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Laptop DM - What do I need?

Laptops have proliferated at my table, it seems, and as DM, I think I'm the guilty party. :)

My players tend to keep laptops for quick access to the SRD (my personal favorite version is Soveilor's SRD variant), keeping records for the story hour, and doing mathematical calculations.

I use DM Genie (as does at least one player) for it's ease of use, and ability to play the game the way that I want to. I haven't tried RPM lately, but both it and DMF didn't really match my style, and the interfaces weren't intuitive to my way of working. All three products have deep features, but DM Genie was the only one where I felt I could get at them without a lot of work. RPM, in particular, has lots of features that I wouldn't take advantage of, even though they looked nice, such as the campaign tools.

Running an Epic Level game (6 players of 22nd/23rd levels), a typical combat may have 25 active spell effects, all interacting in odd ways. Being able to pull that kind of data up with no fuss...fast...is what I need. DMGenie's ability to create creatures on the fly, apply a template and then add class levels, is huge. The same applies to importing stat-blocks. Ultra-fast access to spell lists is very nice, and sold the program to at least one player for that feature alone.

DM Genie has it's failings, too. Some effects aren't implented well (not nearly so much as RPM does, with its much better calculation of stacked effects), and importing creatures can be a challenge, as the intepetation of stat-blocks is finicky. Creation of custom-effects or non-core material has to be created, of course, and isn't always easy.

Truthfully, none of the three products listed here will serve you poorly. They are all quality products, afaik, and well supported by their creators.
 

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SpecialK said:
Ultimately I turned to DM Genie and have had pretty good success with it.
Perhaps if RPM had a good walk through tutorial it would replace DM Genie for me. But for now, it's DM Genie.

Hope this helps.

I've noticed a few pro-DMgenie messages with negative RPM comments lately. They appear to be from very recently registered users making their first or second post.

On this thread:

Mafisto - Total of 4 posts (3 on this thread)
Slipshod - Total of 2 posts (both on this thread)
SpecialK - Total of 1 post (this thread)

Its as if non-members were browsing the ENboards and then suddenly joined up because of this interestinig thread, to relate difficult experiences of RPM, and why they like DMGenie.


Mafisto: "Not like I'm an official DMGenie spokesman or anything"

SpecialK: "Let me just start by saying that I'm not affiliated with any software/company. I'm just Joe user."

And the RPM horror stories from them: The worst I've ever heard :D

Its kind of unusual. Interesting... ;)

In fact, its so spooky in its amazing co-incidences that its the funniest thing I've come across in quite a while :D
 
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I really like PCGen...it's got great support and even if you're a programming-know-nothing it's easy to edit the lists to make your own campaign specific feats etc. I've twiddled with the new GM Gen function they've added recently and I think it's got good potential.

I haven't tried RPM, but listening to Luke makes me want to go check out his program. I looked at it once a long time ago and got confused early and then didn't devote a lot of time to it.

[RAVE] I can't say enough about Campaign Cartographer 2 from Profantasy. Best mapping program ever. Whenever my group can't get together to play for a while I end up making maps of cities and dungeons they *might* visit...just for fun. And it's obscenely easy to make and print maps to scale for combat. The program is expensive, though, but I've found it's well worth it. [/RAVE]
 


Luke said:
I've noticed a few pro-DMgenie messages with negative RPM comments lately. They appear to be from very recently registered users making their first or second post.

On this thread:

Mafisto - Total of 4 posts (3 on this thread)
Slipshod - Total of 2 posts (both on this thread)
SpecialK - Total of 1 post (this thread)

Its as if non-members were browsing the ENboards and then suddenly joined up because of this interestinig thread, to relate difficult experiences of RPM, and why they like DMGenie.


Mafisto: "Not like I'm an official DMGenie spokesman or anything"

SpecialK: "Let me just start by saying that I'm not affiliated with any software/company. I'm just Joe user."

And the RPM horror stories from them: The worst I've ever heard :D

Its kind of unusual. Interesting... ;)

In fact, its so spooky in its amazing co-incidences that its the funniest thing I've come across in quite a while :D
Um, yeah, I joined EN World in November so I could recommend DM Genie to one guy two months later. I would put this under 'paranoid with too much free time'. And my quote you abused above was in reference to you unfairly bashing a product with a non-fact. I certainly can't speak for the mechanics of how the product works, but I do know what it does.

Personally, I don't care how much time you spend knocking other people's software, but I do care when my personal integrity is brought into question. Buzz off.
 

Has anyone tried Dundjinni? I've only glanced at it, but I'm curious how intuitive it is. I think Campaign Cartographer looks powerful, but it takes too long for me to make use of, and felt too much like a CAD program (which, I suppose, is essentially what it is).

I really just want a simple click-and-drag Visio-like tool, but with better graphics than Visio generally has. Dundjinni looks like it might be that program, but I haven't had a chance to play with it.
 

I like RPM and the features it has. Speaking as a professional interface designer, however, I would have to agree that it's not necessarily the easiest to use or prettiest program.

As I understand it, Luke is the only developer on RPM and has focused his effort according to his own abilities, and I applaud him for it. What RPM does well it excels at. What it fails at are important, but I believe them to be a fair sacrifice for the fact that the product exists and works.
 
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WizarDru said:
Has anyone tried Dundjinni? I've only glanced at it, but I'm curious how intuitive it is. I think Campaign Cartographer looks powerful, but it takes too long for me to make use of, and felt too much like a CAD program (which, I suppose, is essentially what it is).

I really just want a simple click-and-drag Visio-like tool, but with better graphics than Visio generally has. Dundjinni looks like it might be that program, but I haven't had a chance to play with it.
Well, I've never seen that before!

I own CC2 and like it, but have never felt completely comfortable with it. It certainly is powerful, but I've been looking for something a bit more campaign oriented. I'm interested in seeing what Dundjinni can do, as well.
 

mafisto said:
Well, I've never seen that before!

I own CC2 and like it, but have never felt completely comfortable with it. It certainly is powerful, but I've been looking for something a bit more campaign oriented. I'm interested in seeing what Dundjinni can do, as well.
It's from Fluid, and hopefully is closer to the original PHB character creator. You can see it at the Dundjinni website. It's not actually going to be out until April, I think.
 

mafisto said:
I own CC2 and like it, but have never felt completely comfortable with it. It certainly is powerful, but I've been looking for something a bit more campaign oriented. I'm interested in seeing what Dundjinni can do, as well.

Do what I did...work through the tutorial in the manual...twiddle with it for about a month (be sure to check the website for other ppl's maps you can download and get ideas from)...then...and this is very important...

DON'T THINK ABOUT OR TOUCH IT FOR A MONTH :)

Then go back. *much* easier on your second attempt...use the links to connect maps...zoom around your world...attach your computer to a TV and you can show your PCs.

I find it's very campaign oriented...I have large world scale maps...you can click on the tiny city icons and whoosh, you're at the map of the city...click on the town hall...fwwwp, you're looking at the floorplan...etc etc
 

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