DnD on the go.

[TheThan]

Not all of us have the capacity to host a game of dnd at our homes. There are lots of reasons why, too small a place, too many other distractions (video games, other family), etc. whatever the reason, a lot of us have to travel to game.

Being one of those people, I’m interested to hear what sort of gear you and your players pack up and travel with you.

Spoiler

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what I have
I usually just throw whichever dnd books I need into a backpack with my “dnd folder” and some dice, a calculator and some pencils and call it a day. Its quite simple and very low tech, and its by far not the perfect gaming solution, carrying more than 3-4 books gets heavy and cumbersome. Not to mention I believe heavily in what I call “hassle free DnD”, which is basically making playing/dming the game as painless and easy as possible. Dragging around all those books and flipping through them gets really problematic, time consuming and generally a hassle.

What I want
If I could afford one (and might buy one some day), I would use a tablet PC with a good art software loaded onto it. The idea is that the PC will contain everything you need to DM, it’s a table and it holds: maps, miniatures, character sheets, books (shifty eyes), campaign notes, dice, mood music/special effects, handouts, and just about anything else you can think of. All right at your finger tips and all digital. You can network it and transfer any data you need for your games onto it from your desktop, go online and check things (especially good if your running 4E), all sorts of other uses I probably haven’t thought up. Heck you can even flip the screen up and use it as a DMing screen. its really quite fantastic, easy and mostly hassle free, but there there are three main drawbacks

Battery life: limits play time, a power cord solves this but attaches you to the wall.
Small size: its compactness makes it easy to carry but limits the number of players that can huddle around it to see whats going on.
Dice: digital dice programs are not nearly as fun as rolling dice manually. This is easily solved with throwing some dice into its bag or backpack and calling it a day.

[Vangor]

Citadels & Chimeras, or what is essentially "Improvisational Dungeons & Dragons", requires only at least one d20 and a basic understanding of fantasy roleplaying conventions. Still plausible while drinking, which is fantastic.

[Talon Sky]

Dice, my character sheet, and my laptop....all my D&D books are on it, as well as wordpad and a calculator.

[Tal_Akaan]

Well for me since i just got it yesterday And ended up playing last night, I took my dice and my new iPad. I had enough time to get a app to view pdf's of the books i needed and my character sheet. I really enjoyed using the iPad as a gaming aid, I had to do a lot of things at the table, like bookmarking pages that i needed to reference constantly, but i feel that once I have some time to prep tinges for my next game it will even be better.

Oh yeah, I posted this from my iPad as well...

...I really do like this thing.

[WarKitty]

This is why I love laptops. Pretty much everything is on mine. I just grab my dice and a laptop.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

My mobile gaming horizons expanded greatly in the last two weeks, when I got a really awesome messenger bag and a kickass new netbook (the very computer from which I write this post) pretty much at the same time. Add a rulebook or two, a pencil, and some dice, and I can game anywhere!

The netbook/iPad thing is definitely going to revolutionize gaming.

[Ichneumon]

The netbook/iPad thing is definitely going to revolutionize gaming.

I agree. I'm currently using an Ipad, and I love using it for reading gaming pdf's (apart from the pther things I love using it for). I'm currently using it mostly to store open source AD&D files. Although there are of course different opinions on th Ipad (and Apple), I think most people will agree that netbooks and the new technological advancements that are happening in mobile tablet devices will be revolutionary for "pen and paper gaming". I'm still searching fora useful way to store characters sheet offline on my ipad in a way I can edit them, but already it is amazing.

[Kurald Galain]

Pen and paper, and a handful of dice.

Of course, in a to-go situation, we would play a far more rules-light game than D&D.

[Reis Tahlen]

Food. LOTS of food.

And drinks. LOTS of drinks.

Ah, yes, also my character sheet. Don't need any dice or pen (all throws and maps are made on computers, connected together with the "Gametable" program)

[AtopTheMountain]

I just throw whatever books and sheets I need, along with a case with my dice and pencils, and of course soda, into a bag and get going. I also make sure to bring money in case we order food.

[oxybe]

when i'm going to a game i have all applicable books (generally PHB and maybe one or two splats, more if i'm the GM), my dice, some loose leafs & notecards for temporary notes/mapping & my DSi XL for more permanent notes+internet.

i generally like physical books more then digital ones since unless

still trying to find a good homebrew text editor app (i cannot make DS organize work for the life of me... keeps crashing my DS) since the "flipbook" application is horrible for notes.

[Ranielle]

My laptop, a can of pepsi and my lucky wristband.

[Corlindale]

I usually travel light, bringing mostly bare necessities: My bag of dice, char sheet a pen and a pencil/eraser. I also bring my notes (which set entirely new standards for the completely disorganized loose-leaf system, but somehow manage to work ok) . About 50% of the time I manage to remember my phb, though I rarely need it (our levelling usually takes place between sessions anyway).

If I know I'll need stuff from other books, I tend to just memorize it (like my Warmage's spell list from CArc). I hate having to carry my laptop along, and we don't have that much table space as it is.

[Ormur]

I don't have a laptop so I prefer hosting games. Ironically it's sometimes easier for me to DM without a computer than playing in one campaign because there I'm a wizard with three spreadsheets for spells and equipment whereas I write most NPC stats on ruled paper.

I another campaign which is most often hosted elsewhere I'm playing a character that requires less bookkeeping. There I just bring along dice, writing materials, notes and a writing pad. I rely on my friends to bring laptops with pdfs and books.

If I'm forced to DM or play the wizard elsewhere I need to email the spreadsheets and various notes I have and get access to their laptops.

[illithid00]

My laptop (especially since I've been using the Character Builder for 4E)
iPod Touch (easy note-taking app)
Dice (lucky black d20, plus whatever set I'm using for the character I'm playing, or my DM set)
Graph paper notebook (notes and quick maps)
Pen/pencil

[Yora]

Although there are of course different opinions on th Ipad (and Apple), I think most people will agree that netbooks and the new technological advancements that are happening in mobile tablet devices will be revolutionary for "pen and paper gaming".

Since Captain Picard had one in 1987, we were wondering why we can't have something like this.
It took us 20 years to get them, and now you can only get them from an evil company that sells overpriced stuff to people who want to be cool because they buy their products.
Maybe some 5 to 10 years more, and you can get these things for the 40$ they are worth.

I usually take my core books with me when we play, but I rarely take them out except when characters level up. It's usually just some pens, dice, character sheets, some scrap paper, and my notes for the session.

[Knaight]

Maybe some 5 to 10 years more, and you can get these things for the 40$ they are worth.

Probably not the IPad, but the IPhone took a whole couple months before an equivalent came out, and the prices have been diving. I would expect it to be far closer to the 5 years than the 10.

[Ichneumon]

Since Captain Picard had one in 1987, we were wondering why we can't have something like this.
It took us 20 years to get them, and now you can only get them from an evil company that sells overpriced stuff to people who want to be cool because they buy their products.
Maybe some 5 to 10 years more, and you can get these things for the 40$ they are worth.

Sigh... I agree on the bit about Star Trek, but I honestly don't see what the marketing strategy of a computing company has to do with this. Even if the Ipad is overpriced for what it can do and even if Apple tries to brand itself as selling a lifestyle and not just a device, the Ipad still is a simple good-working tablet computer... like in Star Trek, something where people have been waiting for, like you said. People have been wanting a device like the Ipad for years and Apple is the first and only company to succesfully put such a device on the market. And really, a tablet is worth much more than $40.

Anyway, indeed. Tablet computers are amazing and seem to be the next big step in relatively small portable mobile computing devices.