FantasyMuse App: A Review!

I’m not really an app kind of guy (I’m pretty sure app is short for application). I’m simply way behind the curve when it comes to iphones and apps, that there’s no hope for me to catch up. My son, however, got an Ipad a few months ago, and I’ve since developed an unhealthy obsession with Litebike 2, so at least I’m not completely oblivious.

Recently I had the chance to try out an app called FantasyMuse. I had to have my wife help me download it, not because it was hard to download, but because I usually have to ask her for help with such things. She showed me what to do, and it was actually a cinch. Hey, I have a deficiency in Technology (-5), so this was a milestone.

Not knowing what to expect, I found FantasyMuse super easy to use, and pretty darn convenient – well worth the $1.99 that I didn’t pay for, but would have.

Ok, but what does it do?

“This universal iOS app generates three types of content specifically for writers of fantasy fiction and roleplaying game material. The app can generate millions of different character outlines, factions and quest seeds, and the app allows you to save your favorites via email or simply using the clipboard on your iPhone or iPad.”

Basically, if you need a quick idea for a character or an NPC, a group or faction, or even a quest, one push of a button is all you need. For example:

To me, this is something that I could definitely benefit from. As a player, it could give me ideas for not only my character, but my character’s friends, family, acquaintances, and enemies. I might use the Faction generator as something that I belong to (or once did), and the Quest generator as something that I’ve attempted in the past.

Of course, a game master would get MUCH more mileage out of this program than a player. Quests can be fun little sidesteps that distract the PCs from the over-arching adventure, or be inspiration for an entire campaign. As for Characters and Factions, well, I can’t tell you how many times that I (as the GM) have produced the same cookie-cutter NPCs and enemies – this stops that rut in its tracks, pronto. Your NPCs and villains will certainly be different and fresh, making them much more memorable.

I’ve seen other random generators before, but this one rarely (if ever) produced silly results. For me, the meat of it would be the Character generator, as I would use that on-the-fly in practically every session I ran (the world is filled with NPCs, after all).

This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad

• $1.99
• Category: Utilities
• Released: Aug 19, 2011
• Version: 1.0
• Size: 1.2 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Rasmus Rasmussen
• © 2011 Rasmus Rasmussen

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

I wholeheartedly recommend this app. And the fact that it costs only $1.99 is icing on the cake (I don’t really know what other apps cost, though). I apologize for not having more examples of it’s random results, but I guess the free code I got was only temporary. Bummer. I’ll have to ask my wife how to buy it!