doesn't anyone play low-tech anymore?

[Obryn]

I started prepping and running my game using Masterplan around a year ago, and at this point I'm never looking back. The amount of bookkeeping it offloads for me is just kinda awesome, and I don't mind running gigantic combats (like PC + even number of allies vs. large amount of enemies) at all...

-O

 

[fjw70]

The only stuff I do on the computer is pull monster stats from the MB to create the encounters. Everything else is pretty much paper and pencil (I DM and don't usually play). I sometimes look stuff up at the table on my iPad, but I don't look up much at the table.

When I played SW Saga recently I use a fillable pdf for a character sheet.

 

[Quickleaf]

My players glommed on to to CB, and I didn't see it speed up play in the least. Actually, the "tax form" like character sheets (worse when printed black & white), the focus on standardized powers, the numerous conditional modifiers, - these things seemed to sap my players' imaginations.

Laptops and e-tablets at the table inevitably distract our group into conversations about Dr. Who, debates on piracy, checking academic schedules, trouble using software, swapping music, etc, etc.

I've designed some really fun monsters with the MB and it's a sweet tool, but the fact is that my best encounters always come from some spark of an imagination. I hand sketched this one climactic battle for an oracle's aerie where a magic crown was held; in my drawing there was a shaky stone bridge which would become a weight/counterweight puzzle evocative of the scene in Lord in the Rings where Aragon times the jump off the stone staircase with Frodo. It was frickin awesome!

Paper and pencil will always remain the deadliest weapons in the DM's toolbox.

 

[Blue]

I can type much faster than I can write, so most of my prep is on a computer, but I print it all out for running. I can have multiple papers out at once, jot notes, and still make eye contact with my players. But still, my average session notes is 30+ pages, usually 10+ pages new, the rest from earlier sessions though sometimes updated with my notes from while running.

We also have a rather extensive world wiki, though it's been down for a while and needs to be resurrected.

On the other hand I wouldn't even try to build a character without technology. FAR too many sources to look through, and lots of the older stuff has been updated and errata'd.

Generally, I don't like to run or play from a laptop, but I find having one at the table with the compendium for quick (and errata'd) rule look up invaluable. That said, while I love the tactile experience of power cards, they eat up far more table space then a laptop would by late heroic, and get crazier from there. But it's still friendlier than looking around the table and just seeing "Wall of Dell".

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Like Blue, I type much faster than I write. Heck, if I have to write for any length of time my hand starts to cramp up!

I prepare everything for a session on my PC and then print it all out, including stat blocks for monster. At the table, I still use paper and pencil/whiteboard and dry erase markers but prep is all electronic.

 

[The Monster]

Me too - prep on the computer and print it out, run with paper & pencil. I actually resent laptops at the table - they invite distraction (which to some extent I can deal with fine), but it feels like there's a sudden wall between me and the player. Tablets don't evoke the same reaction, I find, since they don't hinge open. An old fogey myself, I'm not conversant/comfortable enough to use electronics when running; and when playing, the only thing I've done is look up stuff online in character builder/compendium or wookiepedia (when playing Star Wars).

 

[Havrik Stoneskimmer]

I prep with Microsoft Word and Excel, but print things out and run pencil-and-paper at the table. I use the laptop only to play background music.

My gaming group is pretty old school, and I doubt any of them are even aware of the character builder. We are playing exclusively from Heroes of the Fallen Lands and everything is just written out on paper character sheets with occasional references to the book for power details if we forget them.

It's not really an issue at all, especially if you limit character options as we have. I think there's something to be said for generating a character by hand and understanding how your attack bonus is calculated, so if you lose your sword and try throwing a chair, we have some idea of how to adjust the die roll.

 

[Lostdwarf]

I enjoy the online tools as they fill in the blanks in my physical collection of books. I don't own everything, but there it all is in the builder anyway.

As for ease of character buidling, I think it depends on the game. If you are playing a straight Essentials game then the builder isn't really needed. Essentials specifically tried to go back to the days where you could choose a race and class, spend a couple of minutes making up some stats, make a choice or two, and be ready to go. On the whole, I think they succeeded quite nicely. I know there are people who are down on essentials because they find it limiting, but there is something nice about not needed a Ph.D and a spreadsheet to make the freaking character.

For classic 4th ed, which I greatly enjoy as well, the problem for me just going pen and paper is that there is so freaking much of it. Three PHBs, six power books, two books of just gear, more stuff in the Campaign settings, yet more stuff in the magazines, even yet more stuff scattered here and there in other products. You need to be some kind of char-ops cyber-warrior to keep it all in your head and you need a dumptruck to get it all to the game. I find the character builder to be a godsend for non-essentials dnd. Even trying to keep it simple it gets overwhelming. Lets say you want to build a Goliath fighter. Sounds simple, right. PHB1 for fighter, PHB 2 for Goliath, Martial Power 1 and 2 for more fighter choices. Whats the stats on a Fullblade again? Better Grab adventurer's Vault. You are thumbing through 5 hardbacks just for the basics, and what, you want me to pick a background? Where is the Campaign guide? Its just nuts.

 

[Kerranin]

I started prepping and running my game using Masterplan around a year ago, and at this point I'm never looking back. The amount of bookkeeping it offloads for me is just kinda awesome, and I don't mind running gigantic combats (like PC + even number of allies vs. large amount of enemies) at all...

-O

Same here, I find it especially useful for tracking status effects, ongoing damage and making sure that saving throws get rolled.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I prefer pen and pencil, but I do use computers to make up a neater sheet once I am done making it with paper and pencil. I jsut prefer to do it that way.

As for the game, sheets of paper, dice, plastic minis and dungeon tiles do it for us. No computer maps, or anything like that, though I do run games on Yahoogroups.

I'm pretty old style.