How do you cart around your books?

[Efrate]

Hello giant. As my book collection keeps growing I find myself having issues carting everything around when I DM. Since one of my players graciously hosts i need to carry a lot of gear, and I find myself needing an upgrade in storage. My briefcase I have been using has ceased to be an appropriate container.

Since I am very keen on having all my stuff available in real book form at all times, I am wondering if anyone has some suggestions on what works for you to carry stuff around?

Current loadout for my pathfinder games:
Bestiary 1 thru 6
CRB
Ultimate equipment
Advaned class guide
Advanced players guide
path of war
module(s)
npc codex
dice
folders
minis
screen
collapsable grid
dry erase markers
notecards
pencil
papers

Short of just getting a suitcase, any suggestions?

[Troacctid]

Well I use a suitcase—


Short of just getting a suitcase

Oh, uh...trunk of your car, then?

[AmeVulpes]

I find milk crates to be handy, if inelegant. Just make sure your dice are in a bag or something inside the crate.

[Thurbane]

In a backpack; usually only take the essentials (about 4-5 books [any other books are usually available at alternate venues], dice, character folders, minis, booze & snacks). Game is at my place 50% of the time, which helps...

[Saintheart]

Collapsible beach wagon?

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41gP9ucpvRL.jpg

(Note the handy cupholders on the right).

Or hell, just go with a wagon:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRxsYipH-fbHb8r3aImwJRT06Kmkfs3U1jLXEjlB7-8tZHBR9Oa

[Vizzerdrix]

I would use two boat supply boxes. Bright orange. Lockable. Submergable. Im not sure they make that model any longer. Now I use my tablet. Not as good as having the books, but much lighter.


EDIT- This one, to be exact.

https://www.easternmarine.com/sport-utility-dry-box-orange-5602

[Thurbane]

I would use two boat supply boxes. Bright orange. Lockable. Submergable. Im not sure they make that model any longer. Now I use my tablet. Not as good as having the books, but much lighter.

One of the guys I game with uses a fishing gear/tackle box, and it's pretty ideal for his needs.

[Vizzerdrix]

One of the guys I game with uses a fishing gear/tackle box, and it's pretty ideal for his needs.

When I did heroclix, that is what I used. Still have them someplace.

[ericgrau]

I try to keep books limited so I just have a bookbag with a few. But to better answer your question, here's how I carry lots of random junk to a game night: Properly organized plastic storage bin(s). So books would go in one bin. If you want to bring other items, use a different bin/bag(s). Keep the bin in your car and it's less to carry or remember. Other things might use different containers, like minis might go in a clear compartmented container like a hardware (screw & etc.) organizer.

[Crake]

I use a tablet/phone. Digital copies are so much lighter.

[Eladrinblade]

I stole a bright lime green milk crate from outside a bar in indianapolis, and i've been using it for D&D books since. I put them in with the binding facing up, and they're in there fairly tight so they don't slide down or anything.

[AmeVulpes]

-snip-

+1 for milk crate. They can be purchased (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/announcement.php?a=1) at a lot of farm supply stores, alternatively.

[Deophaun]

I stole a bright lime green milk crate from outside a bar in indianapolis...
So that's where it went!

[Crake]

Keep your books on your shelf as a trophy and get pdfs.

Yup, that's pretty much how we do at my table XD.

That said, if you have a regular gaming group, you can just keep all your books at the person's house that you play at, assuming they aren't a messy, unorganized pig who might ruin your books.

[Hackulator]

Unseen Servant

[SangoProduction]

Well. I have a barely-filled USB stick that weighs maybe 2 grams, with all the books for 3.5 in it. So that's how I carry my books. These little sticks of holding are amazing.

[Eladrinblade]

Books are way faster for looking stuff up, though. The weight isn't bad.

If you have positive strength modifier...

[ericgrau]

Books are way faster for looking stuff up, though. The weight isn't bad.

If you have positive strength modifier...

You can't CTRL+F books though.

A nice laptop with an external mouse is helpful for faster access.

I also have handy rules cheat sheets in sig. Spell cards are handy too. Or simply writing out my spell list with a summary of each including key numbers like range, area and damage.

[Psychoalpha]

Save your money and get a cheap laptop to cut that list down to size? Seriously, it's 2019, carting around 10+ physical books is ridiculous.

Not only are virtually all of these PDFs bookmarked pretty extensively, not only can you create your own bookmarks for sections you really want quick access to, but ctrl+f takes seconds.

[ben-zayb]

Most of my groups have similar light set up:

SRD whenever applicable
DM brings the die, Rules Compendium, DMG, and modules.
Each player brings the splatbooks (or just digital photos of the relevant pages) used in their PCs
Each person brings their own PC/NPC sheets (physical or digital) and minis

[Mordaedil]

I actually completed my core D&D 3.5 collection (not setting specific books) before Christmas last year, so I can feel your pain.

What I do for attending sessions is either refer to pdfs on a tablet or, because I have too much freetime, refer to the website I made where I've sort of made my own reference guide to all spells, classes, feats and magic items. It's still in development, and I kinda used the old illegal dndtools website database as a frame of reference, so I can't exactly share it publicly.

