Topic: E vs paper

[markc]

After being without power for about 24 hours and having all of my e products die it is nice to be reminded why I still like paper.
MDC

[jdale]

We've had games delayed because the GM kept all his notes in Google Drive...   I like tech but I also like to have all the important stuff on paper.

[intothatdarkness]

I keep all my important stuff on paper, with electronic as a backup.

[Ecthelion]

I am using a 2-page printed version of my character sheet during the game sessions and have the full 10-page version (hopefully) available on my smartphone or tablet. I also bring the most important books in printed form for the sessions, but I have less often used books like e.g. Treasure Companion available as PDF. That way we have an IMO good balance between stuff to carry and availability of complete material.

[trechriron]

1) get a tablet with a good battery and storage upgrade capacity. Very VERY handy. I have an ASUS MeMo pad and I love it.
2) Get a good lithium-ion backup. One that can be recharged via solar is a bonus (or one of those "winders" that you can generate energy by cranking). This way, you can keep your phone and table charged.
3) Make sure your carrier supports hotspot on your phone. I use T-Mobile. It allows hotspots from my phone over 4G LTE. It's fast.
4) Backup important gaming stuff to the tablet's storage. That way, if the InterTubes is down, you can still run the game.
5) Use Evernote!! It runs on PC, iOS and Android. You can keep all your notes there and it backs up to the cloud and syncs to all your devices. I have no idea how people run games without it! :-) I prep on my computer, sync to my tablet and laptop, and then I can prep on the go or run a game.

Technology is revolutionizing how we play RPGs, prep and GM. I am gearing up to create a mini-PC with 4 monitor outs. 3 for me (smaller, lower), one player-facing to share maps, images, etc. I plan to dig a little deeper into Realm Works software, but I haven't had time to kick the tires on it. It has a built in mechanism for sharing material with the players. I like the flexibility of being able to search a PDF, take notes (I can actually read later :-), and share images. I also have a nice selection of music and soundtracks to set the mood. :-)

I still prefer in person, so for me the technology is a tool to enhance the game.

[mjkelly]

Use Evernote!! It runs on PC, iOS and Android. You can keep all your notes there and it backs up to the cloud and syncs to all your devices. I have no idea how people run games without it! :-) I prep on my computer, sync to my tablet and laptop, and then I can prep on the go or run a game.

Amen! I don't know how I would run many things without Evernote...

As I design my new campaign, I am doing a lot in Evernote. Journalizing, research (web clipper is deucedly handy), capturing PDFs, and so on. As I get my act together, I will do some sharing with other players, particularly those helping their poor old GM. Of course, I have a lot of stuff to read from old notes and references in Word and Google Docs. Oh, and paper too...

MK

[Cory Magel]

I have most of RM (all of them) on a thumb drive about the size of a dime.  I also have most of those in book form too.  For me the electronic version is mainly for when I want to look something fairly specific up via the search function during a game or for printing out specific pages (I've built my own rulebooks this way).

[Malleable]

I lost my entire Rifts (Palladium) collection when my basement flooded.  Now everything is on PDF.
I have every book from my PhD in pdf.  And dozens of supplemental texts in pdf.

I can search 300 books at once for obscure phrases with the search function.

And everything is backed up, flashdrive, external hard drive and the cloud.

Best thing in the world. 

Mal

[markc]

I agree I like PDF's it just really sucks when you have no power to get to those things.
[size=78%] MDC[/size]

[Alwyn]

E-products are nice to have sometimes, but there is just something holding an actual book in your hands.