Laptops at the gaming table

[Storyteller01]

I prefer working with my hands (pencil, papper, dice, etc), but one of our players uses his homemade random generator. It's helped on a few occasions. One of the players likes to fudge his dice rolls (a little slight of hand, flipping the die 180 degrees for the higher number). It isn't much of a problem in game, but we come up with convenient 'debugging' sessions when he has to roll against another party member.

 

[Corsair]

In theory cars and airplanes are unnecessary too when you have horses and sailboats. This thread isn't to debate the merits of transatlantic flight, but instead to develop a more efficient aircraft which isn't as noisy when flying overhead and/or can carry more passengers for less cost.

 

[Corsair]

Interestingly, due to the setup of our gaming area, my laptop ends up no where between me and any other players. I had a similar issue when I was GMing, I made a point to keep my laptop off to one side of me, but really it ends up being no taller than a DM screen.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I rarely print anything out anymore, as either a GM or a player, and most of what I use from books/pdfs I copy into MS Word documents when I plan a session or PC anyway. I'm faster referencing materials across multiple books if I have them on a computer, although I reference from a single book faster still - so, for HERO I tend to reference the core book or Sidekick, while for d20 I would use the laptop for reference. In either case my character sheet/session notes would be on the laptop.

If a GM wanted to ban laptops, I would count it as a significant knock against his campaign.

Anyway, on to making better use of the 'top:

Early on in my second-to-last d20 fantasy campaign (and yes, it was explicitly NOT D&D, since it had no spellcasters or Tolkienesque races and used a mix of OGL Conan and d20 Modern for its core rules), I had all the stat blocks of NPCs in html documents, which I could reference from a central page just like on a web site. This was quite helpful in play, although it took a little longer during prep than slotting everything into a Word document. If you have the commitment to take those extra few seconds on each NPC or monster, it should make things run considerably smoother. (Note: the stat blocks for that campaign were fairly simple compared to regular d20, more equivalent to D&D or Star Wars Minis cards.)

Unfortunately, I got lazy and didn't keep up my html database; now what I did have for it is lost to the undreamt antiquity of backup CDs and fragged hard drives. (Note: in light of the above Note:, this makes me even lazier.)

If I were to run another d20 game, or really any system that required concise but precise stat blocks, I would force myself to use this system again, because it worked much better than either MS Word or printed documents.

 

[Mark Hope]

I started using a laptop with gaming last year and find it a huge help. When running games I use a combination of the laptop and pencil/paper. The laptop is ideal for general reference (another vote for the Sovelior Sage SRD - awesome tool), displaying artwork and controlling music (huge collection of mp3s). I make sure to have the pdfs that I'll need open so that I can search nice and quickly (Google Desktop is also a big help). I use pen and paper for character stats (index cards - love 'em), initiative and combat and similar quick & dirty note-taking. When on vacation over Xmas, I happily ran a Rappan Athuk session with just the laptop and a battlemat (I also had the print version of the adventure on hand to save Alt-tabbing between screens when necessary).

When playing, I use the laptop exclusively and don't use pen or paper at all. I use notepad or Word to keep track of whatever I need to and make an editable pdf of my character sheet using form fields. I am basically a paperless player these days.

Downsides? Well, my initial motivation for incorporating a laptop was to cut down on the number of books that I carried to sessions. Instead, I carry a bag full of cables and laptop gear, so it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other in that regard, lol.

Also, depending on the play area, sometimes I can't see the battlemat properly, and am always peering over the top of the screen. This is only a problem when I am a player, though. When DMing I make sure that I have enough room so that the laptop is off to one side and doesn't get in the way. As a player, though, I only have as much room as everyone else, so need to make do. Not a big problem when compared to the benefits.

I have also heard from one DM (in a passing comment, mind you, not as a serious gripe) that he didn't like players having laptops. Without wishing to be rude to anyone, I do fnd this attitude a tad petty. We can all see each others faces with no trouble, so I don't see the issue (other than the fact that the player has "hidden" his stuff from the DM - but if the DM doesn't trust the players, that's not actually a laptop issue imho). I haven't heard this raised as a serious problem, though.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I have a 17" PowerBook that I use all the time when I'm preparing for a game, but I don't like laptops for in-game use. I find the cons outweigh the pros, in my case. I don't need much reference material: one or two rulebooks and whatever adventure I'm running pretty much does it.

 

[wildstarsreach]

I bought a laptop last year and have found that it is less in carting around books that I may or may not use. I can go paperless and be IMHO enviromentally friendly. We maintain an e-mail list and characters are sent to the DM before game. I wouldn't really care at this point to play in a game where they ban the laptop. It should be my choice. However, sometimes I can get involved reading something and not be aware of the problems in combat or role playing.

 

[Breakdaddy]

I allowed one of my players to bring his laptop to the game as a player and use it instead of books. This lasted two sessions until the other guys started complaining that they would see him surfing the web all the time and it distracted them. As the game's GM, I have been known to bring my powerbook to the table and use it as a screen and reference, but I don't do this often, as I find it can break the general pace of the game if I'm not careful.

 

[Lalato]

I used a laptop as a player in my old group. It worked pretty well. One big bonus is that we could take notes about what was going on and post them immediately to our group livejournal community.

This meant that not only did we have an ongoing story hour, but that we could go back reference that material between sessions. It was great.

--sam

 

[Gilwen]

gaming with a laptop rocks!

I have been using a laptop for years. It has been excellent for Keeping track of things and organizing games & adventures.

I just got a tablet PC I will be using it for games. Ithink it will be a great experience since I am trying to go paperless as Much as possible.

As a matter of fact I wrote this post with my tablet. The tablet coveted myhandwriting to text. works pretty well except for the occasional typo or case mistake.

Gil