Your GM toolkit

[atomicpenguin]

Hey guys! Thought it would be fun to have a thread where GMs could share what tools they use to better their campaigns. When you make your list, please omit any dice (save specifically unique ones), paper, rulebooks, and pencils, as these are common enough that most everyone uses them.

My GM kit includes the following:
-Blank notecards (for writing stat blocks and handouts)
-My GM Screen (reusable and custom made from foam core and binder sleaves)
-My battle mat (w/ multicolored markers)
-Zone markers (cut from free paint swatches)
-my collection of hats (depending on the game)
-some keys I got at Michael's
-My GM Binder (containing maps, notes, and sleaves for name generators that I'll include later)

[Knaight]

I don't really have GM kit, and things vary from game to game in any case. That said, there are a few objects of note:
1) A small whiteboard/clipboard, and whiteboard markers. It's like an infinite supply of scratch paper with perfect erasing, and I love it.
2) Note Cards. They are needed to play Microscope, which is among my favorite games.
3) Bowls. My patience with dice going under things ran out a while ago, and using bowls as dice cups fixes things remarkably well.

Mostly though, it's the whiteboard/clipboard. That thing is my favorite tool by far.

[Kol Korran]

Lets see:
1) My laptop. I use a wiki site to keep my notes one, as well as backup on my computer. Plus it stores pics forthe sessions (places, people, items), and music for specific moments.

2) battle mat with markers and eraser.

3) my miniatures pack.

4) I use transparent sheets upon which I mark complex battle zones I expect might come in play. I prepare them before game and then just place them on the battle mat. This HUGELY reduces the time to mark the battlefield, and this realy helps the tension. As nothing kills excitement more than having the GM closely mark the battlefield for a few minutes, while you're ready to fight the bad guy. Pronot battlefield!

5) I now intend to start playing FATE core and I will use index card to put aspects on the field.

6) same game- Poker chips to represent Fate points.

7) Big blank drawing pad- I draw maps of important locations before hand on it (a small sieged village, maps of an underground cavern, the layout of a cathedral and so on).

That's about it I think.

[Deaxsa]

1. large piece of plexiglass
2. large piece of paper with 4 cm^2 squares
3. dry erase markers
4. lego people
5. sometimes i will get a tall glass and roll dice in that, it works fairly amazingly

that's all the notable stuff, almost everything else is on paper and pencil, at least for me. (i mean, i'll get a screen, sometimes, but apart from that)

[valadil]

I have a toolkit. It's actually a 3.5 starter kit box. For some odd reason the starter kit was the same price as the PHB but it came with a softbound PHB, a boardgame box, a set of dice, and some minis. Anyway, I don't actually use it because I prefer hosting games when I GM. But just in case, here's what it has.

1. Index cards.
2. Many sets of dice. 2 regular bags and a whole lot of tiny dice.
3. Some cheapo plastic minis.
4. Many-colored wet erase markers. The more colors I have the more likely I am to make the map interesting.
5. A dozen mechanical pencils.
6. Cardboard squares in varying sizes for each of the D&D creature sizes.
7. GM screen. I don't use one anymore but I haven't thrown it out either, so here it lives.
8. Paper clips of assorted color. Not just for binding paper, these also make great status effect markers.

[OverdrivePrime]

Adobe Photoshop - for maps & campaign artifacts
Adobe Illustrator - for maps & campaign artifacts
hand-drawns maps
A 3'x5' sheet of plexiglass, scored into a 1" grid
Lots of dry-erase markers
Beer
And then Google Drive for:

Extensive spreadsheets
Campaign Docs
Sharing image files and notes
offline discussion
Setting up encounters
tracking experience points
Storing PDFs for my reference

[Remmirath]

It always includes:
- dry-erase markers in varying colours
- dry-erase sheets of varying sizes
- something to erase the dry erase with
- whatever figures I'll be needing
- whatever figures, small plastic pieces, et cetera I'll use to represent monsters
- printed out campaign plan
- at least two extra sets of dice

It sometimes includes:
- DM screen (AD&D and MERP only)
- our book of revised firearm rules (D20 Modern only)
- a calculator (mostly for high-level D&D games)
- handdrawn maps
- written out letters, notices, and other such
- module I'm using (if I'm using one, which is rare)

For the most part, however, I don't so much have a DMing kit as we have different stations in our house set up for different games -- currently one table is set for our D&D/D20 Modern campaign, and the other is set for MERP. We also have a shelf with an (I'm told) bewildering array of figures (which I'll hopefully get somewhat caught up on painting over the summer). Since that's my usual group, I don't usually have to actually pack anything; for the other groups I sometimes DM for, I pack the above things.

