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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Luke" data-source="post: 1331516" data-attributes="member: 602">Rules lookupI have a pretty different take on that. I sit at the table with my laptop running RolePlayingMaster, and I do very accurate play with my character. I resolve issues very quickly, and whilst others struggle a little too much with the numbers, I get instant results, and get to focus more on actual roleplaying.Some examples:3 mouse clicks and I'm looking at the full breakdown of my attempt to do a climbing check.Easy? There's a plus number to my Climb on my statblock, and I just add that to my d20 roll? Not quite.My ranks bonus, Str bonus (which automatically changed due to a Bull's Strength just cast on me), armor check and possible use of a climber's kit are all laid out before me in a list.Just below that are the possible DC modifiers for bracing opposite walls, bracing perpendicular walls, and whether or not its slippery. A mouse click can activate anything that applies.Also I have the standard dropdown box showing the various DC options for skill checks. Of the 8 options that apply to climb, I choose "uneven surface with narrow handholds", which tells me its a DC 20.So 3 mouse clicks, and a possibly a couple more to tailor to the situation, and I have the outcome - completely and accurately described by the rules. If I felt the need, then I could have pressed the "Desc" tab to get the full handbook description.<img src="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/hosted/rpm/skill_climb.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Now, climb is pretty common, but I'll bet that very few people know the DC for "Overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds" - without a lookup of some kind. Much the same situation, with my character doing a will save. If you noticed the conditions from the previous example (Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, Bless and Magic Vestment), I get much the same screen, except the will base, wis mod, possible elf racial bonus vs enchantment and the morale bonus for a bless spell are all mentioned. Too easy, and nothing forgotten.This situation was pretty taken from our gaming session last week. We expected big trouble behind a certain big double door, and the party cleric and wizard did much work on us with spells like magic vestment, cat's grace, bulls strength, bless, invisibility etc.A few mouse clicks and I had all these spells entered as conditions against my character. All the adjustments for Str, Dex, attacks, damage, saves AC (incl. consideration of max dex wearing heavy armor) etc all just popped out automatically - with any possible stacking rules for bonuses correctly applied.I can tell you that we got pretty bogged down with the changes to the other characters where a program like RolePlayingMaster was not used.Making an attack. 3 mouse clicks and I have the full breakdown of my attempt to make an attack. Note that I did elsewhere indicate (quickly and easily) my preferences for my expertise, power attack feat options.<img src="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/hosted/rpm/attack_example.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Its all there, and its all correct. If I pick up a dagger in my other hand it'll still be correct, with the possibility of a 2 weapon fighting feat being considered as well.Ordinarily I just get the result of what AC I would hit, and how much damage I would cause if I do (possibilities of criticals, sneak damage etc all taken into account). I this case I pictured a "full combat" example as might be controlled by the DM, where targeting is used and the opponents AC breakdown is also given.I guess that this is actually well beyond rules lookup, since its actually all done for you without even a lookup. Still there are plenty of cases when you need to lookup.What about the specific details on a particular spell in your spell list of 20 different spells???How about the poor old DM trying to play an NPC encounter correctly, where he is effecttively trying to correctly manage the different feats, classes, racial traits, spells and special abilities of a group where every member has the complexity of a full player character???So, in such cases you want to be able to simply double click on any item in a list of feats, spells, special abilities etc, and get all the lookup details.If you're a DM, a laptop can give you effectively, at worst, the best DM's screen you can have!</blockquote>

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