DM essentials and organization at the table

[Voadam]

Depends.

We mostly play by e-mail now so sometimes I can get away with nothing more than description and interaction based on where things are at.

If spells start being cast or powers or items used I want the srd or our electronic files with all the non-srd applicable info on the player stuff.

If combat gets going I want the srd monster stats.

If they get going on active parts of the adventure I usually want the module called up for reference.

We have a yahoo group with links to the srd, an online dice roller and campaign files including all the non-srd aspects of the characters and a who's who chart of NPC's they have met.

So many days I don't need more than access to the group site.

Some days I need to pull up the module though for some references.

I do have plots involving 3rd party material as well so when they get to those aspects I will usually need to pull out those materials.

 

[Rel]

First, I have individual summary cards for all the NPCs and creatures in the game listing their game statistics, personalities, motivations, combat tactics, etc. These also double as initiative cards during combat.

I do this as well and I recommend it highly. The time I spend writing out these cards pays big dividends in terms of how organized it keeps me during the session and in helping me organize things for the following session too. Also, with recurring NPC's or monster types, it is less work than you may think. I got to a point where my "card library" was big enough that I only had to write maybe 2 or 3 cards up for any given upcoming session.

Aside from that, I bring a ton of crap to the session. I always have my dice, pencils, pens (for regular writing and wet-erase for the battlemat), extra index cards and so forth. Figures are not an absolute essential but I almost always use them (and our collection stays at the house we play at so I don't usually have to lug too many of these around). I'm also big on terrain features for the battlemat. I love chunky bits of stuff to place out there for the PC's and baddies to play around on. I've got so much specialized terrain for my one-off game that I'm running at the next NC Game Day, it is going to take me two trips to the truck just for that stuff! But I find that it makes for fun and memorable sessions, so what's a couple extra minutes and 4 flights of stairs, right?

But I, like Henry mentioned, would never cancel a session just for lack of some of the accessories. All that junk certainly adds to the fun, but the players always contribute the majority of it.

 

[Hand of Evil]

The gaming state of mind! Nothing on the mind but the game, if I don't have that the game lacks something no matter what I have!

The Core books
AEG GM Toolbox
My notes

That is about it.

 

[The Other Librarian]

No-one's mentioned the crushed velvet hooded cloak yet. How else are they gonna know you're the DM?

 

[DaveStebbins]

I couldn't DM without my Ultimate DM Binder which also does duty as my DM screen. I use a small (three-quarter inch rings, I think) binder filled with pre-punched plastic sheet protectors. Then I fill them with reference materials. Quick reference sheets and tables, maps, random names, NPC write-ups, etc. Flexible and made to fit my needs.

 

[Ry]

There was a time that every session I ran required 1 piece of paper with the names of major scenes and important NPCs. Of course, beforehand I'd be throwing my arms around, making voices and faces in my apartment for hours, and adding tiny little notes to that sheet. But that wasn't d20; at the time, we were one step from diceless.

These days, for D&D, I go with a DM screen that has pretty much all the information the players have learned on it (NPCs, sites visited, trivia discovered, foes defeated). This helps keep the world consistent, and helps me weave old friends and foes back into the current plot. Besides that, I keep a page of DM notes for story development, and another page which boils all the monsters down into one 3 x 11 inch chart and a few addenda.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I use a Palm Pilot (Visor Handspring Deluxe, to be exact). Key portions of the SRD have been imported along with all my game notes. If I were so inclined, I'd combine with PCGenView to import detailed characters. I've got a die roller on it and I could get by with having nothing else. Okay, I'd be happier if I could ever get my automagic treasure generator program to work but I'm just not that good a coder.

 

[fourthmensch]

1. Books. Core books and FR books, along with relevant other books, or Dragon/Dungeon issues. I like to grab and prominently display a book that I won't actually be needing (like, say, the Tome of Horrors), just to screw with my player's heads.

2. Lined paper. Usually this winds up being just for notes that I pass to players and scratch sheets to keep track of bad guy hp during fights. It also makes a good missile weapon to throw at off-task players.

3. Pencil. Not entirely essential, as I can just bite my finger and write with blood in a pinch.

4. Computer. All my notes are on the computer; there's no way I could game without it. Or at least, I wouldn't want to try; it might turn out ok, but it might get ugly real fast. I'll only be winging a session if a small child just placed a series of magnets on my computer.

5. Battlemat and minis.

6. Red bull, mountain dew, and any other source of caffeine I can lay my hands on.

7. Dice.

8. Calculator. For those, like me, who irredeemably suck at math.

9. Campaign Log. I only started doing this recently, but now I can't imagine playing without it. Basically, its a bullet-point summary of everything I want to happen in a given session, including encounters, NPCs, and miscellaneous events. Its also where I keep detailed summaries of past sessions for easy reference; and since I keep track of the date (in-game), it allows me to make quick notations for the future (like "8 Kythorn; best friend betrays party," etc.)

 

[Pbartender]

The rulebooks, my dice, a pencil, some paper and an idea.

If I've got those, I'm good to go... Everything else is just gravy.

 

[WillieW]

Giant wavy paperclips, and lots of them. Bulldog clips too.

I liked to hang lots of stuff on the inside of the DM's screen, and as I'm the opposite to a minimalist (maximalist? or just plain slob? ) I could have done with a DM's screen about six feet long to hold everything. It collapsed a lot for some reason.