dungeons and dragons for marines

[illiteratebarb]

My brother is currently over seas serving on an aircraft carrier in the middle east. He brought to my attention that him and a few of his buddies are playing D&D on the ship, even though their resources are limited. I'm going to send them a care package with some dice and books but what else should I add in? I want them to have everything they need since they dont have use of the intenet. Any ideas??

[Honest Tiefling]

1) What sort of players are they? Hack n' slash, political masterminds, what?

2) Uh...Might be a stupid question, but I have no idea what a aircraft carrier has? For instance, is a printer a problem? If not, some paper and a flash drive might be good...

3) A pre-printed module might be decent.

4) I assume room is also a concern. Some generic tokens for baddies might be better then more complex but harder to reuse ones.

5) What of a battle map and markers, or is that going overboard (pun not intended)?

6) Oddly enough, but pencils, notebooks and index cards might be decent as well as nice things to keep them good and organized.

[illiteratebarb]

All I know is my brother is a born skill monkey and strange class user, The others I have never met. Those are all good ideas I forget about how much we utilize the internet.
I dont know if they have a printer but most of them have laptops they use for movies and other forms pf entertainment. I hear life on boars "little america" is super boring.

[Honest Tiefling]

Figure out an off-line character sheet that will work for them, and send it on a flash drive. Might be better then paper and the like. Complete Scoundrel is either a wonderful or a horrible idea...

[illiteratebarb]

Figure out an off-line character sheet that will work for them, and send it on a flash drive. Might be better then paper and the like. Complete Scoundrel is either a wonderful or a horrible idea...

Good idea! Never thought of flash drives that will help them immensely.

[Honest Tiefling]

Buy a bunch of PDFs and load them up onto 2 flash drives. Might be handier then books, and give plenty of variation. A searchable rules database might also be good...

[illiteratebarb]

Buy a bunch of PDFs and load them up onto 2 flash drives. Might be handier then books, and give plenty of variation. A searchable rules database might also be good...

Will do! Thank you you've been very helpful.

[Shining Wrath]

For $10, you can download the D20SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/download.htm) site. That's pretty good for giving them something searchable.

Some of those little paper tokens will probably help. You can print off some copies of the 1" by 1" matrix in the back of the DMG, which are labeled as free to copy.

[LTwerewolf]

When we played on our carrier, we used a magnetic chess set as our board and figures. Made it so nothing fell over. We also used phone apps for rolling. Magnetic was definitely the way to go. Also send them food and cigarettes, even if they don't smoke. Better than currency when afloat.

[Phelix-Mu]

For $10, you can download the D20SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/download.htm) site. That's pretty good for giving them something searchable.


This. Unless they are without computers at all, then this is vastly superior to having access to the books, and even supplements the books nicely by including errata and a couple other books, and being searchable.

Maybe a map grid and some miniatures? That can really help with atmospherics. I'd avoid anything fancy; go for cheap and functional. Even if you just go for a roll-up plastic grid and some GO pieces to represent enemies (or dice...I love using dice maps), that can really add a nice visual element to battles. If the grid map is conducive/laminated, maybe even include some dry erase markers to draw building outlines/obstacles/rough terrain.

The miniatures and maps is best if they like to wargame, though. If they are role play intensive, maybe instead a character image/portrait generator or something to help them visualize their characters.

[Honest Tiefling]

Will do! Thank you you've been very helpful.

Of course. I hope your brother has a good time. Do you need suggestions for particular books, by the way...? As for magnets, I think some dry erase boards are magnetic and with some pens can be used. Non-dry erase pens might work to make a grid...

[LTwerewolf]

Of course. I hope your brother has a good time. Do you need suggestions for particular books, by the way...? As for magnets, I think some dry erase boards are magnetic and with some pens can be used. Non-dry erase pens might work to make a grid...

Just mske sure they're not too big. Very limited stowing space when it's not being used. Anything you get them should either be small, or collapsible so it can be small.

[Phelix-Mu]

Of course. I hope your brother has a good time. Do you need suggestions for particular books, by the way...? As for magnets, I think some dry erase boards are magnetic and with some pens can be used. Non-dry erase pens might work to make a grid...

I think they make dry-erase mats that can be rolled up. This would save paper, and unlike a board, easier for the person in question to stow in what is likely very restricted private space.

