D&D 5E Cell Phone and Electronic Etiquette at your 5e Table

[Rod Staffwand]

I voted "occasionally". When I play the cellphone use is usually game-related (apps, dice rolls, calculators, rulebooks and whatnots), but I may check/send the occasional email or text if I think it's important--and then only when I'm nowhere near the 'spotlight'. My DMs often do 15-30 minute side scenes focusing on one character so I usually wait until then.

That's in-person games. In internet games I multi-task a lot more, probably because the lack of face to face contact is already more impersonal and I find gaming that way a bit boring. Also, when else do I have time to catch up on the enworld forums?

As a DM I allow cellphone use. If it becomes disruptive I'd deal with it then, like any other disruptive behavior, but avoid a blanket ban. Bans are a way too dictatorial for my taste--as a DM and as a player.

 

[ccs]

Being honest? A little bit. Almost always in my 1e game & almost always in conjunction with whatever other BSing we're already doing. Mostly this happens in those periods of down time where the DM is dealing with the actions of 1 or 2 characters that the rest of us aren't privy to IC.
He (the DM) pitches hissy fits about us "meta-gaming" if we're paying attention to such stuff. So we just ignore it & discuss GoT, Deadpool, misc game stuff, etc. Phones/tablets are sometimes involved.
The humorous part comes when the DM then pitches a hissy fit because we're not paying attention.....

What DOESN'T happen is someone sitting there completely self absorbed in there own little world.

Other games? The phones only come out for real life important stuff.
Or as one of the material components of "Summon Pizza".
(Like I said, real life important stuff)

 

[Storyteller Hero]

As a DM, I prefer to have phones at the table set on vibrate but I don't disallow them because emergencies happen. If someone's kid suddenly needs to be picked up because traffic is holding up their spouse, that's important.

 

[mach1.9pants]

The use of cell phones and other personal electronic devices when involved in a face to face social context is anathema to good manners and good company. Using devices for game use is great, I use a Desktop PC, Surface Pro and/or iPad depending on what I am doing, but using those devices to ignore people you are there to game with is awful. Same at the dinner table or pub. Urgh I loathe it.

And I am an IT geek, with 4 PCs, 4 iPads, 2 iPods, 5 Kindles, an Xbox, a Playstation, 2 smart phones and an e-partridge in a tech-tree in my household.

 

[delericho]

We haven't thus far had any cellphones at the table with 5e, largely because the edition doesn't yet have a direct equivalent of the 3e OGL or the 4e Compendium. So online lookup of material hasn't really been a thing - we just consult the books. However, one guy does have his character sheet on a tablet and a second is about to do the same (but apparently didn't find time to do the transfer prior to the last session).

In terms of general policy, mine is quite simple: we're here to game. If you would prefer to go and do something else instead, you should probably go and do something else instead! So if you're doing game-related stuff (for this game!), that's fine. If not, it's a distraction and distractions should be kept to a minimum. And that applies whether it's a cellphone, a tablet/laptop, the TV, or even the rulebooks for the game itself.

(And note that that's a policy, not an edict. Obviously, sometimes things come up that need to be dealt with, or a player might have to be on-call, or someone just has an off night. So I ask for a best effort; I don't demand perfection. )

 

[wedgeski]

I have my phone with me, and if it rings, I will probably at least look at the caller ID. Otherwise, it stays out of sight, and never comes out.

 

[sunrisekid]

My group sees some gadget use at the table, which has not become problematic.
* one person uses a phone app to track all his wizard spells
* one person uses a tablet for their character sheet.

My only concern is distracted players. A paper character sheet does not command much attention, but gadgets always seem to. One person flicking their phone seems to trigger other people suddenly "needing" to look at their phones... Even if it's legit usage there is always one email/tweet/update that pops up on the screen. That said, only once did I notice every player at the table looking at their phone simultaneously - but maybe I was boring with my storyline at that time

 

[Azurewraith]

At my table its -XP for using yourselves phone for non game reason = to 100 times your level if you hit 0 you die and won't be re-rolling.

I use a laptop simply for notes and generators etc. Most of my caster players have there phone just so they have the names of all there spells available and use phb to look up if their not sure what it does. That and if it vibrates you can check it if its important excuse your self and check it, in my last session one of my players grans died, don't think I would be sleeping that night if he didn't find out due to all phones left in a bowel by the door.

 

[JonnyP71]

I play without gadgets, I DM without extra technology. My mobile phone (for it is not a 'cellphone' on this side of the Atlantic!) stays on silent in my pocket, and only makes an appearance if I get a call from my wife or from work - which is almost never.

 

[Valador]

If I'm a player only, the only time I use my phone is if there's an emergency I need to deal with or if the game pauses so the DM can look up a rule in which case I use my phone to search my PDF copies of the books to find said rules.

As a DM, same situation except I use my laptop that I keep all my session stuff on instead of the phone for PDF rules lookup, etc.

I don't mind players having their phone for emergencies or if they have it on silent and have to send a text every once in a while if personal reasons are going on elsewhere with family, etc. However if they're just playing games then I will ask them to put it away. If the player keeps playing with it over and over they won't be invited back.

I don't let people bring laptops, but small tablets are fine in place of character sheets. I prefer players to use pen and paper though, mostly to save table space and because spilling soda on paper isn't as bad as spilling it on expensive electronics... Dice roller apps are strictly banned though at my table.