How do you prepare/run your game...
- Thread starter Barmy Gith
- Start date
I just make copious notes with a pen about whatever the characters do; then I file my notes for future reference. No electronic aids, not complex systems; just legible notes on paper.Barmy Gith said:
Now, between games, I sometimes maintain some spreadsheets of things like chronology of events and named NPCs but I just print those and bring the hard copies to the gaming table.
Telas
Explorer
Easy to overlook, but...
A Yahoo Group - Email, files, stories, polls, databases, etc, all for free. We use the heck out of ours. This is probably the most important tool our campaign has.
HeroForge - 5 minute NPCs, complete with skills, feats, spells, etc. Prints out in a D&D standard character sheet, too.
Sovelior & Sage SRD - I have one of these on every computer I own (well, almost). I've even put a copy on my PocketPC (sans pictures)
A list of names pre-printed for each race the group may encounter. I use the EBoN generator and a couple of lists of names pulled from Spammers. It beats the hell out of running into John Coctostin, who becomes a recurring NPC.
Ahead of time: I print out the adventure, and the stat blocks for all the critters, along with tactics they'll use. I go over any pertinent rules (like for my recurring NPC, the uber-Disarming bandit leader). I also have the maps pre-drawn, and sometimes put them on the gaming mat before the group shows.
During the game, I take notes on a small yellow pad for subsequent adventures.
I haven't gone the wired route, but may try. I play in a game where one of the other players uses a Tablet PC from his work. He's the designated note-taker and inventory keeper. I really, really want one of those now.
Telas
A Yahoo Group - Email, files, stories, polls, databases, etc, all for free. We use the heck out of ours. This is probably the most important tool our campaign has.
HeroForge - 5 minute NPCs, complete with skills, feats, spells, etc. Prints out in a D&D standard character sheet, too.
Sovelior & Sage SRD - I have one of these on every computer I own (well, almost). I've even put a copy on my PocketPC (sans pictures)
A list of names pre-printed for each race the group may encounter. I use the EBoN generator and a couple of lists of names pulled from Spammers. It beats the hell out of running into John Coctostin, who becomes a recurring NPC.
Ahead of time: I print out the adventure, and the stat blocks for all the critters, along with tactics they'll use. I go over any pertinent rules (like for my recurring NPC, the uber-Disarming bandit leader). I also have the maps pre-drawn, and sometimes put them on the gaming mat before the group shows.
During the game, I take notes on a small yellow pad for subsequent adventures.
I haven't gone the wired route, but may try. I play in a game where one of the other players uses a Tablet PC from his work. He's the designated note-taker and inventory keeper. I really, really want one of those now.
Telas
MonsterMash
First Post
I don't use a computer that much except to type up notes and to use an XP calculator which I've downloaded and customised for local use, the one I use was developed by a number of people - arcady being the last XP Calculator
Other than that I try to do a flowchart of where things can go in a scenario to plan on which NPCs to stat out and have a folder with stock NPCs set up in it.
I keep a story hour updated to allow recap of what has happend and send an email with a brief statement of where the PCs are and the current situation before each session as sometimes we've ended up with a couple of months between sessions in my campaign.
I'll have to look at setting up a yahoo group.
Other than that I try to do a flowchart of where things can go in a scenario to plan on which NPCs to stat out and have a folder with stock NPCs set up in it.
I keep a story hour updated to allow recap of what has happend and send an email with a brief statement of where the PCs are and the current situation before each session as sometimes we've ended up with a couple of months between sessions in my campaign.
I'll have to look at setting up a yahoo group.
reanjr
First Post
When I used to have a laptop, Excel was my friend.
Also, I wrote a neat little script that took a command line argument and gave me a die result. Like "roll.vbs 20" would pop up a messagebox with a d20 random result. I then put a link in my Start Menu to each of the normal dice and then set hot keys to them:
4 - Ctrl-Alt-4
6 - Ctrl-Alt-6
8 - Ctrl-Alt-8
10 - Ctrl-Alt-1
12 - Ctrl-Alt-2
20 - Ctrl-Alt-0
Once I got used to it (confusing the 2 for 20 and the 0 for 10 was the hardest thing to overcome), I could just hit those keys whenever I needed a die result. Didn't matter what app I was running at the time. I have tried to figure out how to get something to run in the taskbar (like Media Player does), but to no avail.
Other than that, I used notepad for everything. Notes, Initiative order, current HP, etc. After I was done with the session, I'd just upload the stuff to my server for use the following week.
