Favorite non-book game aide.

[sckeener]

sckeener, what do you use the laptop for as a player?

In no order,

Digital copies of my characters, other players, notes, general tactics....

PDF books (some I have purchased and some I have scanned - in another thread I discussed I'm scanning in all my books that I can not purchase in pdf. the requirement being having a receipt)

unlimited scratch pad

online referenes (most of the places I game I am able to find a wireless connection)

various Instant messengers (to the dm or other players - very handy)

having the faq or errata availible to look at - how many people always print out the latest for the game table for all the erratas or faqs?​

I guess as I get older the less I want to haul all my books around with me. A laptop meets my needs as a player or a dm. Usually I have several applications open at once so that I can flip to the right reference when my turn. It beats spreading out 15+ books at the table.

Also, my data is stored on an external hard drive so I take it to work. Nice being able to have my library with me during my lunch breaks....probably explains why I am moving so slowly through Ptolus...I haven't bought it yet in PDF.

Edit: Oh and last but not least...reading enworld when I should be paying attention to the game!

 

[sckeener]

As the world's most expensive character sheet?

I actually had a player who did this. Then I learned he would sometimes be playing World of Warcraft when he got bored. He doesn't play with us anymore.

That is funny....

In my last game, each of the couples at the table had laptops and one player was exactly like your WoW player. In her case though she was working on our game website. Before the laptop she would loose herself into books when bored. I wasn't surprised when I learned that her husband required two things from her, sex or gaming.....that is correct...that is an 'or'....when he wasn't getting either he became a jerk...to stop him from being a jerk...those were the options.

It made for some odd gaming....

I'd have to say the most useful feature of the laptop as a player was the reference material and the instant messengers.

We did try once to share out battle scenes...kind of lan version of the online gaming scene.

 

[Aus_Snow]

For D&D, the Battlebox wins it (and there are also Battleboxes for a few other d20/OGL games).

 

[Erik Mona]

Another vote for Tact-Tiles. I adore those things.

--Erik

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I feel like my players are getting as much use out of the Battlebox as they should. One player that regularly grapples found that the grapple card lacked a lot of the information that he needed (which I think is a fair comment).

What can I do to get my players to use the Battlebox more? I have laminated the action cards so that they'll last longer and I have cut out and laminated a lot of the spell templates. I just feel that it's an underused resource at my table.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Start a separate thread for ideas? You might get more responses?

 

[Agamon]

#1 Laptop w/DM's Familiar, HeroForge and d20SRD
#2 Tact-Tiles
#3 DDM minis
#4 Steel Squire templates
#5 Gamemastery equipment cards
#6 Dungeon Tiles (to suppliment the Tact-Tiles)

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Start a separate thread for ideas? You might get more responses?

Good idea. Will do.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Thulcondar]

Wow...

I must be a grognard indeed.

My nifty game-aid is the Dragonbone. Does anyone remember those anymore? I still have mine. It's an electronic dice-roller. You slide the switch to determine how many sides the die is, then push the button and get a roll. It was all the rage back in 1983.

Any game you could even potentially need a laptop to DM (let alone play!), I don't wanna play.

/Happy with AD&D 1st edition. It keeps me from having to inflict wear-and-tear on my white box set with the Blackmoor and Greyhawk supplements.

//I gave up on minis when I realized they got in the way of the game. If I wanted to play ASL, I'd play ASL.

Thulcondar

 

[Hussar]

Wow...

*snip*

Any game you could even potentially need a laptop to DM (let alone play!), I don't wanna play.

*snip*

Thulcondar

Snark aside, I've been using a computer for my gaming needs since about the early 1980's when I had Basic programs for handling chargen on my Atari 800 computer.

I can't imagine playing D&D without a computer anymore. I know we did it once upon a time, but, adding a computer just make the game better.

And, as far as minis getting in the way of rp, haven't we beaten that horse into submission yet?