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Message: <blockquote data-quote="azhrei_fje" data-source="post: 2331797" data-attributes="member: 12966">I don't agree.  While I do agree that there is a lot of information to track, I can find such things about 3 times faster using <a href="http://www.dmgenie.com/" target="_blank">DMGenie</a> than my players can by looking through their character sheets.  And when I _do_ find it, it already has all of the bonuses added in.  For example, when a player is trying to figure out their attack bonus when using a whip in each hand, I already have that on the screen.  All of the TWF penalties are applied, all of the bonuses for Weapon Focus are applied, all modifications due to spells, potions, magic items, and even conditions are already calculated for me.  (Have you ever had a PC cast wall of force only to forget how long the wall lasted before expiring?  Or maybe a PC was affected by cause fear and they are now shaken; wouldn't it be cool to have the computer automatically track the -2 penalty to all attacks, damage, skill checks, and ability checks?)From my point of view, I'd be overwhelmed if I ever had to go back to DM'ing on paper again.DMGenie isn't perfect:  it needs spontaneous casting added as a core feature (it's available through scripting, but that's not as "clean" as having the program implement it directly).  It needs scripting for spells (it would be way cool for a spell to automatically calculate level-dependent effects -- duration, distance, number of damage dice, and so on).Without a doubt!  I don't know what "CMG" refers to; I use the Sovelior_Sage version (a new update -- including all released errata -- was just made in April; get it at <a href="http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/" target="_blank">http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/</a> and use the 3.5 SRD link to the left).  The Sovelior version has links to WotC's site for the images, but I've downloaded the images and put them into a subdirectory, then modified the HTML to reference those images instead of the ones on WotC's site.  (Perl is a lovely scripting language, isn't it? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />)DMGenie keeps all that for me.  The Campaign Manager window allows me to pre-enter all important room descriptions, creatures located in the room, items in the room, and so on.  When the PC's enter the area, I click on the Map tab and there's a map in front of me, with hotlinks to other rooms or other tabs (to handle the PC's stepping on a trap and falling into the next level, or being transported to another area).  I can pre-design random encounter tables with statblocks to control what creature the encounter is with.  (Which means I don't have to detail out a full creature if I don't want to.)The combat log has a complete history of who attacked what and how much damage they did, which spells were cast and who saved and who didn't, and so on.  I use the combat log after a session to remind me of events so that I can write a "session summary".  It acts as a reminder for the player who attended and as a catch-up page for those who couldn't make it.I've also got a 15.4" WUXGA (or whatever the marketing droids call it <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />) and I love it!  It's 1920x1200, which is plenty of real estate for a big window.  But I also have a DLP projector that I hook the laptop up to.  I then run a different X server (Linux, no Windoze) on the projector.  I connect to it from the laptop display and control it remotely.  I've found that the remote control aspect is much easier than moving the mouse onto the external display and having to mangle my body to see what the players see while I make modifications.  YMMV. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />The projector comes with a mouse-style remote control.  Eventually, I'll write some software to control the map and when it's a player's turn to move their character, I'll just hand them the remote control.  Any mouse movements they make with the remote will be translated into mouse movements on the laptop via the USB cable from the projector to the laptop! 8)In summary, I will never go back to index cards.  I used them for a long time -- 15 years, in fact -- but I've been using DMGenie for about 2.5 years now.  I've gone from v1.08 to v2.16 and only paid a single registration fee. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  I feel obligated to write the author another check, since I've been taking advantage of him for so long. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f631.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":o" title="Eek!    :o"  data-smilie="9"data-shortname=":o" /></blockquote>

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