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View Full Version : DM Help Experiences with tablets as a GM aid?



Zumbs
2016-02-10, 02:44 PM
I have been considering acquiring a tablet as a GM aid for my campaign, and was wondering what sort of experiences my fellow roleplayers have had with tablets in their own campaigns. Both players and GMs. I'm interested in suggestions for specifications, software, pit falls and hands on experiences.

More specific questions could be if players feel the backlight from a tablet breaks the mood in a fantasy campaign? Or if you prefer larger or smaller screens? Experiences with stylus or similar for notes in pdfs and drawing maps could also be interesting. If you have tried to write adventures on a tablet, I would also be very interested in hearing your experiences. If you know of tablet covers that could fit a fantasy setting, I would also be interested.

Some background:

For the last 20 years, I have been playing with two groups in the same western-medieval inspired fantasy world. The result is four large binders of notes. Given that we usually don't play at my place, it is not feasible for me to have all of the notes with me, and haven't been for a long time. Some notes are written on computer, others are handwritten. I have scanned the handwritten notes to pdf files, and I wrote a small program to convert the computer documents to pdf.

The system is homebrew and somewhat similar to GURPS and BASIC. Software for other systems could be interesting, so if you have good suggestions for other systems, please share.

Usually, I play without a GM screen, with my notes in a small pile in front of me, using my fingers as bookmarks. Maps and older adventures/campaign notes are usually in a nearby binder. So, the ability to mark certain areas of a file and quickly browse back and forth could be useful.

Some time back I acquired a Sony eReader, but discovered that eInk screens had a poor contrast, meaning that the handwritten pdf files were hard to make out. Furthermore, it was cumbersome to organize the notes on the Sony eReader. I managed to address that by flashing the firmware, giving me access to a file browser. Naturally, this exposed the next set of shortcomings: Screen update time made browsing and zooming slow, and only one file could be open at a time. Not to mention the annoyance of not being able to search for text inside the pdf files. On the other hand, it had an awesome battery life.

Side note: If anyone knows of a good text recognition program that does handwriting well, I would also be interested in hearing of that.

Airk
2016-02-10, 04:23 PM
I can't imagine any problems stemming from them "disrupting the mood" or anything, but my experience has been that it's not as helpful as I want it to be either. Inputting any sort of information remains laborious and tiresome (unless maybe you get a bluetooth keyboard to go with it - haven't tried that yet) because "typing" on a touchscreen is a pain. Similarly, for looking stuff up, it's a lot more tiresome to try to page through stuff on a tablet than it with a physical object. The presence of a search feature helps sometimes, but not always. On the other hand, depending on how organized (or not) your physical notes are, looking stuff up MIGHT be easier. But honestly, the difficulty inputting stuff is a problem for me, and a PDF of the rules is never as convenient as an actual book if I need to reference something either.

Edit to Add: This probably not relevant to you, but tablets can be distracting for players, and they might be inclined to check email or whatever if they have a device in front of them all the time.

Zumbs
2016-02-10, 04:55 PM
But honestly, the difficulty inputting stuff is a problem for me, and a PDF of the rules is never as convenient as an actual book if I need to reference something either.
Good point with the difficulty of inputting anything to the device, even for a search feature. Some of my friends have experienced with exotic text input options for their phones. Have you tried looking for something similar for your tablet?


Edit to Add: This probably not relevant to you, but tablets can be distracting for players, and they might be inclined to check email or whatever if they have a device in front of them all the time.
I was mostly thinking that the GM would be the only one using a tablet. Even though my players have their phone on the table, it is rare for them to pick it up. On the other hand, it could be nice to share pdfs of the rules to avoid everyone needing the same book at the same time. One of my friends has his homebrew rules in html on a regular homepage, and it actually helps making them accessible, even on a regular phone. It would take some time converting my rules to something suitable for the interwebs, but it certainly is doable.

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-02-10, 06:15 PM
"typing" on a touchscreen is a pain.