But you know, it's faster than Googling the result.

[umbergod]

I used to use a military surplus duffel bag bc it was the only thing i had that fit all my 3.5 books and dragon magazines

[PaucaTerrorem]

Swing by your local liquor store. They usually have an excess of boxes and a good chunk of them are very sturdy.

[NerdHut]

I've currently got 10 3.5e books, plus a decent collection of accessories and assorted physical files (plus my laptop). I also have the luxury of playing in the same place every week, at a trusted friend's house. So I just leave the bulk of my stuff there most weeks. But when I do transport it, I have some small bags which nest inside a box, which nests inside a file crate with the papers and books. All together, not including the grid mat (in a shipping tube) and the laptop (in its own bag), it probably weighs 30-40 lbs, which is why I don't move it all every week.

Edit to add: I have PDFs of all the books (and many other non-book resources) I use in my own campaigns and some others as players, but having physical copies is 1) just nice, and 2) makes it easier for multiple people to be looking at books at the same time. 1 computer lets you have maybe a couple pages open at the same time. But if you have someone needing a PHB, and another in Complete Warrior, while a third is looking through the MIC, having the hard copies facilitates that well. They're also just a bit easier on the eyes than a screen.

[DigoDragon]

When I used to host for my old group, I bought a small 2-drawer cabinet and let all my players store books, notepads, dice, and miniatures in there. That way they didn't have to haul everything to my house each session.

[Elkad]

Everyone brings their own laptop/chromebook.

All the books are PDFs on my fileserver, plus a local copy of the SRD and the USRD.

We can go many sessions without anyone touching a physical book. It's so much easier to have multiple books (or multiple pages in the same book) open in electronic format.

[farothel]

See what books the player where you play has and don't bring those (for most books, one copy/table is sufficient).

I now start to bring more and more just the laptop with all my books in PDF. I know it's not the same, but most PDFs are searchable, which is not bad if you know how 'good' most indexes in RPG books are (White Wolf, I'm looking at you :smallmad: )

[The Kool]

I run both 3.5 and 5e. For 5e, I have a stack of books. For 3.5, I have a pile of PDFs. So I can comment on both. They are not equal, and chances are if someone has been collecting long enough to need to upgrade their transportation methods, they know that they prefer the books, so suggesting PDFs is almost pointless. That said, I do use the PDF method sometimes. What I've found is that tablets are very poor for this, and I prefer a dual-screen setup (I have a second screen for my laptop) for better viewing area and having more than one PDF up on the screen at a time, alongside my web references. This also doubles as a DM screen for rolling, neatly enough.

When traveling with books, I reference my stack in the planning phase, then pick out the few books I need at the session. Generally you can get this down to 3-5 books, which will fit in a bookbag or briefcase just fine. My first DM did something similar to this as well, keeping his most commonly needed books and all his notes in a very large briefcase. I find that most books are used in preparation but not actually referenced at the session. If I do have to look up something obscure, I either go to the internet or just make up a ruling on the fly and promise to come back to it later if it's important.

[exelsisxax]

A pdf is so light you could carry several trillion of them pretty easily. But usually, I just remember things and don't need to look things up. I'd have done so much better in school if that applied to test material and not random useless fun information.

[Thurbane]

A pdf is so light you could carry several trillion of them pretty easily. But usually, I just remember things and don't need to look things up. I'd have done so much better in school if that applied to test material and not random useless fun information.

On that note, I always try to have relevant information about my character abilities, gear, spells etc. attached to the sheet, so I don't need to flick through books when it comes to my turn in combat. Some pre-generated sheets, like PCGen, for instance, are pretty good for this too.

[exelsisxax]

On that note, I always try to have relevant information about my character abilities, gear, spells etc. attached to the sheet, so I don't need to flick through books when it comes to my turn in combat. Some pre-generated sheets, like PCGen, for instance, are pretty good for this too.

Yep. Spell cards, listings for attacks with and without power attack, writing down feat benefits rather than just names makes things a breeze. Some people aren't so organized though.

Sometimes, your allies being wizards, clerics, and druids is just agony.

[skunk3]

I gave up on having the physical books years ago. I had the complete 3.0/3.5 run, all of the FR stuff, all of the modules, compendiums, etc. Literally everything... as well as a whole stack of 3rd party stuff. Never again. Sure, it's cool to have the 'real thing' but these days having pdf's is way better. It's faster to search for stuff, you don't have to worry about them ever being lost or destroyed, etc. I don't bother with any hardcopy stuff anymore... character sheets? I use a program and have tons of sheets on my computer. Dice? Nah. I use a dice roller app unless the DM I am playing with absolutely insists on me rolling physical dice. Heck, PDF's can be on your phone, tablet, laptop, cloud storage, thumb drive, whatever. Screw carting around tons of books and minis and dice lol.

[The Kool]

Dice? Nah. I use a dice roller app

Heathen!

For real though, actually rolling dice has a psychological impact that's hard to ignore. If it works for you (and I've seen several people for whom it does) then you do you. But even in my ultralight travel bag (which holds only a tablet and a notebook) I still make sure to keep a set of dice.