DMing from a Laptop

[Altamont Ravenard]

I will say, though, that I would love a great text-based die roller. Something where I can just type 22d6 or d20+17 and get a response, like some chatrooms have. Something without buttons or dropdowns or whatever. Anyone got one of those handy??

Here's a little simple die roller in Excel...

Just type in the number of dice and the modifier in the appropriate cell, and press enter (or F9) to recalculate. You can hide the die rows if you don't like seeing the detail.

Of course, it only rolls d2/d3/d4/d6/d8/d10/d12/d20/d100, and can only roll a maximum of 20 dice at a time.

AR

 

[EricNoah]

Here's a little simple die roller in Excel...

Pretty cool!

Attached are a few different solutions to a few different problems...

 

[dren]

- Where do you put the "adventure" (event and location descriptions)? Word? Other?
- How do you manage NPC's and Monsters? Excel?
- How do you manage (unidentified) magic items?
- What about maps (for you)?
- What about visual aids (for the players)?
- What other programs/aids do you have installed
- Do you use a Dice roller instead of dice?
- Do you still use a DM's screen?
- Anything else?

Background, ideas and descriptions are usually in notepad saved as a simple txt file, this way it is extremely easy for me to read and do quick searches to find what I need. This is rarely over ten pages long.

I have over 100+ original monsters; so I create a pdfs on my desktop, that way in case I need anything, I can do a quick serach. I don't need to spend much time looking for the file, opening and then adjusting it to the section that I need. I also do this for things I've borrowed or copied (free adventure monsters from ENworld, wizards' site, etc...) Most times I have prepared pdf files, that will have pretty much all of the monsters I might need for the upcoming dungeon/environment that can't be quickly found in one of the hard copy monster books I have on hand.

Maps - if I can scan them, I will put then in the monster pdf as the second page. Magic items are usually in the description apart of the notepad file. I rarely bother with visual files.

I had e-tools, but I'm not a fan of it. I use redblade for characters; it's convenient plus, one of my players has already made some adjustments to fit my houserules...and it's what I ask all of my players to use to prep...so it works really well for me. I have an Excel file with all of the monsters / spells, which I use as a quick reference; but I usually use the SRD. Excel is often used for hp tallies during long and complicated battles, but if it's less than 30 foes, I usually go with the pen and paper route...it's faster.

Wizards actually had a pretty handy dice roller program that is handy; but since all of my combat rolls are done in front of my players...pointless for me.

And yes, I am still addicted to my DM screen. It just doesn't feel like a game unless I can hide my evil DM laugh behind the screen at least once a game.

Hope this helps, have fun....

dren

 

[reveal]

I'll probably get my hands on a used laptop (PII 300 MHz, 128 RAM, 6.4 Gigs) very soon and as a guy who has always played with paper (and LOTS of it) I was wondering how do other computer-using-while-playing DMs organize their stuff, mainly:

- Where do you put the "adventure" (event and location descriptions)? Word? Other?

I have everything in Word or in a regular Text document. I also have PDFs of stuff that I use frequently.

- How do you manage NPC's and Monsters? Excel?

DM's Familiar has been EXTREMELY useful. I have all the monster stats, which I have set up or are provided since it comes with all monsters from the latest SRD, and quickly drag and drop monsters and players into a combat board. A click of a button and *poof* the monster attacks. I get all the info without having to do math in my head.

It also has a dice roller so I can type in things like 12d6 and get the result. We just finished a quick epic session and it was VERY handy. The DM would look at me and say "Roll 40d6" and I would. That simple.

- What about maps (for you)?

Well, here's the thing. I am a geek and will spend money on geek things. I purchased Dundjinni and the full version of Screenmonkey. Dundjinni, of course, allows me to create maps. I use Screenmonkey to show those maps to my players. The nice thing about the full version is that it can handle multiple monitors... Well, I have an LCD that I wasn't using for anything important, so it's now my player map shower thingy. Basically, the only thing they see on their monitor is a big gray blob. When I uncover things on my laptop, they see it uncovered on their screen. I also put little icons that represent them on the map so they know exactly where they are at. We still use a mat and minis for combat but, for normal stuff, it's fantastic.

- What about visual aids (for the players)?

See above ramble.

- What other programs/aids do you have installed

DM's Familiar
Screenmonkey
Dundjinni
Acrobat 7.0 Professional
Offline Searchable SRD
PDF copies of all the books I own
Other stuff that is useful

- Do you use a Dice roller instead of dice?

Oh ya... It's a lot easier and speeds up things. I can quickly tell the computer to roll a skill check for an NPC/Enemy, Save, Damage, etc.

- Do you still use a DM's screen?

No. With all the information at my fingertips, and considering none of the players sit next to me, there's no need.

- Anything else?

My wife and I talked about getting a laptop for a couple of years. I finally got one during the after-Thanksgiving sales. I honestly had no idea how useful a DMing tool it would be. The other DM in our group, who's been DMing for about 10 years longer than I have, is extremely jealous.

If they can afford it, I highly recommend to any DM that they get a laptop ASAP. They'll love it.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

I used to use a laptop much more than I do now, using Excel to handle initiative, perform calculations in combat, etc. The experience of being a tournament DM at GenCons this year drove me to a more seat-of-the-pants approach; now there are still situations in which I might work up an Excel file, but a lot of times I'll just have a list of hit points, armor classes, and attack bonuses and run from there.