Alternatively, you could just replace your DM screen with a laptop, and maybe two extra monitors. They'll barely notice the difference. :smallamused:

Khaiel
2016-02-10, 06:24 PM
Alternatively, you could just replace your DM screen with a laptop, and maybe two extra monitors. They'll barely notice the difference. :smallamused:

I do this, and it really helps me. I use a combination of laptop, extra monitors and physical notes (A monitor for whichever NPC sheet I need, the main monitor for looking things up in books, the third monitor for specific rules that I know will come into play because the PCs us them, and then my notes with the PCs Spot, Search, HP... and some important details of the plot that I want to get covered). It works well for me.

Airk
2016-02-11, 09:28 AM
Good point with the difficulty of inputting anything to the device, even for a search feature. Some of my friends have experienced with exotic text input options for their phones. Have you tried looking for something similar for your tablet?

I've used the Swiftkey "keyboard", which helps a little bit, but all the "software" solutions have one fundamental problem for gaming notes - they rely on "dictionary" lookups and predictive stuff, so it's great if you want to type "Okay, see you on Thursday" but not really very good if you want to type "Seneschal Farqat seeks to undermine the Lorden Conferation." or, "Oyabun Masamoto is negotiating with the Kansai Onmyoji" :P At least, not until you've gotten all those "words" added to your dictionary.



I was mostly thinking that the GM would be the only one using a tablet. Even though my players have their phone on the table, it is rare for them to pick it up. On the other hand, it could be nice to share pdfs of the rules to avoid everyone needing the same book at the same time. One of my friends has his homebrew rules in html on a regular homepage, and it actually helps making them accessible, even on a regular phone. It would take some time converting my rules to something suitable for the interwebs, but it certainly is doable.

Well, that's another can of fish, as it were.

Thinker
2016-02-11, 01:28 PM
A tablet with keyboard or a laptop is great, especially if you use OneNote (which is awesome).

Zumbs
2016-02-11, 03:48 PM
Alternatively, you could just replace your DM screen with a laptop, and maybe two extra monitors. They'll barely notice the difference. :smallamused:

I do this, and it really helps me. I use a combination of laptop, extra monitors and physical notes (A monitor for whichever NPC sheet I need, the main monitor for looking things up in books, the third monitor for specific rules that I know will come into play because the PCs us them, and then my notes with the PCs Spot, Search, HP... and some important details of the plot that I want to get covered). It works well for me.
A small castle of monitors :smallbiggrin:

I can certainly see the attraction, but I haven't been using a GM screen since the 90s. I find that they restrict my ability to use body language too much compared to the advantages. A friend of mine sidestepped that particular issue by placing his computer on a small table next to his seat, but I cannot rely on that as I seldom play at home. On the other hand, I could ask my friends if they have a small table ...


A tablet with keyboard or a laptop is great, especially if you use OneNote (which is awesome).
I assume that you tried using OneNote to organize your campaign notes, and that it is easy and convenient? I ask because I have never used it :smallsmile:

Thanks for the comments!

Âmesang
2016-02-11, 07:57 PM
I spent the last few years playing at a game store so having a tablet full of .pdfs, even if sliding through 'em is slow, is far more convenient than carrying around dozens (or hundreds :smalleek:) of books and magazines (especially after recently organizing them into different directories).

Likewise having access to online resources like d20SRD.org (http://www.d20srd.org/) is just as useful and, in all honesty, the online stats for my character are easier to read than the character sheet; though it helps that they're posted on my custom-made forum. :smalltongue: Said character has since required a spreadsheet, too; not only for tracking equipment and determining familiar stats, but for general note keeping (lots of "arcane research").

goto124
2016-02-12, 12:27 AM
So now I can't throw books at the players? I don't want to toss a fragile tablet when someone decides to do rules-lawyering! :smalltongue:

Firest Kathon
2016-02-12, 04:31 AM
When it comes to electronic aids, I prefer a tablet (I own an iPad) when playing but a laptop when DMing. The main reason is the laptop's capability to keep several tools open at the same time or running in the background.

