Favorite tools while gaming/DMing? [Any]

[Christopher K.]

Pretty much what it says in the title. Does anybody have any favorite tools(programs or physical) they use for tabletop gaming?

Personally, I'm fond of the old Character Builder for 4e for the player side and Evernote for DMing, though I've only really scratched the surface of the latter. (I just got Compendium access again and the plugin to copy information from a webpage directly into a new note). I also have a notebook stashed away with hard copies of all my notes for DMing.

[Scorpions__]

Clothespins that I've written the names of the players on. At the start of any encounter, I just gather everyone's initiative count, and order the clothespins accordingly along the top of my DM screen, voila, no initiative arguments.

I'm also very fond of my laminated battle grids which can be written on and cleaned seemingly endless times with wet-erase markers.

And I'm rather fond of miniatures... what?





DM[F]R

[arguskos]

I play 3.5 almost exclusively, and as a life-time DM, I've found I very frequently need access to tables of random crap all the time. Thus, the best book I've ever purchased: Toolbox, by AEG. It's 200+ pages of random tables. It wins at everything forever, hands down.

I'm addicted to my DM screen. I don't even know why. I just am.

An endless supply of notebooks and journals, all of which eventually end up shanghai'd for D&D purposes and random concepts I produce as I go throughout my day. Mostly, the act of writing a thing down is great for me.

[rayne_dragon]

Cake. It helps me think.

On a more serious note, dungeon tile type things and minis are something that I always like to have handy. Even if I don't need them, they're really good at giving everyone a visual so that nobody is confused as to the location of stuff.

[Akal Saris]

The Online SRD and its built-in diceroller has made my life much easier.

[Techsmart]

my favorite thing to use is a set of initiative cards . Not only do i use them to track initiative, it also quickly gives me a view of the party's status without asking them, it also allows me to make spot checks and such without raising a red flag, and prepare dungeons accordingly.

I also second the use of tons of pre-generated tables. I will go through an 8-hour session making everything off of the top of my head. Even then, I will sometimes have a bit of a mental block. Dropping a couple percentiles can help get everything going again.

[Aidan305]

Pen, paper, and a science notebook.

[TheCountAlucard]

Okay, lemme go through the list...

My laptop. It's just so convenient.

Ignorance. Okay, this isn't a physical tool, but keeping the players in the dark generally makes them treat things a lot more seriously, which really helps the ambience of the game, particularly in a game with any horror elements.

A markerboard and some dry-erase markers can also be very convenient.

[ryzouken]

clear plastic plates, roughly 5"x8". Useful for marking temporary info like monster hp, status effects, etc. I use two of them that have magnets top and bottom so they snap together. I also use them as a player, in which case I slap my char sheet in between them and use it to mark changes in my basic stats RIGHT ON TOP of the stat. Cleanup at session end is as easy as a quick trot to the faucet, mid game I use paper towel and a wet rag.


Clear dice boxes. Y'know, the packaging from every set of dice you've bought at a gamestore? Works great for flight stands.

I'm yoinking the initiative clothespins...

[Eldan]

Mmm..

Dice?

Seriously, though. Little note cards I used to pass on secret messages to players. It's great to create some paranoia as well.

Also, I always need a list of premade names. Usually sorted in sections, such as "short names", "nicknames", "overblown noble names", "outsider names", "dwarven names". Otherwise, I'll just sit there for a few minutes like a deer in a headlight and blink a few times if asked what someone's name is.

The most useful skills, for a DM, in my opinion, are being able to lie convincingly and to pull details out of thin air when asked about your lie. I'm a pretty good liar, actually. Just ask my little brother.

The US has a king (he just rarely speaks publically, he's very old), the tree octopus really exists (the pacific rainforest is very moist, so they wet their gills by rubbing them against the moss on the trees), the moon is made of silver (the astronauts brougth some back. Actually, once they made the olympic medals out of moon silver the astronauts brought, those are still priced collector's items).