The one thing I still depend heavily on a laptop for is rules references. I like the hyperlinked SRD developed by stephenh, refined by TheRaven, and expanded as the SwoRD here. I prefer it to the Sovelior/Sage because it's faster to cross-reference: in each monster entry, clicking on the name of its spell-like ability takes you right to the description of that spell, and links there can take you to other related topics. Using this, I can settle rules questions faster than three different players all looking it up in their PHBs at once!

For the Masters and Minions books, we built hyperlinks to the SwoRD into the PDF, so that as you read you can follow links to the rules referenced by the text. When I'm putting together an adventure at home, I'll often do something similar with Word, cutting and pasting from the SwoRD web page to make a hyperlinked document - this is especially useful for an encounter with a spellcaster with lots of spells that might be used.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Here's a little simple die roller in Excel...

Just type in the number of dice and the modifier in the appropriate cell, and press enter (or F9) to recalculate. You can hide the die rows if you don't like seeing the detail.

Of course, it only rolls d2/d3/d4/d6/d8/d10/d12/d20/d100, and can only roll a maximum of 20 dice at a time.

AR

I downloaded this but I can't seem to figure out how it works. The cells where all the rolls should appear all have ?NAME? in them? Is there something in Excel I have to turn on for this to work?

 

[Plane Sailing]

- Where do you put the "adventure" (event and location descriptions)? Word? Other?
- How do you manage NPC's and Monsters? Excel?
- How do you manage (unidentified) magic items?
- What about maps (for you)?
- What about visual aids (for the players)?
- What other programs/aids do you have installed
- Do you use a Dice roller instead of dice?
- Do you still use a DM's screen?
- Anything else?

Adventure - some combination of Word document or an outliner program (like MyInfo)

I have an excel spreadsheet with the following pages

1. Campaign Calendar

2. PC wealth tracking. For each PC lists their items and calculates current wealth vs expected

3. PC basic stats. For each PC list their attributes, AC, spot & listen checks, hp, best attack etc as well as running total of xps (incremented each adventure) Quick ref and sanity check really.

4. Combat sheet - one line for each PC with columns as follows:
name | Init | AC | hp | special notes (SR, DR etc) | 1-2-3-4-5 etc rounds.

The monsters are teed up below the actual sheet. When the encounter starts copy the appropriate creature lines up to the rest, collect the party initiative, sort into init order and then just put x's in the box to track what is going on. For large monsters I have some columns for quickly recording damage and set the hp up to automatically deduct from the total.

n.b. I tried using DMGenie, but eventually decided that it didn't quite work for me (too much time spent for integrating odd actions) but two others in my group use it extensively for their adventure creation and DMing and swear by it. It is certainly a decent product and really shines if a wizard wants to summon a celestial griffon (click click click celestial griffon added to combat with full stats, thank you m'am).

For my maps I normally scan existing adventures have a bitmap viewer window open, or create them myself in drawing software.

I keep a folder with the SRD contents open for easy access.

I always use real dice, so the players can see them fall themselves.

I still tend to have a DM screen for when I need secret die rolls (however this is just a folder balanced open - no data).

For 3e I'd hate to go back to not using a laptop for DMing now.

Cheers

 

[Kordak]

DM Genie

I hadn't seen anyone else mention this, but I use DM Genie. It does pretty much all you are looking for. I don't use a DM screen just the laptop and it has a die roller that you can use (although , for the more dramatic moments, I still throw some dice down.)

It costs about $40, however, you can download a free fully-functioning demo to see if you like it or not. I used the demo for a while and after gettin gused to it, decided I couldn't DM without it...very nice program.

You can find it here ---> http://www.dmgenie.com

I also have the aforementioned Sage/Sovelior SRD as a local copy on my laptop. This is fantastic! Last session I didn't even have to crack a book.

With these two applications on the laptop, we are ready to go.

Thanks,
Kordak

 

[nyrfherdr]

For use at the game table, chalk another one for DMGENIE!

I've tried RPMaster. Campaign Suite. Campaign Suite extended.
and others.

I liked DMGenie the best because it matched my computer use style the best. Others had similar features, but the UI and I didn't get along.
The think I liked best about Campaign Suite was the easy ability to create templates.
The new version doesn't seem to have that.

All of them allow for customization. Some easier than others.

For Mapping... I use Dundjinni.

Having a laptop at the table isn't for everyone, but since some of my combats are very involved and I had a habit of forgetting key abilities. DMGenie helped me to make that work better.

Game ON!
Nyrfherdr

 

[IronWolf]

I am quite the mix. While I have a lot of information on my laptop for a game I will end up printing large portions of it off, especially the adventure itself. I find I can flip through the pages faster or maybe its just that I like the feel of it! I keep the laptop near just in case I need something, but for the most part I rely on index cards and such to help keep organized. So right now I am probably about 60/40 with the pen and paper being the significant side.

I always roll the real dice. As someone else mentioned it is one of the few times I actually get to use the real ones as opposed to an online dice roller.

Just getting a regular game going again, we'll see which way I end up preferring over the next few months.