While playing, I usually only need my digital character sheet (HeroLabs for Pathfinder, DnD sheets for D&D 3.5) and a tool to take some notes (Evernote, using a bluetooth keyboard for typing). Sometimes a browser or app to look up the rules. It's easy enough to switch around these two or three apps without too much problems. I really like the digital character sheet, because it helps with quickly calculating all the required values. Especially at higher level play a lot of modifiers are flying around (the bard is singing, the wizard cast a buff, the enemy cleric is debuffing, I am two-weapon fighting etc.). Calculating these all by hand is annoying me a lot, especially when things change often between rounds. Also I do not have to carry around a whole stack of books, I just have them all as PDFs which are also usually cheaper to buy than hardcover books.

As a DM, on the other hand, I need usually several character/monster stats at the same time, adventure information (my own or a published adventure), initiative tracking, etc. In addition, I am starting to us a projector to show maps, using MapTools - if I used it on a tablet, the map would disappear each time I switch to e.g. the monster stat sheet.

HammeredWharf
2016-02-12, 05:47 AM
I, too, would recommend a laptop. They're better when you need to do some actual work instead of browsing leisurely. I never DM without one, because looking up monster stats from five different books can be a real pain, while my .pdfs are neatly organized in Foxit Reader and reachable with one click. I keep my notes in an .odt, so that I could easily change and insert info to NPC descriptions, etc. In games like D&D 3.5 I use it to roll various 15d6s without taking too much game time. I use various random name generators to quickly come up with names for unimportant NPCs the players suddenly decide to interact with. On top of all that a small laptop also serves as a DM screen without taking too much space or obscuring the view.

Thinker
2016-02-12, 08:27 AM
I assume that you tried using OneNote to organize your campaign notes, and that it is easy and convenient? I ask because I have never used it :smallsmile:

Thanks for the comments!

Yes. It is laid out like a physical laptop - you have sections in a notebook that are divided by tabs and each section can have multiple pages. This makes it easy to have a section for Settlements and to give each settlement a page that includes some demographic/climate details, important NPCs, and plot hooks. Another for monsters that includes stats and fluff of monsters. Another for plot hooks with each page another plot hook. It also allows for wiki-style linking so if you have a plot hook in a settlement entry, like "The Legend of the Golden Hauberk" or some such thing, you can insert it as [[The Legend of the Golden Hauberk]]. That will link it to another page in the same notebook that has that name. You can also share a notebook out so you can have a player notebook that has House Rules, Setting Details, Party Journal, and Ongoing Quests sections that players can review whenever they want. OneNote has a lot more features that would take a long time to type up, but those are some of the most straightforward that can make GM-ing easier.

gadren
2016-02-12, 02:58 PM
I use a laptop, tablet, and smart phone as tools when I GM. I put searchable PDF copies of my rule books on the tablet, which makes finding what I'm looking for much quicker. There are also a variety of helpful apps from the iStore that I use on my devices during gaming sessions.

Hunter Noventa
2016-02-12, 03:09 PM
I'd agree that you definitely want a physical keyboard for input. And on that note, I'd suggest a real laptop, especially if you want to convert your rules to electronic form, having the extra power and more flexible OS will make things a lot easier to try and navigate through.

Zumbs
2016-02-12, 03:34 PM
I spent the last few years playing at a game store so having a tablet full of .pdfs, even if sliding through 'em is slow, is far more convenient than carrying around dozens (or hundreds :smalleek:) of books and magazines (especially after recently organizing them into different directories).
Heh, yeah, exactly :smallsmile:


Likewise having access to online resources like d20SRD.org (http://www.d20srd.org/) is just as useful and, in all honesty, the online stats for my character are easier to read than the character sheet; though it helps that they're posted on my custom-made forum. :smalltongue: Said character has since required a spreadsheet, too; not only for tracking equipment and determining familiar stats, but for general note keeping (lots of "arcane research").
That's a pretty neat page. I'll definitely consider converting my rules to something like that ... and maybe add a monster generator to roll up a few monsters on the fly?


