How do you prepare/run your game...

[Barmy Gith]

As a DM running an Eberron 3.5e game, I've recently been trying to determine some new ways to make my game run more smoothly. So, I decided to come to the boards for some inspiration and wisdom...

How do you prepare for your game and what tools/techniques/aids do you use pre- and in-game to keep things moving smoothly?

Specifically...

Do you use any electronic aids (either before or during game)? Which ones have you found to be indespensable, and why? Is there one that you feel has saved you large amounts of time?

Do you have any paper and pencil aids/habits that have made you a better DM?

...and of course any other pertinent advice is deeply appreciated

 

[Mixmaster]

Electronically I use 2.

XP Calc and the D&D Rules Tracker.

Pen & Paper, I use the Inititative Cards/Monster Cards. I find that it speeds up combat dramatically.

 

[deltadave]

I don't use any electronic aids, but type up salient points that are likely to come up during the game and tape them to the back of my screen. I also expect players to have references ready when they do an action if I have a question. If they don't I make a ruling and move on. Keeps things flowing. Index tabs on the DMG and PHB are also invaluable as well as an index for other books. A highlighter is your friend too.

Quick Reference Character Cards/Initiative cards are really really useful.

One last tip - get your players to make a list of 20 d20 rolls before the game and use these for hidden rolls, marking them off as you go. This won't tip your hand and allows the players to make their own rolls.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Having an NPC creator on my computer turned out to be lucky during our last session, when the PCs cajoled and dragged along an NPC I hadn't planned for.

 

[caudor]

By far, the most handy paper tool I've used is ver. 35 of the Reference Sheets (Gaile). These quick reference sheets contain information on classes, combat, magic, psionics, conditional modifiers, etc. The combat sheet is extremely handy during play. You can find them at The Realm of Geeking's Dungeons & Dragons Page. Just Google it and you are there.

For preparation, I use eTools because it save me a lot of time. I usually have a short meeting (with munchies, etc.) a day or two before our main gaming session. During this time we do character creation or advancement, go over the events/background leading to the upcoming adventure, and any other between session things that need to be handled. Paper character sheets often get lost, so this tool has saved a character or two since I started using it. It is also useful for generating NPCs, etc that I will use in play.

Good luck with your gaming!

 

[nopantsyet]

Convenient timing. I just did my first test run at using a laptop at the gaming table. I have resisted for a long time, but my campaign has become so involved that it was becoming an impediment. And with the PCs facing ever more powerful opponents, I was starting to make mistakes.

So Saturday night, knowing the PCs would be fighting a BBEG on Sunday, and realizing I was the one that was doomed, I broke down and bought DM Genie. Granted, it's not the most beautiful or intuitive interface in the world, but I let my players tweak their PCs and use supplemental materials, so being able to enter all the pertinent stats manually is very important. So I stayed up late keying in the PCs and importing my campaign materials, and it was worth it. Game play, including the big combat, went very smoothly. Plus, since I could take notes right in the campaign materials, I won't have to go through a bunch of notes and synchronize my files with them.

Plus, it was so nice not to have a binder and a big stack of books in front of me. One player said afterwards, "I don't think you dropped a single die that session." Scary that that means something. I was a desperate skeptic going into it, but I think I'll be sticking with this for a while.

 

[IronWolf]

I am still finding my groove in my most recent campaign I DM. It has been awhile since I have DM'ed a pen and paper game so it is taking some time to figure out what works best for me. Initially I was trying to avoid the laptop and do it all via pen and paper. I made liberal use of index cards for quick character reference stats, init cards, creature cards and even rough notes that I needed at hand. Everything else was done from a notebook and the adventure materials I had written in word in hardcopy.

That worked okay for the first session, but very quickly I found I do more work in campaign prep on the laptop so I was wasting time transferring data from it to hardcopy (usually hand scribbled notes). Seeing that my prep time could be spent more wisely in other ways I slowly started moving more things to the laptop. I have kept using index cards for monster stats and init, but I think that may change next session too as I continue to find what allows me to work most efficiently.

So.... for next session it looks like I will be using the following tools from the laptop:

-Wikidpad for campaign notes. It is a Wiki for a local PC and allows for very handy interlinking between subjects. Want to stop by a shop you visited two sessions before? No problem, its in there. Need the description of the shopkeep? Click the link in the Wiki and there it is. I am loving this tool for campaign prep and outlining so far. Learned about it here on these boards.

-I use the Sovelior and Sage SRD, the offline version. It is hyperlinked and makes finding information very quick as long as it is from the core rule books. (Which for items that need looked up on the fly is usually the case).

-I use Andargor's conversion of the Jamis Buck NPC creator for those time the party runs into someone totally unexpected. Great tool and easy to use on the fly.

-Inspiration Pro for random name generation of NPC's, taverns and more. Quick and easy to use.

-And the most recent addition to my stable of tools will be DM Genie. Tons of options, allows you to enter your own creatures, items, feats, etc into it so you can easily add on to the included SRD information. The DM Genie community appears very active, so the stream of additional materials for import seems steady. I hope to have this tool help with combat rounds mainly, but it will also allow me to have character sheets readily available to be printed and distributed should someone forget their own or cancel at the last minute.

We'll see how that goes at next session. I work on computers and networks by trade so I had hoped to sort of avoid their use in gaming, but frankly I just used one way too much in preparation that to convert things to paper took me away from other prep I could be doing. I am hoping this plethora of tools will allow me to focus on story development for the campaign and keeping things exciting during game play.

 

[Barmy Gith]

These suggestions have all been great so far, and I'm currently looking into all of them...

I know some will mesh with my style better than others, but it is still very interesting to hear how other DMs approach preparing/running their games.

I'm very intrigued my DM genie and E-tools. I don't want to start a feud between the two, but can anyone say why they chose one over the other, what is similiar or disimiliar between the two. I'd especially like to hear from anyone who has seen both in action.

Also, it seems that many of you are fans of initiative/monster cards. Which ones do you specifically use (i.e. what company or where can I find the ones you use).

As a side note, I'd like to say that the v3.5 reference sheets are extraordinary, and I have enjoyed using them in my DM arsenal of tricks for sometime.

Thanks again to those who have and will contribute to this thread, I feel there are some clever ideas developing here.

 

[IronWolf]

Also, it seems that many of you are fans of initiative/monster cards. Which ones do you specifically use (i.e. what company or where can I find the ones you use).

I actually just use Index cards. For init cards I use one color for PC's and one for monsters. Jot the Init roll on the card and then sort them.

For monster cards I also just write down the stats I will need in the game on a blank card.

 

[the Lorax]

How do you prepare for your game and what tools/techniques/aids do you use pre- and in-game to keep things moving smoothly?

Specifically..
Do you use any electronic aids (either before or during game)? Which ones have you found to be indespensable, and why? Is there one that you feel has saved you large amounts of time?

No electronic aids. I've been running games for over 20 years and have found that the best aid is being familiar with the rules, the characters (PCs and NPCs), and the adventure.
That being said, the supplement Everyone Else is excellent to keep at hand for those NPCs that the players just HAVE to recruit.

Do you have any paper and pencil aids/habits that have made you a better DM?

RTFM. Really. Whatever version of the rules and setting you are using, make time to read them. Closely. Especially those that will be important in combat. In 3.5, that means knowing the grapple/bullrush/disarm/sunder rules. Knowing the difference between a burst and a spread. Knowing how turning works, intimately. Your players must trust you so that when you need to bend the rules a bit, you dont create an argument or a rules discussion.
And D&D minis. Those stat cards are a great for extra random NPCs