What do you NOT want to use tech for in you TTRPG?

[MNblockhead]

Not because I am a luddite - far from it. Instead, I would view using tech for my games as a "Busman's Holiday," in the sense that there are occasions when I need a break from technology. Sitting down with friends, chatting, rolling dice, no screens- it isn't a labor, it's a respite.

I see where you are coming from. I don't have the option for in person games these days. In terms of the busman's holiday issue, I have definitely reached that point in foundry where I've been simplifying things. Once I started editing macros and editing snippets of code in character sheets it started to feel like work. I've also really pared back my use of community modes because testing and troubleshooting conflicts, and having to redo the process every time their is a platform upgrade, also started to feel too much like my day job.

Also, now that I've found a number of co-workers who are board game geeks, I've really cut dome my time seeking out one-shots and mini-campaigns to play TTRPGs as a players. I've even learned to enjoy Settlers of Catan. Booze and silly competition helps.

 

[Malmuria]

I use tech for as little as possible. When playing in person, I type up my notes on one (1) a4 page and have a dm reference on one a4 page. When playing online, however, I do sometimes use owlbear rodeo and a shared google sheets doc for character sheets. All dice rolls (for me) are physical though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For about the past 15 years, all of my character sheets have been in some kind of electronic text form. Similarly, all of my campaign design notes have been as well.

I have also bookmarked a host of gaming resource websites for a variety of systems.

OTOH, all of my purchased game books are physical. My dice are real, not virtual. (I do have some PDFs, but they were free, not purchased, and I don’t use them.)

At the table, my use of tech is mostly limited to looking at my character sheets, but sometimes, I will look stuff up online if I don’t have immediate access to the relevant physical resource.

 

[MNblockhead]

I have also bookmarked a host of gaming resource websites for a variety of systems.

I use evernote to capture any online content such as cool blog posts that I don't want to lose access to if the site goes down in the future.

I use xBrowsersync for bookmarks and Inoreader for keeping track of new posts on sites I follow.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Do you ever do one shots? How do you tend to find players? Do you use Roll20s Find a Game site to post your games? Meetup? Or just word of mouth?

No, I run campaigns of 50-odd sessions, as a rule.

I post for players on Redditt and the Roll20 forums, and the response is amazing. Even though I have been playing first Zweihander, then Flames of FReedom, neither widespread games, I have had incredible response. The last time I had a vacancy, a player notified me of a RL issue that forced an immediate drop., I posted immediately, and had two new players by game time Tuesday. I intended to jettison one, as I like to stay at 5 players, but both turned out to be of good quality, so now I'm running 6 until RL attrits me again and I go back to 5.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I don't want to have special effects, animations, 3D models, and I dunno, ray-traced dice or whatever. I don't need, or even want, my maps to look like an MMO video game screen.

Why?

 

[CleverNickName]

Why?

I find them too distracting and restrictive. They pull focus, causing the players to fixate on a flickering torch or an artist's mark on the wall and miss other clues that I'm actually describing. They eat badwidth and CPU. Etc.

Besides. If we wanted to play an MMO, we would play ESO.

 

[MNblockhead]

No, I run campaigns of 50-odd sessions, as a rule.

I post for players on Redditt and the Roll20 forums, and the response is amazing. Even though I have been playing first Zweihander, then Flames of FReedom, neither widespread games, I have had incredible response. The last time I had a vacancy, a player notified me of a RL issue that forced an immediate drop., I posted immediately, and had two new players by game time Tuesday. I intended to jettison one, as I like to stay at 5 players, but both turned out to be of good quality, so now I'm running 6 until RL attrits me again and I go back to 5.

Great to hear. I read so many posters complaining about not being able to find anyone interested in playing anything but D&D. I figure they must be talking about in person play in a location without a large gamer community. I've been happily surprised as the number of on-line non-DnD games I've been able to find.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Great to hear. I read so many posters complaining about not being able to find anyone interested in playing anything but D&D. I figure they must be talking about in person play in a location without a large gamer community. I've been happily surprised as the number of on-line non-DnD games I've been able to find.

That was why I left F2F gaming. Our area has a small gaming pool, and keeping a table full had become a tremendous hassle over the last decade. There appears to be a shortage of dependable GMs online; most of my players had no knowledge of Zwei or FoF, but were looking for a steady weekly game.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I find them too distracting and restrictive. They pull focus, causing the players to fixate on a flickering torch or an artist's mark on the wall and miss other clues that I'm actually describing. They eat badwidth and CPU. Etc.

Ah, the curse of a GM who loves the sound of his own voice.

Me, I enjoy the relief from mundane details, allowing me to make far better use of my time at the table.

But Bandwidth is not an issue: I use both Discord and Roll20, hosting six players, and a 4.5 hour sessions consumes about 200 MB. Although we do not use video feed.