Your Most Useful and Most Used RPG Products

[coralwave]

OFFLINE:

• a large silicon map, double sided: sqaures and hexes. comfortably folds to A5 size and no fold lines.
• Index cards. makeshift tokkens, parts of a map, tracking stuff? you're covered. (and thanks to Runehammer for introducing me to the concept, although I'm sure it was in use long before)

ONLINE:

• Kenku FM: integrates into discord, each player can set ther own voice
• Craig (discord bot): lets me record our sessions and can save each player (and Kenku) as a different track so it's easy t o adjust. no need to remember everything, just record and listen later on X2 speed
• Mipui - probably the lightest dedicated shared real time mapping tool I know. nothing needed but the link.

 

[bedir than]

Dyson Logos full Patron catalog

Return to the Lazy DM

My own website - I've found keeping the one sheets, notes, etc right where the players can see it in a web format works better than various note apps

Field Notes notebook - wherever I am with an idea I can jot it down. This can be a weird street name while riding in an unfamiliar town or a new plot point or anything

 

[overgeeked]

Index cards. makeshift tokkens, parts of a map, tracking stuff? you're covered. (and thanks to Runehammer for introducing me to the concept, although I'm sure it was in use long before)

I found myself going through so many index cards I switched to dry erase index cards. Cheaper in the long run.

 

[overgeeked]

Also, poker cards, poker chips, glass or plastic tokens / beads, and a tarot deck.

 

[Distracted DM]

Post-COVID, I run largely on FoundryVTT.

I'm most often using A5E's MoMe and T&T.

Even with the many online fantasy name generators available, I still go back to the Gygax Book of Names.

I very frequently use MCDM's Strongholds and Followers content, even in a non-stronghold game- players are a big fan of Concordance, since you don't need to be a cleric or have a temple to start tracking it and praying for divine aid. Gives them something to connect to the world with (choosing and caring about a deity) and a goal (fulfilling the deity's goals), for mechanical rewards. I could use more things like that, actually! Lmk if something jumps to mind.

 

[AK81]

For me it's Forge of Foes. I use it for all my homebrew monsters in 5e

 

[delericho]

These days, nothing beats a really good webcam and mic. Seriously, if you're going to be doing lots of online gaming (or just online meetings), make the investment.

For a non-gamer looking to get into the hobby, I'd recommend the original D&D 5e Starter Set (with "Lost Mine of Phandelver"), if you can find it. The Essentials Set is also really good, so if the budget allows I'd recommend both. Beyond that, of course, there are the core rules.

As an experienced DM, the books that are most of use to me these days fall into two categories: new monster books (I like the "Tome of Beasts" series from KP, and the "Monster Manual Expanded" series on DMs Guild), and campaign development books - my single most-used is the old "Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide", but I also like the two "Lazy DM" books. And Jared Blando has written two books on cartography ("Fantasy Art & RPG Maps" and "Fantasy Mapmaker") that are probably the single most useful books I've bought in years, largely because of my lack of any artistic talent.

And then there's the usual dice, dice tower, minis, maps, etc.

 

[rem24601]

currently, I would have to say my Kindle Scribe. I can have all the books I need for the game in something that weighs less than 1 rule book. now, maybe I feel that way because I rely on walking or the bus to get to and from place to place, and if I had a car I might feel differently. On the other hand it is easier to look up, for example, monsters, without giving the players a hint at what they might be facing based on the book I just grabbed.
I have tried other tablets, and while the color that the others offer is nice, battery life is more important IMO.
when the color scribe is released in another year or so, I know I will upgrade.

 

[Piperken]

Are the poker chips that have been mentioned more than once used in place of minatures?

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Foundry VTT has been my dinner table for some years now.

But one product that I really love and use is The Monster Overhaul book.