D&D 5E What does this photo say to you? [Project: Morningstar)

[steeldragons]

As an example of how it would be used in-game, what is your initial reaction to this image? A group sitting round a table, a battlemap in the middle, each has a tablet rather than a character sheet.

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Hate it.

Hate it more.

Still hating it.

This breaks two cardinal rules of my table: No electronics. No "battle grids."

D&D is supposed to be a game of imagination and creativity. Nothing about this image says "imagination." I have my info on a computer. I have the minis right here, to see how things are. I can count my five foot blocks on the "grid"....

No. No, thank you.

Did I mention I hate this?

What?! You asked for my initial reaction!

 

[Ratskinner]

Nothing that hasn't been said yet, but..

I don't actually begrudge the advent of tech at the game table, but...

a) I tend to prefer games to be simple enough to not require it, and I'm not sure from what I've seen of 5e what would really motivate its use there. (5e seems fairly not-complicated, that is for D&D.)

b) If I could do cool things that actually enhanced the progress of play (send secret notes, reveal map portions, automatically update HP totals or attacks, etc.) then that would be awesome. However, the images don't give me much hope that that sort of functionality will be a goal.

c) As it is my current group finds itself distracted regularly, having a bunch of pads/phone/laptops open would likely make that worse. (Of course, we are playing an amazingly clunky and slow OSR game...so there's that.)

d) Thank the gods there are still dice on the table. A lack of little plastic polyhedrals could push me into "that's not D&D" territory.

 

[Quickleaf]

The presence of tablets (presumably running Morningstar) was of far less interest to me than

(A) The lack of a DM Screen, and

(B) The presence of a battle map & minis.

What strikes me most about the picture is that - knowing nothing else about it beyond what I can see - is that there are no visual cues about which if the six players is the DM! No DM Screen, no pile of dice, no mound of miniatures, no conspicuous lack of a character sheet in front of one of them, no rules book opened in front of them. Who is the DM? The picture makes me wonder if they're playing some sort of collaborative or competitive rpg with no DM.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don't actually begrudge the advent of tech at the game table, but...

a) I tend to prefer games to be simple enough to not require it...

Absolutely agreed.

What strikes me most about the picture is that - knowing nothing else about it beyond what I can see - is that there are no visual cues about which if the six players is the DM!

If the DM has all of his campaign notes, the adventure and the relevant tables he needs on his laptop or tablet- something I aim for- then there is no need for a DM screen.

Oh yeah...one other thing. I have found that electronics at the table make it very easy to pass secret notes. That is of value both between the DM & players, but also between the players themselves.

 

[PinkRose]

The picture says the future is now. I played a level 1-15 4e campaign online only for more than 3 years. More digital the better.

This thread tells me that there are certain tables that I wouldn't want to play at.

I use a laptop when I am a player. I was the rules look-up (Not Lawyer).
I could quickly and easily hit the compendium for the DM. Keep track of notes and conditions. Updated my character sheet using iplay4e. I loved my laptop.

However, I was a responsible player.
I had to leave the group,. in part, because of the use of electronics by some of the other players. The smartphone was ALWAYS out for one guy. and another player may have been reading a novel on her laptop.

So banning them out-right is not the way I want to ever play again. But having a good social contract between players is a must.

Finally, I ask, what did people do before handheld devices and laptops?
I remember players reading Dragon Mag & drawing characters during the game. Just as distracted, No electronics.
So it's all about the people and how the tech is used.

And I for one welcome our new Morningstar Overlords.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

I was a corporate programmer for more than a decade, and still do a lot of coding on the side. In addition to a computer and mobile phone, I have two different tablets. I'm not afraid of technology.

Having said that, I don't allow such devices at my table. Players tend to get distracted with them. I have little time to DM/play as it is, and I'm not going to waste that time with people who can't focus on the game.

 

[Warbringer]

Only if I can add the following conditions

Stun: your character is stunned and the player must reboot their ipad
Blinded: you character is blinded and the player must place his ipad face down.
Deaf: your character is deafened and the player must put on his headphones a listen to half an album on full volume ....

Continue ......

 

[Daelkyr]

It says to me that WotC might have a better grasp on what we want in digital tools this time around. I've been an advocate of three things in my DnD life.

1. Real dice rolls when you can
2. Char Gen that's quick and math lite.
3. An easy and fairly standardized VTT experience.

I see CN:MS meeting my number 2 and possibly number 3 goals.

And I was a player in [MENTION=6694492]PinkRose[/MENTION]'s game. We met playing LFR online. So this project is near and dear to my heart.

 

[pemerton]

The presence of tablets (presumably running Morningstar) was of far less interest to me than

(A) The lack of a DM Screen

I think I've used a screen once in more than 30 years of GMing - I got one in my 4e Essentials DM kit and took it with me to one session.

You could still probably tell I'm the GM from a photo of our sessions, though - I would have a bigger pile of paper in front of me, and perhaps a Monster Manual or two.

 

[Lanefan]

I have enough trouble as it is getting people to not use electronics at the table. That picture is something out of one of my nightmares, I think.

If people are going to be distracted, without electronics at least there's a chance their distractions will end up augmenting the game somehow:
- drawing character portraits
- painting character pieces
- rewriting character sheets so the rest of the world can read 'em
- looking over party's map and-or treasury for things missed or untested
- (if also a DM) working out ideas for one's own campaign

Lanefan