I just Got A Laptop DMs please help!

[Oryan77]

feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to help you learn the ropes.

I got GM Genie a couple of years ago but it really intimidates me so I haven't done anything with it. It just looks so complicated to use.

I'd love to hear more about what you can do with it in more detail. The weather system sounds interesting.

 

[EricNoah]

I use an excel spreadsheet to keep a campaign calendar. If a PC contracts a disease today and needs to make a save tomorrow, I record that sort of thing as well as notes about what happened on what day. I also put in timed encounters.

If you have online access during the game I like http://www.d20srd.org/ -- there's a cool Firefox add-on to do instant searching of the site, and the site links to a good die roller. When I am crafting my adventure notes I often put a hyperlink from my notes to the appropriate rule, monster or spell at d20srd.org.

I also keep shortcuts to frequently used PDFs handy (things like Mother of All Encounter Tables, Treasure Tables, etc.).

And I track where my PCs are in the game world using Campaign Cartographer.

 

[MadMaxim]

To each his own I guess. I consider myself to be a very good DM with a long-running tabletop group and a large online group. I use a laptop during my entire session and I run an engaging and entertaining game according to all of my players. I don't really think it's fair to make broad assumptions about those who use methods different from your own. I run a very immersive and roleplay heavy game, and thanks to the tools that I use to manage the game, combat is exponentially faster and the game itself is more accurate.

Just because some people lack the ability to use a laptop effectively at the game table doesn't mean it's a bad idea for everyone. I personally feel that you've given bad advice. It amazes me somewhat that some people see such a huge difference between looking at a notebook and looking at a laptop. The tools should be just that; tools. The real magic of roleplaying is the cooperative story that emerges between DM and players. The tools you choose to use shouldn't affect that.

I for one am thankful for the technology that has come along over the years to improve my gaming. I started DM'ing in 1983, and I enjoy prepping for games much more now than I did then.

To the OP, I hope you don't let this kind of negative bias discourage your search to find the right tools that will help you improve your game.

I'm with you on that one, Levitator. I use my laptop for NPC stat blocks and tracking initiative, hit points, status effects and so on. I think it's all good and I don't think my games have suffered in any way. It has helped me speed up combat, and I can't really see how a laptop can be that much different from a DM screen. I also use it to play background music. It's awesome

 

[Steel_Wind]

To each his own I guess. I consider myself to be a very good DM with a long-running tabletop group and a large online group. I use a laptop during my entire session and I run an engaging and entertaining game according to all of my players. I don't really think it's fair to make broad assumptions about those who use methods different from your own. I run a very immersive and roleplay heavy game, and thanks to the tools that I use to manage the game, combat is exponentially faster and the game itself is more accurate.

Just because some people lack the ability to use a laptop effectively at the game table doesn't mean it's a bad idea for everyone. I personally feel that you've given bad advice.

o_0

I disagree; I've given good advice. It is you who have jumped the gun and assumed I am against laptop technology or am somehow unable to make it work for me.

*ahem*

I am hardly against the use of technology at gaming sessions. I am a strident advocate of digital projection technology via laptops during RPG sessions. There is a mother of a thread now three years old on these forums that speaks to that.

My advice was what it was: when you find yourself during the game trying to search for a way make your laptop useful - that's the time to close the lid and concentrate on the game. You should deal with the search for productivity between sessions - not during it.

 

[Fenes]

I mainly use Word files and PDFs on my laptop, during a game session. Word Dcs with internal links alone facilitate DMing - jump from the NPC entry to the NPC's tavern, then to the NPC that has a stake in that tavern. Especially with an old campaign, it helps a lot keeping it together.

Searching for names is also a godsend.

Less books to carry around - or get from my shelf - thanks to PDFs.

 

[Thanee]

Laptops make great hot plates to keep your coffee warm... just switch it to maximum power and disable all power saving options (with some laptops it might be necessary to run a few programs to keep the CPU busy).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Grymar]

I use my laptop between games to manage my wikis (one public for the players, one private for me only) on pbwiki.com. I then use them as reference during the live campaign.

A few games I have used Fantasy Grounds as a combat tracker and to keep NPCs. It worked pretty well, but the set up took a long time.

 

[DonTadow]

I wouldn't even run 3.5 without DM Genie . It has more features than any other piece of software out there. It has a combat manager, campaign manager, timekeeper, weather generator and a lot more. I could write a paragraph on any one of these tools. I have not found anything that comes even remotely close. It's the best $35 I ever spent. It has a fully functional free trial and a great user community. If you end up taking it for a test drive, feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to help you learn the ropes. I have fully customized my game to include more than a half dozen variants which DM Genie tracks for me automatically. There is also a ton of user content out there that allows you to use all of your splatbooks right in DM Genie.