When it comes to electronic aids, I prefer a tablet (I own an iPad) when playing but a laptop when DMing. The main reason is the laptop's capability to keep several tools open at the same time or running in the background.
Wait, tablets still don't support more apps on the screen at once? How about fast app switching?


Especially at higher level play a lot of modifiers are flying around (the bard is singing, the wizard cast a buff, the enemy cleric is debuffing, I am two-weapon fighting etc.).
How does that work? Do you put a check mark in a list of effects or does the wizard send the effect to the tablets of the people in the group?


As a DM, on the other hand, I need usually several character/monster stats at the same time, adventure information (my own or a published adventure), initiative tracking, etc. In addition, I am starting to us a projector to show maps, using MapTools - if I used it on a tablet, the map would disappear each time I switch to e.g. the monster stat sheet.
I can see that I am way behind the curve on this one.


I, too, would recommend a laptop. (snip) I use various random name generators to quickly come up with names for unimportant NPCs the players suddenly decide to interact with. On top of all that a small laptop also serves as a DM screen without taking too much space or obscuring the view.
I see how that could be useful. Sometimes I prepare a handful of names beforehand, but I often find that I need a name on short notice.


you have sections in a notebook that are divided by tabs and each section can have multiple pages.
Thanks for the short intro. I will definitely take a closer look at it.


I use a laptop, tablet, and smart phone as tools when I GM. I put searchable PDF copies of my rule books on the tablet, which makes finding what I'm looking for much quicker. There are also a variety of helpful apps from the iStore that I use on my devices during gaming sessions.
Any recommendations :smalltongue:


I'd agree that you definitely want a physical keyboard for input. And on that note, I'd suggest a real laptop, especially if you want to convert your rules to electronic form, having the extra power and more flexible OS will make things a lot easier to try and navigate through.
Many of you have noted that you use the keyboard on the laptop to take notes. How does that feel in-game? Is it a distraction or does it break immersion? I have found that when I write an adventure on a computer, I write more and take longer than when I write by hand. Do you have similar experiences when taking notes on a laptop?

Airk
2016-02-12, 04:36 PM
Wait, tablets still don't support more apps on the screen at once? How about fast app switching?


Mine does, for apps that support it, which is some but not all, and only two apps at once. App switching is pretty fast, but not as quite as a PC.

Firest Kathon
2016-02-13, 06:24 AM
When it comes to electronic aids, I prefer a tablet (I own an iPad) when playing but a laptop when DMing. The main reason is the laptop's capability to keep several tools open at the same time or running in the background.

Wait, tablets still don't support more apps on the screen at once? How about fast app switching?
Yes and no. Fast app switching works, but only when you have apps with low resource consumption. If your active app uses up too mouch memory, mobile OSs will terminate the apps in the background. It works well enough as a player, e.g. switching between HeroLabs and Evernote, but when opening up a larger PDF in iBooks or so I will have to wait 10-20 seconds until the character sheet is re-loaded when switching back to it.
Edited to add: Running two apps in parallel is supported, but I find that with the small screen size of a tablet it is not very comfortable.


I really like the digital character sheet, because it helps with quickly calculating all the required values. Especially at higher level play a lot of modifiers are flying around (the bard is singing, the wizard cast a buff, the enemy cleric is debuffing, I am two-weapon fighting etc.). Calculating these all by hand is annoying me a lot, especially when things change often between rounds.

How does that work? Do you put a check mark in a list of effects or does the wizard send the effect to the tablets of the people in the group?
You have (editable) lists of statuses, conditions, spell effects etc. and can simply select the ones which apply and all affected values are recalculated. The app is free to download and try out, by the way (iOS and Pathfinder/5e only, unfortunately).


Many of you have noted that you use the keyboard on the laptop to take notes. How does that feel in-game? Is it a distraction or does it break immersion? I have found that when I write an adventure on a computer, I write more and take longer than when I write by hand. Do you have similar experiences when taking notes on a laptop?
I do not find it disturbing. The DMs in my groups are using a laptop anyways, and some (in one group all) other players are using tablets or laptops as well. And both DMs and other players appreciate a campaign journal, especially after a longer break, so I am sharing my notes online.