[Coidzor]

I rather liked the use of the rings from the caps of bottles (the lower part that breaks off from the cap when the seal is broken and the bottle is first opened) as markers for when a creature was bloodied, marked by this or that defender or otherwise had a status effect active on it in the brief experience I had with Living Forgotten Realms and 4th Edition D&D.

[dsmiles]

1st: @Rayne Dragon - The cake is a lie.
2nd: 3x5 note cards. As a DM I love to pass notes. Also, AEG's Toolbox is a favorite for me, too.

[Kaww]

• Books, with 'Returning' property
  
• Online calculators, when I have stuff to calculate
  
• Paranoia is a great tool if you know how to use it

[bokodasu]

I found some gridded posterboard, and cut it up to make a bunch of templates - large, huge, gargantuan, 40'-radius, etc. They're hugely useful (no, THAT dinosaur is gargantuan, this one over HERE is colossal.)

[Coidzor]

I found some gridded posterboard, and cut it up to make a bunch of templates - large, huge, gargantuan, 40'-radius, etc. They're hugely useful (no, THAT dinosaur is gargantuan, this one over HERE is colossal.)

I don't think I'm quite getting what you use 'em for, are you saying that they're mostly visual aids for how big something is (or for showing a spell's radius on the battlegrid to determine who is within the area of effect)? Markers for non-mini'd creatures? Blank dungeon tiles for shaping the battlespace?

[valadil]

Dropbox. I can view or edit my long term notes as long as I'm at a computer. And I have complete access to these notes on my phone, which is great if the players go off in a direction I wasn't ready for.

[LansXero]

Dropbox. I can view or edit my long term notes as long as I'm at a computer. And I have complete access to these notes on my phone, which is great if the players go off in a direction I wasn't ready for.

Also neat for sharing stuff with several people at the same time and get their changes back.

Ive recently begun using SpellGen for NPCs/ players and it eases down spell selection so much :D

And these, too:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2739526/TGM_Dragon_Green-9.jpg

[valadil]

Also neat for sharing stuff with several people at the same time and get their changes back.

?!



I didn't even know about that option. So you're saying all I have to do is invite collaborators into a folder and now my players won't have to email me their character sheets so I can save them in dropbox?

[LansXero]

?!



I didn't even know about that option. So you're saying all I have to do is invite collaborators into a folder and now my players won't have to email me their character sheets so I can save them in dropbox?

Invite them to a shared folder, which will exist for them locally. They can open the file, save it, and it will auto-update for everyone sharing the folder. And so on.

[Lord Loss]

I'll sometimes use Minis (and the giagantic graph paper that goes iwth it) for running combat encounters. I used to rely on them for every combat, now we just use them for very large/important fights.

I'll bring assorted props sometimes, like tarnished paper for notes and whatnot or, if they find damaged manuscripts, I'll do the same and rip bits off in order to provide some of the message, but not all of it.

I also use music, which has mixed appreciation depending what I want to put on. One of my players loved the Nox Aracana soundtrack I bought for our sorta-CoC game (I made my own system instead of buying the game ), my players all HATED the youtube playlist I made for another of our games.

[Zherog]

For those who like Toolbox (an awesome book), allow me to recommend two other books: PC Pearls and GM Gems. (full disclosure: I co-wrote both products.) Both books are similar, in that they have tables, but there's a bit more description behind some of the entries.

*

As for tools I use...

I also make use of the clear plastic dice boxes, as mentioned by ryzouken.

I have a large selection of minis, some that I got from a case of D&D minis and others that my wife painted.

I use the GameMastery Combat Pad for tracking init and other stuff.

Finally, I love my spell templates. The ones I have were made by a company called Steel Squire, but looking on Paizo's site, I see they also have the same thing.

edit:

I'll bring assorted props sometimes, like tarnished paper for notes and whatnot or, if they find damaged manuscripts, I'll do the same and rip bits off in order to provide some of the message, but not all of it.

