i4e Puts Your Character in Your Pocket
Ryk Perry’s review of the iphone app for 4e D&D examines what it can and can’t do for your character.
I’ll be the first to tell you that I really love pen and paper RPGs. I think they are still far superior to anything you can find for PC or consoles and the feel of a book in your hands as you peruse character options or monsters is second to none. That being said, I am a fan of computer programs that help along the research and tracking of D&D statistics. I am a huge fan of the Character Builder and the Monster Builder, so a little while back I thought, “there’s got to be something out there for 4e for my iPod touch.”
[There is a very similar app for Android phones called KSheet, which is free.]
Our group was about to reenter our standing campaign (after a Star Wars hiatus) and I had gone to visit family for the weekend. We were going to start playing again on Monday and I found myself wishing that I had brought my character sheet along. Or even better, that I could have it on my iPod. So I looked and found i4e, an app for tracking 4th Edition characters.
i4e is an app made by a third party that has some interesting tracking features. It currently costs $4.99. You can start from scratch and build a character from the books, entering data directly into i4e or you can upload a save file from Character Builder to the i4e web site. That sounds really cool, but it also is i4e’s major drawback. It is not supported by WoTC so the app doesn’t bring up all the data that you would find if you opened the same file on Character Builder.
The reason for this is that the save files don’t save all the data in them. So while i4e will bring up the names and action types (at-will, encounter, etc.) of your character’s powers, most of the rest of the power is blank. You have to manually enter the data including key words and text descriptions of the powers effects. This can be quite a chore (though if I was building the character from scratch on paper I would have to do the same thing, maybe I am getting spoiled). Some of the data is cross-referenced but not all of it.
For instance if your powers are based on weapons, you have to make sure that the weapon keyword is in the power and then you have to edit your particular weapon for its statistics. I am still having problems getting some powers that should have nearly identical basic stats (not counting the auxiliary effects which are text based) to report the same to-hit and damage numbers. I expect I am missing something and it probably would have been better to try this with a 1st level character rather than a pair of 14th level characters. 
Now I don’t want to give the impression that everything about the app is difficult. There are quite a few neat features that I really enjoy. For instance you can track damage, healing surges, conditions and power usage. When your character is bloodied, the header bar turns red to indicate that unfortunate turn of events. You can add conditions based on an alphabetical dial (except ‘ongoing damage’ is at the top) that also tracks the duration type: start of turn, save ends, etc. The number of conditions you have will be indicated on the bottom menu bar, just like the app store telling you you’ve got updates available. This helps you remember to make a save or whatever.
You can also “use power” which will grey out that power on your list to help you keep track of what you have left. The app will automatically restore the proper powers when you hit the short or extended rest buttons. It will also heal you and restore surges if appropriate. Plus all this information is saved until you edit it. So when our group did an e-mail discussion between sessions about whether or not we needed to rest before continuing on, I could actually check my character even though my character sheet was miles away.
While there is a lot of leg work involved if you want to run your character only from your iPod, it is doable (though I still prefer paper). But used as a tool to help track the more mutable aspects of your character that change frequently, I have found it very useful. If you like using technology to help you run your games or if you want to try to actually go paperless, give i4e a try.
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August 17th, 2010 4:52 PM
Seems like an interesting app, but for one problem…it’s not free, it’s $4.99 in the App Store. It may have been worth free, but it’s definitely not worth 5 bucks.
August 17th, 2010 5:10 PM
Hey Warlock, I just looked up i4e and saw that it was $4.99. I don’t know if I brain fried when I was writing the review and forgot or if I got a promotion when I ordered it, (clearly I should have checked again before sending in the article) but yeah, 5 bucks does seem like a lot for an app that’s not officially supported.
So, sorry for the misinformation
August 17th, 2010 6:49 PM
Updated the article. Thanks for the heads up warloc.
August 19th, 2010 3:28 AM
I downloaded the free “Compendium helper” app for browsing the Compendium, I think it’s by the same team; it’s useful, if a bit buggy. But I wouldn’t buy i4e. Instead, I use iplay4e, a web app that works amazingly well on an iPhone or iPod touch. You can upload your character builder files and access all the feats, powers etc. plus track hp, healing surges, treasure and experience – it’ll even save the tracking stuff, though you still need to download the updated file and open it in the Builder to level up or change anything else.
‘Cos it’s a web app, it does require you to have net access, so if you’re playing in a store without free Wi-Fi then it’s not so useful on an iPod Touch. On the other hand, it should also work on a bunch of modern smartphones, including Android ones, and it has layouts designed for laptops and tablet devices (like the iPad) too. The automation of looking up all the feats, powers and so on is great, though note it does require you to have a DDI subscription and to log in. That does mean you’ll always see the updated versions of your powers (which might be a problem if you play with older versions). Handily, it uses your Google account – something you probably already have – for authentication and ownership of characters. It also has some very basic campaign stuff, like grouping characters by campaign and integration with some combat tracking apps and campaign hosts (though not Obsidian Portal, yet), which are useful for DMs.
Oh yeah, and it’s also free, though the standard PC/laptop layout does include some Google ads in it’s interface. I don’t think they’re present in the mobile version.
I can’t recommend it enough. And no, I’m not affiliated with it, except that I thought it was awesome enough to donate some money to the project. (Doing so eliminates the ads.)
Check it out at http://iplay4e.com
August 19th, 2010 10:19 AM
+1 to iPLay4e from me… (it also includes a die-roller, but I have a somewhat old-fashioned need to actually ROLL dice, plus I find most DM’s don’t trust electronic dice rolling.)
Not only is it a great sheet from a Player’s perspective, it ties directly to inCombat, which is a RAWKIN combat tracker for 4th ed. iPlay4e also has the ability to organize your player’s PC’s into a “campaign” and with a single click, you can dump all the PC’s into an InCombat instance, add your monsters, and off you go.
get your D&Di account, your tablet, iPlay4E, inCombat4e, and you have everything you need.
My only want for the suite would be integration into rptools’ Maptool application, which I use, attached to an external monitor, as my “game mat” around the table.
August 19th, 2010 11:06 AM
Oh yeah. I guess I didn’t realize i4e was different from iplay4e. Ryk, definitely check out iplay4e. It is a lot cooler and I think it solves a lot of the issues you had with i4e.
August 31st, 2010 11:03 AM
Hi, I’m the creator of i4e. I’m currently working on an iPad update to i4e that will be included in the app as a universal app. I’m also simplifying a lot of the app to make it easier to get up and going from the beginning.
If you’re having any problems getting things to line up numbers wise just shoot me a support email at i4e_bugz@cordax.net and I’ll be happy to help you get going.
iplay4e.com is a great site but there are a few things that i4e has over it, mainly being able to use it without an internet connection and being able to edit values in the app to make updates to your character.
I didn’t make the compendium app that was on the iTunes store but I have on in the works and should be out shortly after the next update to i4e.
Mike
August 31st, 2010 11:12 AM
Hey Mike – thanks for stopping by and sharing the info. A character sheet on the ipad (and similar Android-based devices) would be amazing. Can’t wait to see that!