPGs is that being a good DM can be a royal pain in the ass. Between the time you have to spend preparing for a game and the effort it can take to effectively run one, the DM has to work harder than anyone else sitting at the table. More than a few have put their sweat and tears into finding ways to make this experience easier. The latest to enter the fray? The fine folks at Atom Switch.

A two-man development team founded by Dan Sandberg, Atom Switch has recently devoted its efforts to the creation of the app Infinitas DM. Built for mobile devices, it will use two screens to fashion an easy-to-use experience that allows both players and DMs to interact with their adventures. On one screen the DM will have control over an in-depth user-interface that allows them to create maps, place representative tokens and create documentation to help organize and track their campaigns. On the second screen, players will see a stripped down version of what the DM has created, complete with elements like fog of war.

Sandberg created Infinitas DM with a particular audience in mind: himself. "It's something I wanted for my own campaigns," he said, speaking to The Escapist. "I love to make big open worlds with lots of maps for my campaigns, but both of those can be tricky to use in an actual session." Looking for digital tools to help organize his increasingly complex games, Sandberg found the existing options to be lacking. "They tended to be so complex that they were difficult to learn and cumbersome to use. It seemed like no one was focusing specifically on just building worlds. Not rolling dice, or managing characters, with chat rooms and PC log-ins. Just something nice and focused on maps and lore." Keeping in line with his vision, Sandberg focused Atom Switch's efforts on creating comprehensive map tools that allow the player to draw their own maps as opposed to using pre-made tiles. The app will also allow users to import "any image file they want" and use it as a map.
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Currently, Infinitas DM isn't available for purchase. That said, Sandberg hopes to launch a Kickstarter in March aimed at finishing the app so it can be released as a commercial product. He anticipates that it will cost "7 or 8 dollars" after its release and hopes to create a PC version if the Kickstarter does well and the team's budget allows for it. Speaking personally, I'd be interested in giving this a try in any of its forms. One of my biggest struggles as a DM is keeping track of the reams of maps and information I have to bring to each session. Infinitas DM looks like something that could make that a lot smoother.

Source: <a href=http://www.infinitasdm.com/index.html>Infinitas DM

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Gorrath

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Feb 22, 2013
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Sounds like an exciting tool. I have binders full of maps, plot hooks, lore and women. Some consolidation into an app would be pretty fantastic, especially since I already have a full-on digital ecosystem in my house. If this works like I hope, I'll hook my phone up to a projector mounted above the gaming table and project the maps onto the table top. This will be especially useful for star maps when I'm running my homebrew sci-fantasy system or something like Rogue Trader. Color me very interested.
 

Ambitiousmould

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Apr 22, 2012
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Thank fuck. Seriously thanks fuck. Well, thank this Sandberg chap, actually. It's looks exactly what I've been dreaming about since me and my friends began playing Pathfinder a couple of years ago and I ended up GMing basically every adventure. The current solution we use is a big whiteboard with a whiteboard tape grid, using various Dungeon Saga and Warhammer Fantasy models as characters. The trouble with this set up is that on more than one occasion the whiteboard has been too small, also having to redraw various areas and running out of markers is a pain in the arse.

Gorrath said:
If this works like I hope, I'll hook my phone up to a projector mounted above the gaming table and project the maps onto the table top.
Fuck me that sounds like the single best idea I've heard in my entire life.
 

Gorrath

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ambitiousmould said:
Thank fuck. Seriously thanks fuck. Well, thank this Sandberg chap, actually. It's looks exactly what I've been dreaming about since me and my friends began playing Pathfinder a couple of years ago and I ended up GMing basically every adventure. The current solution we use is a big whiteboard with a whiteboard tape grid, using various Dungeon Saga and Warhammer Fantasy models as characters. The trouble with this set up is that on more than one occasion the whiteboard has been too small, also having to redraw various areas and running out of markers is a pain in the arse.

Gorrath said:
If this works like I hope, I'll hook my phone up to a projector mounted above the gaming table and project the maps onto the table top.
Fuck me that sounds like the single best idea I've heard in my entire life.
I've never tested anything like this so I'm not totally sure it'll actually work but with this app's fog of war and layer functions it might be freakin' awesome. Imagine having the party move onto an unrevealed part of the map, and with the click of a button, the fog of war goes away and the next section is revealed. You could use the different layers for things like secret rooms/hidden enemies, so if rolls are passed, bam another key press and that gets revealed on the map too.

I think it'll have some really neat effects too if I can project things like moving solar system maps. I just need to find an affordable projector preferably with bluetooth!
 

Heruca

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Jul 9, 2015
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It sounds like there are still a number of folks out there who have never heard of virtual tabletop software. There's a lot of programs and services to choose from, regardless of your preferred platform or operating system: http://battlegroundsgames.com/links/#anchor6