I've made "parchment" before, for this sort of thing and it was well received by the players.

[Thorcrest]

The US has a king (he just rarely speaks publically, he's very old), the tree octopus really exists (the pacific rainforest is very moist, so they wet their gills by rubbing them against the moss on the trees), the moon is made of silver (the astronauts brougth some back. Actually, once they made the olympic medals out of moon silver the astronauts brought, those are still priced collector's items).

I knew it! I knew it! You sir, have succeeded your bluff check!


Now Back to topic...

As both Player and DM, I like to have a battle grid with miniatures whenever there is a room with some odd features or if the description given is bad... I don't need them, but I find them useful! I've noticed that their valure increases exponentially for every hour after midnight that we continue to play!

As a DM, I LOVE my laptop! I can have my adventure files open, my books, my monsters up, NPC stats, names... it's great!

Spreadsheets are my best friend! Something I started doing was creating initative tables. I put most possible values (-10 to 30. Yes, I have a character with a -10 initative modifier) along the side and then have all my players roll about 30 initative rolls and insert them into the table right at the beginning of the campaign, this means that I don't need to worry about anybody rolling initative for several sessions, except for opponents, and there is no cheating as they are saved on my computer!

[bokodasu]

I don't think I'm quite getting what you use 'em for, are you saying that they're mostly visual aids for how big something is (or for showing a spell's radius on the battlegrid to determine who is within the area of effect)? Markers for non-mini'd creatures? Blank dungeon tiles for shaping the battlespace?

Actually, all of the above, but mostly the first. It's really handy when you're dealing with animal growth/enlarge person/expansion, or when you only have the large green dragon fig, but you're facing a colossal green dragon. Slap a template under them - now they take up the right number of squares and you don't have people running under their feet or arguments about who gets an AoO when. And every once in awhile, a battle will go "off the board" and you can use the colossal ones to fill in extra space without having to move the entire battle back onto the mat.

Which reminds me, I need to make some for my half-giant psywar to show her threat ranges. Expansion tricks are fun, but I always miss my AoOs.

[Christopher K.]

Yes! I completely forgot to mention my laptop! 4e's books are great reads, but when you're running combat, bookmarking and pawing through the books is a pain.

Also, I'm probably going to steal the initiative tracking clothespins idea.

Now, for a fun tool that I found(but havne't had a chance to use): A mail sorter. I'd have to put a blanket or something over it to prevent spoilers, but I could store minis for each encounter I've got planned in a separate cubby and simply pull them out when the encounter starts, or keep copies of the PCs' character sheets(since they tend to lose them anyhow). The only problem is how mind-numbingly bulky it'd be..

[LansXero]

http://rpgmarketplace.com/111190,auc...uction_details
Forgot to add this one. +x magic items always seemed very boring to me, and this book helped me create a bunch of character-relevant, interesting items to give away.

[Zuljita]

I have a desktop hooked up to my living room TV, Ive loaded maptool up on it to great effect. Since i have no cash to invest in minis or large printed maps, it gives the game a put together feel without adding expense.

[Flickerdart]

The only tool you need is a stack of DMGs. For chucking.

[Cyrion]

My Access database of all of the spells from the books I use. No more having to remember if it's from the Spell Compendium, PH II, Complete...

[Zherog]

http://rpgmarketplace.com/111190,auc...uction_details
Forgot to add this one. +x magic items always seemed very boring to me, and this book helped me create a bunch of character-relevant, interesting items to give away.

I have lots of books from AEG, but not that one. I'll have to pick it up at some point.

[Grogmir]

I use a intitive tracker - although I like the paperclib on DM screen Idea.
Battlemats
Monster tokens - from Monster Builder.
And a piece of paper and pencil to note what happens.

Apart from that - my no.1 favorite tool is defo the A4 sheet of different names. Cross off as its used. Never worry about the name of that Merchant again!