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The iPhone/iPod touch is a cutting-edge technological device which can access the vast knowledge available on the internet and display high-resolution video. Which makes it the perfect tool to use in old school pencil-and-paper role-playing games.

RPG geeks collect dice like dragons hoard gold, but one thing about these iPhone dice: they’re free and they don’t roll off the table.

All three of these programs work with both the iPhone and iPod touch.

Crit

Crit is by far the most flexible of the three apps. You can quickly select one of the seven classic gamer dices (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d100), or you can set up three “bags,” each with up to three different kinds of dice, in quantities up to twenty each. So you can have 1d20 (for determining “to hit” rolls) along with 1d8 (for damage) in one bag, and 5d6, 20d4, and 1d20 in another (if you find yourself using that arrangement a lot). If you want to track how the dice are rolling, Crit also keeps track of the last 10 rolls.

Product [Crit]

Dice Bag

Dice Bag, on the other, subscribes to the notion of simplicity: doing one thing and doing it well. It features no customization at all, but simply gives the user what he needs: The clasic 7 dice, along with a 3d6, and—in a nod to classic character creation—a 4d6 that “keeps” only the highest three rolls. It’s not the flashiest program in the world, but it “does what it says on the tin,” and for basic rolls, it’s the one I turn to the most.

Product [Dice Bag]

Motion-X Dice

If, on the other hand, what you’re looking for is customization and flash, something that you can use to show off the iPhone’s abilities, to get your friends to say “Coooool!” then Motion-X Dice is for you.

Motion-X uses six six-sided dice—53 different sets of them, in fact, ranging from the classic “pips” to poker faces, as well as the more humorous (or perhaps useful?) “yes” and “no,” “buy/sell,” and others like “dishes/trash/laundry.” You can also change the table you roll the dice on.

And you do roll the dice. The “wow” factor from Motion-X comes from the fact that you shake the iPhone to roll the dice, causing them to bounce around. If you’re playing a game like dice-poker, you can drag whichever dice you like into the bar at the top to “lock” them while you reroll the others.

Motion-X is undoubtably cool and beautifully designed. It’s nice to show off, and great to use…as long as you only need d6s.

Product [Motion-X Dice]