I emphasize this to the 1 billionth degree. It's an amazing program that will be your best friend at the table. Plus there is so much support out there for it. The customization of this thing is amazing. I've used it in 3 campaigns, my current campaign is a fantasy steam using a talent tree class system and i was able to install it pretty perfectly.

Another program that has made my life easier is NPCdesign at rpgattitude.com This program allows you to press a few buttons and get fully stated or leveled monsters and npcs on the fly. The software is fully customizable as well, so say i described the guard as really strong all carrying axes. Well I can select what stats i want to be best, what items and weaposn they carry, multiclass or add prestige classes if i want... its all there.

Remember that it has an off button and it can be closed.

Laptops are great when they help. When you begin looking for ways to make it help between sessions? Great.

When you start looking for way to make it help during the game? That's the time to close the lid.

I'm pretty surprised by this comment steel wind . Don't you use a laptop to run your projector game???? Isn't that helping you run the game?

There's little difference between using a laptop and burying your head in notes and books the whole session

 

[The Levitator]

I got GM Genie a couple of years ago but it really intimidates me so I haven't done anything with it. It just looks so complicated to use.

I'd love to hear more about what you can do with it in more detail. The weather system sounds interesting.

I'll be the first to admit that DM Genie was a little intimidating when I first started using it. It is such a robust program that it does come with a bit of a learning curve. It has a very good tutorial, but I learned more by just jumping into it. I also received a lot of help from people on the DM Genie boards.

Just as an example, here's a breakdown of the weather generator, just one of the many features of DM Genie.


1. First you select your climate from the following choices: Equatorial, Tropical, Subtropical Desert, Temperate, Subpolar and High Polar.

2. Next, you select your terrain: Average, Inland, Coastal, Sea or Island, Mountain, or High Mountain.

3. It also gives you the option to select your own latitude.

4. The last window lets you select variability for the following: Temperature, Precipitation, Variability, Severe Weather, and Windiness.

5. Once you have set these options, you click the "Generate Weather" button and DM Genie creates a full year of weather for you, in 1 hour increments.

6. The Weather Generator is also connected to the timekeeping window, so as you track the passage of time in your game, you also have the weather right in front of you.

7. The best part about using DM Genie for the weather is that it has all of the conditions for adverse weather built into it, and you can apply those conditions to everyone in an encounter with a couple clicks. For example, in my current campaign, the current weather is light rain and strong wind. The conditions for strong wind is -2 to ranged attacks and listen checks, and the conditions for light drizzle is -1 to Spot and Search. With DM Genie, I can apply those conditions to everyone in an encounter very easily.


And that's just the weather generator!


Since I use DM Genie to manage my games, I strongly disagree with Steel Wind's position of shutting the lid during the game literally, although I think I understand better what he's getting at figuratively. Your tools shouldn't overshadow the story and your interaction with your players, be they stacks of books and notepads or a laptop. I meant no disrepect to Steel Wind or his position, I just disagree with it. DM's who bury their noses in books, behind GM screens or laptop screens shouldn't blame the books, screens or laptops, as they aren't the problem. Those items are inanimate objects and used correctly, can all enhance a GM's ability to run a fun and exciting game.

As an aside, I'm about as techie a DM as you can get. I use DM Genie to manage my games, Maptools as a VTT projected onto an 8' screen, RPG Audiomixer for background music and sound effects and have both a Y! group and a blog for both of my gaming groups. Heck, I even use MorphVox Pro (voice altering software) to create important NPC moments from time to time. All that said, these are all just tools. They help me manage my game and add a little atmosphere to our sessions, but they are not a replacement for descriptive and engaging GM'ing.

I personally believe that only using a laptop for prepping games is a bit shortsighted, when there are great programs out there like DM Genie out there to make a GM's life a thousand times easier. From looking up rules or descriptions to managing combat to tracking time and weather to keeping your campaign organized to.....well.....you see my point. I wouldn't even run a 3.5 game without it. I started playing 3.5 as a conventional DM. Introducing DM Genie to our game reduced the amount of time resolving combat by more than 2/3. That alone was enough justification for me to use it.


Oryan77, feel free to PM me if you would like to knock the dust off your DM Genie and dig into it a bit. I'd be more than happy to help.

 

[Mark]

I am not really sure where to start. Is there a review site of the current tools being used? What are any of you other DMs using out there?

The SRD 3.5 Revised (Full) Bundle is wildly popular and the reviews for it are available to read at the EN World eStore.