In the past, I also created a nice Spell program. By getting all the spells in XML format (which took quite a bit of data scrubbing on the SRD HTML files), I could look for, say, spells of level 1-3 that require no material components and have no saves or fortitude saves. Made creating spell lists and figuring out a good spell to use in any given situation really easy. Of course, it had an integrated dice roller. So if the spell said 1d6 / level I could click on that and based on what level I set for the caster, it would give me a result. It did auto DCs, etc. just by clicking on what caster you were using. This program has since been lost, and I do not have the heart to recreate it.
I'm currently designing/writing (but probably never finishing, that's just the way of things) a whole suite of tools to be integrated into one app so that I never need to open more than one app at a time again. If completed, it will let you take notes, do the whole spell things, support grid-stuff, work as a simple spreadsheet (useful math functions only), store maps, fully index the core books, have a context sensitive roller (anytime it recognized a die roll, it would allow you to click on it for a result), and have a table generator ("col1=row; col2=prevrow + (col1-1) * 1000; rows=1 to 100" for instance would generate the XP table for levels 1 through 100). I can't tell you how often I would like to generate a table on the fly for something and just wish there was a tool to easily do so. It would also fully support XML so that you could add new data to it as you see fit.
Also, I wrote a neat little script that took a command line argument and gave me a die result. Like "roll.vbs 20" would pop up a messagebox with a d20 random result. I then put a link in my Start Menu to each of the normal dice and then set hot keys to them:
4 - Ctrl-Alt-4
6 - Ctrl-Alt-6
8 - Ctrl-Alt-8
10 - Ctrl-Alt-1
12 - Ctrl-Alt-2
20 - Ctrl-Alt-0
Once I got used to it (confusing the 2 for 20 and the 0 for 10 was the hardest thing to overcome), I could just hit those keys whenever I needed a die result. Didn't matter what app I was running at the time. I have tried to figure out how to get something to run in the taskbar (like Media Player does), but to no avail.
Other than that, I used notepad for everything. Notes, Initiative order, current HP, etc. After I was done with the session, I'd just upload the stuff to my server for use the following week.
In the past, I also created a nice Spell program. By getting all the spells in XML format (which took quite a bit of data scrubbing on the SRD HTML files), I could look for, say, spells of level 1-3 that require no material components and have no saves or fortitude saves. Made creating spell lists and figuring out a good spell to use in any given situation really easy. Of course, it had an integrated dice roller. So if the spell said 1d6 / level I could click on that and based on what level I set for the caster, it would give me a result. It did auto DCs, etc. just by clicking on what caster you were using. This program has since been lost, and I do not have the heart to recreate it.
I'm currently designing/writing (but probably never finishing, that's just the way of things) a whole suite of tools to be integrated into one app so that I never need to open more than one app at a time again. If completed, it will let you take notes, do the whole spell things, support grid-stuff, work as a simple spreadsheet (useful math functions only), store maps, fully index the core books, have a context sensitive roller (anytime it recognized a die roll, it would allow you to click on it for a result), and have a table generator ("col1=row; col2=prevrow + (col1-1) * 1000; rows=1 to 100" for instance would generate the XP table for levels 1 through 100). I can't tell you how often I would like to generate a table on the fly for something and just wish there was a tool to easily do so. It would also fully support XML so that you could add new data to it as you see fit.
Keeper of Secrets
First Post
A simple thing that I have found very useful is a list of names. So many times the players want to go somewhere or do something I am unprepared for (understandable) so I have a list of names for possible NPCs. In addition, I have a list of interesting locations and odd meeting places that the characters can go to for clues or whatever else. Also on this list is a bunch of possible plot threads in case things get a little slow in the session, I can spice it up with these random encounters. Some are RPing encounters, some are combat and some are strange.
Henry
Autoexreginated
Barmy Gith said:
http://www.thegamemechanics.com/freebies/index.asp
Game Mechanics Initiative Cards - the most important addition to our D&D games since a battlemat.
In addition, you can either print them out, and have players update them in pencil when they gain a level, or you can enter the data in the fields in Acrobat and print them out. Printed on heavy cardstock on a laser printer, they are an awesome resource. Game Mechanics also has versions for sale of the monster cards filled out with every monster from the SRD!Currently in-game I'm using yellow post-it-notes (vital for Lost City of Barakus as all the monsters & NPCs are in appendices) and a regular calculator to do XP.
I am now very much soured on electronic aids of the random-generator type, but I use Geocities to host my game web pages and of course get game material from the Internet and helpful thoughts from EN World.
I am now very much soured on electronic aids of the random-generator type, but I use Geocities to host my game web pages and of course get game material from the Internet and helpful thoughts from EN World.
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