Either way, those do make up the majority of what I use in any DMing situation. There have been occasional rare circumstances where I've used a laptop, but I find that difficult to work with, so I don't usually.

[Trinoya]

Back when my game was mobile my kit consisted of several containers, a large dice bag, my laptop, and a battle-mat. The containers were loaded with tiles, objects, and figurines, on top of character sheets, pens, and pencils.

Now it is just my laptop. The best part is I can roll dice without my players being any the wiser about it.

[Lorsa]

The most important part of my toolkit is my brain. Without it the rest is superflous.

[Kikon9]

Always Present:
-Notecards- For notes and stats and whatnot
-Game Plan Page-I like to have a single page with the general info on that session's plot present. It's easier than searching through my notes.
-Platter of various mini-figures and small toys- For when we need the battlemap.
-Heroscape Tiles- Simple and easy to build, I prefer them to drawing or using pre-built grids.


Sometimes Present
-ipod- I keep music on it for atmosphere in game.
-Speaker Attachments- For the above mentioned ipod.
-GM screen- Sometimes I don't like the weird metaphysical barrier it makes, but it definitely helps players not to read my notes.
-Scene Illustrations- Sometimes I'm not a good narrator. So instead, I draw the locations out before the game. I'd like to think it still gets the point across.

[Sidmen]

Right now my GM toolkit consists of my Nexus Tablet.

And that's it...

I've been wanting to buy a battlemat and some minis... And some dice...

[Totally Guy]

I usually make a cheat sheet for the game I'm running. Or cheat sheets for introducing players to the core concepts of the game.

Laminated sheets and some dry erase markers.

[Dread Angel]

My GM Toolkit:
- My laptop!
- PCGen6000, the best character creation program I've ever run into (AND it's free!) This thing not only does easy PC generation with all kinds of nifty features, it has a checklist of things you haven't yet done, and has a sub-window you can use for GM stuff like initiative trackers and all kinds of neat things. Right down to custom magic item creation, etc.
- My bag of minis and the grid-mat for combat that warrants the use of a mat (for example when ground-hazards exist in the immediate area, when space is restricted, when there are a bunch of monsters to keep track of)
- My set of black-and-white-with-red-numbers dice.
- My arsenal of different accents and voices.


- Aaaaand my personal favorite - I'm an audio engineer and a musician, and when my BBEGs have a pre-planned monologue and such, I will record it and use fun effects to add things to it. I had a demon lord who actually had ten different voices chorused, echoing and other fun things.

[Jay R]

A single sheet, kept in spreadsheet form in Excel, with all the players' names, AC, stats, saving throws, major magic items, and any information they don't have yet (magic items incompletely known, curses not yet set off, etc.).

All minis expected to be used in today's game, laid out behind a curtain so the players can't see them, with a ringer or two in case they get a glance. (Nobody notices the owlbear minis if there are three red dragons or a demon laid out as well.)

[SilverLeaf167]

- A computer, typically a borrowed laptop since my own laptop sucks and I can't exactly carry my desktop computer all over the place. I use it to plan all my sessions and access my books, which are in PDF form.
- A plastic battle grid (made by Paizo apparently)
- Water-soluble markers which I use to draw and occasionally write on the plastic grid.
- Old collectable Pokémon figures, used for the PCs and some NPCs.
- Figures from some strategy game that's name I can't remember, used for most enemies.
- Legos to use for really small enemies.
- The Myth-Weavers website, which hosts the best virtual sheet storage/creation in my opinion. Our group always uses it to create their characters before writing them on paper, since that saves you a lot of math and messy erasing.
- Though I typically use a computer for planning, I use an A4-sized notepad when I'm drawing maps or traveling without a computer.

[Mephibosheth]

Right now my GM toolkit consists of my Nexus Tablet.

I just got one and have been thinking about what apps to get. What gaming apps do you use and enjoy?

[atomicpenguin]

I forgot to mention: I also use a plethora of tokens I made with Tokentool. Sometimes I wish I had miniatures, but tokens are so much more cost effective.

[GnomeFighter]

Notes.
A pocket nerf gun for when the players go off topic too far.

thats it, but I like to play very free form and without minis and maps.