Most indispensible DMing tools.

[SilverSnake]

One thing I found extremely helpful was to make "monster cards" for use with encounters. Before I started my 3.5 campaign I typed up many of my favorite monsters' stats, including terrain type and reference page number, so they would fit on a 3x5" index card then printed them off. I put them in a file box by level, to pull out what I need for encounters. Saves on time flipping pages through the moster manual and makes running random encounters so much easier.

Another thing I use that I find very helpful is my game mastery combat pad magnetic initiative tracker.

When using minis on a battle mat, I had trouble keeping track of damage. If they moved around too much, I'd lose track of which had taken damage. I solved this by buying inexpensive round colored stickers. I cut them in half, apply half to the base of the mini, the other half to my notebook page where I'm tracking combat. Each mini gets it's own color (or color combo if I have more minis than colors) so it makes it easy to differentiate.

 

[Mallus]

Most indispensable DM'ing tool: shilsen.

Runner up: laptop+internet connection.

 

[catsclaw227]

DM Genie. It is absolutely the best 3.5 tool I ever used. It cut down on math, tracking initiative, combat modifiers, adventure notes, everything.

Absolutely indispensable.

 

[ruemere]

1. PcGen.
It's a character and npc gen, with a lot of ready-to-use OGL material and customizable output (statblocks, character sheets, party sheets, PDF and html output formats).
Easily allows to build a library of high level NPCs.
Latest important update: beta rules for Pathfinder BETA.
Read more here:
PCGen :: Overview

2. SRD in PDF by Anne Dobritt.
Most comprehensive, bookmarked, searchable and properly organized version of SRD I have found. It costs $2.50, it's a bit ugly, it has 1143 pages and it rocks.
Get it from DriveThruRPG.com:
DriveThruRPG.com - Cartography Unlimited for RPGs - SRD 3.5 pdf

3. SORD (currently using SORD plus).
Probably the best short compendium of 3.5 combat rules. If you have ever needed to look up a cumbersome rule on grapple, item hitpoints or some obscure condition or modifier, it is there right at your fingertips. Savvy GMs usually do not really need it, however, it is great for players pondering their options.
Myself, I think it's worth its weight in gold.
Price: 1.95.
SORD Plus - compatible with Pathfinder BETA rules:
DriveThruRPG.com - Myth Merchant Press - SORD Plus 1.0
SORD (just regular 3.5):
DriveThruRPG.com - Myth Merchant Press - Sord

4. The books for the settings of your choice. If you need a new interesting setting in print, have a look at Warlords of Accordlands. They are on sale right now at Paizo at 50% off.
Key selling point: Twisted. For example, elves' lifespan is 30 years. Yes, that's 30 years... In order to live longer they dabble in life extending necromancy at the cost of lives of members of other races.

5. Breathe some fresh air into your 3.5. Try Pathfinder BETA. PDF is free to download at paizo.com. It's somewhat compatible and does a lot to advance 3.5 in new direction.

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[Zustiur]

Previously: MS Word, notepad and a dice roller.
In future: the SRD, MS OneNote.

Or in other words, a laptop.

 

[Reynard]

5. Breathe some fresh air into your 3.5. Try Pathfinder BETA. PDF is free to download at paizo.com. It's somewhat compatible and does a lot to advance 3.5 in new direction.

Fresh air is the last thing I need. I am going to be running an old school style campaign, using 3.5 rules and DCC #35 The Known World from Goodman. If anything, I need d20 materials that emphasize the D&D-isms that harken back to the AD&D days.

In any case, I will certainly take a look at DM Genie.

Is there a good paper DM journal/tracker thing that will help keep things organized/

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ok, these are the things that I have found worked for me in helping me DM my 3.5E campaign. YMMV

Gamemastery Flip-Mat - I have 2 of these, both blank with squares one side and hexes on the other. Since I bought them my vinyl battlemat hasn't been used.

Gamemastery Combat Pad: Initiative Tracker - This thing has made keeping track of initiative a lot easier. It keeps the initiative order for the fight, allows you to track what round multiple spells will expire and I also use it to write down the enemies HP's.

Spell Cards: All the SRD spells written on little index cards. Each spell is listed on 1 card. These cards were useful to me as both a DM and a player. You can buy them on RPG Now or Drivethru RPG.

Initiative Cards: Made by The Game Mechanics and also avaiable from RPG Now or Drivethru RPG. All the SRD monsters written on individual index cards.

D&D Minis: I use the prepainted D&D minis that WotC sell, but any minis would be just as useful. I wouldn't DM 3.5 without a battlemat and something to represent the PC's and baddies. I figure if I'm going to represent them on the battlemat, I may as well use something that looks good, instead of just buttons or coins. These fit the bill nicely.

Buff & Condition Cards: Similar to the Spell Cards listed above. These index cards have the mechanical effects of various spells and conditions listed on them. Give them to a PC when they are under the effect of a particular buff or condition. Makes remembering the various buffs and conditions easier.

Index cards and card holder: Blank index cards, organised in a plastic card holder helped me to organise my campaign. I write down all the valuable and/or magical items the PC's find on index cards, giving each item a number. I might tell a PC he finds 3 gems on an Orc and to list 71, 72 and 73 next to each gem. I write down on my index card what gems they actually are and their value. 3 sessions later, when he finds time to appraise the gems we can still identify what gems he actually has. The same goes for magic items that are still to be identified. It just makes things a lot less confusing.

I'm sure I'll think of more things later.

Olaf the Stout

 

[grickherder]

One thing I found extremely helpful was to make "monster cards" for use with encounters.

This. There's nothing quite like quick reference cards. And with the PDFs of the monster manual, dungeon magazine, etc., available, one can copy and paste, do some minor reformating and print out right onto a recipe card or a piece of card stock.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I write down all the valuable and/or magical items the PC's find on index cards, giving each item a number. I might tell a PC he finds 3 gems on an Orc and to list 71, 72 and 73 next to each gem. I write down on my index card what gems they actually are and their value. 3 sessions later, when he finds time to appraise the gems we can still identify what gems he actually has.

Out of curiosity, have you found this to be worth the hassle? I tried to do it for a while, but just found that it never actually mattered in the game.

Even magic items, with the publication of the artificer's monocle, rarely go unidentified long enough to hassle with a tagged inventory.

Anyway, just curious.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Out of curiosity, have you found this to be worth the hassle? I tried to do it for a while, but just found that it never actually mattered in the game.

Even magic items, with the publication of the artificer's monocle, rarely go unidentified long enough to hassle with a tagged inventory.

Anyway, just curious.

Yes, I would say it is definitely worth it for me. It really doesn't take that much effort to write down the magical items and gems/art objects as they come up in the game.

We only play once a fortnight. With such a long time between sessions, the problem was that either my players couldn't remember where they had found that longsword, or who actually had the item. Some items were getting duplicated (because 2 players wrote it down on their character sheet) and some were going missing (because no-one wrote it down).

Now that I write all magical and valuable items down this doesn't happen. It may not be worth it in every group but it is in mine.

Olaf the Stout