On the other hand, there are likely dry-erase boards, markers, and such on board. Whether someone can arrange access to them for recreational purposes is probably another thing entirely.

[Honest Tiefling]

True on space, but I would be greatly surprised if magnets worked on many surfaces that can be rolled up. Then again, computers + magnets = not fun times.

[illiteratebarb]

I'll ask him if he has access to a room with a white board and if not I'll go from there.
As for books I'll send him every pdf I have and possibly the interactive character sheet for adobe acrobat so thwy can have a paperless game.

[Extra Anchovies]

A dry-erase battle grid, and some markers. There are sets of non-blank dry-erase grids, they're quite nice (e.g. one map has a road, another has a few buildings, one has a ruined castle, etc).

[Agent 451]

Along with the idea of laminated battle mats, I'm quite fond of using laminated character sheets.

[Averis Vol]

Along with the idea of laminated battle mats, I'm quite fond of using laminated character sheets.

something my iron kingdoms dm does is jsut give out those thin protective covers, and we just used dry erase markers on those, they worked well so I'm gonna second this idea.

[illiteratebarb]

Yhesevare some good ideas too! Perfect!

[ILM]

Printed character sheets and pencils? I don't know if they have easy access to printers (<- knows nothing about life on an aircraft carrier)

[Agent 451]

something my iron kingdoms dm does is jsut give out those thin protective covers, and we just used dry erase markers on those, they worked well so I'm gonna second this idea.

Huh. Never even thought about that. It's probably easier and cheaper using report covers like that than going somewhere to get sheets laminated. Plus you get the added utility of being able to swap out the sheet if you change games.

Sad thing is I probably have 15 or 20 of those covers sitting at home...:smallredface:

[Phelix-Mu]

something my iron kingdoms dm does is jsut give out those thin protective covers, and we just used dry erase markers on those, they worked well so I'm gonna second this idea.

GENIUS. This is gold for any of us that still use *gasp* paper character sheets. I compulsively update my sheets, and tend to hate when eraser marks muck up my work of art efforts at perfection legibility.

[Der_DWSage]

Try not to send him anything that wouldn't fit in a large duffel bag-he'll have trouble getting it off ship once he leaves if you do.

For the low-cost stuff, just sending him a flash drive with PDFs on it is a fantastic idea. (Most warships actually have internet access, but computer space is limited and the internet is slower than dial-up.) Laminated character sheets are a good idea, but I wouldn't get too fancy about it. I'd also make sure they have enough pencils/dry erase markers to go for it.

If you want to get crazy-fancy, get him a small projector that he can plug into his computer. This will let him use battle maps without having to find room for them (which is always a concern) and gives him something that will make him the big dog on campus when his fellow Marines are bored-everyone loves the guy that can take the movie from a lone laptop and turn it into a movie theater.

Also, dice are always, always appreciated. Maybe send him scissors along with the paper tokens idea, so he can fold out his own things. Do make sure he can access a printer on occasion, though. If his aircraft carrier was anything like the one I served on, there should be at least one Marine or Sailor in data that will sympathize with his plight and will print out whatever he needs within reason. (No 200 page books, but they'll certainly get 20 pages of character sheets and minis.) If he hasn't already done so, get him an initiative tracker (http://www.stargazersworld.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/GameMastery-Pads.png) of some type-either buying one, or making it with hard work, dedication, and cardboard.

Aside from that...maybe get him some soda, or healthier caffeinated drinks. It's just not a game without Mountain Dew.

[Blackhawk748]

Im gonna recommend one of Paizos Battle Maps, they've got a bunch of really nice ones and they fold up to be rather small. Personally id say send him the Dragons Lair (one side is blank), Ruins (as both sides are fairly nice little dungeons) and then one more youd think hed use a lot. I personally own like 7 of these things and their great when your DMing

[Averis Vol]

GENIUS. This is gold for any of us that still use *gasp* paper character sheets. I compulsively update my sheets, and tend to hate when eraser marks muck up my work of art efforts at perfection legibility.

I know right! I still prefer paper sheets myself, unless you can pull your online sheet up on your phone. I try to keep only 1 laptop at the game table (or more correctly, on my work bench nearby) for rules dispute. I find they distract way too much.