Topic: What kind of Computer do you use for Roleplaying, if any?

[DavidKlecker]

I'm curious as to what most gamers bring to their games or what GMs use during games especially if you are running a character manager or tracker of some kind. I just picked up a Netbook myself and noticed that would be a great computer for gaming, given it's light and very portable. With some software I am writing which is a character manager and combat tracker I noticed that the GUI I wrote for a desktop and laptop just doesn't fit on a netbook. So I would have to redesign the GUI for netbooks which could be a project in itself. To see if it's worth the trouble I would love to know what kinds of computer you see used at your games, or what computer you use during a game.

Thanks!

[DangerMan]

We use laptops. The GM has one and the players share one.

What really made a huge difference in our games were google documents. We have one text document for the plot and a designated player makesnotes. Then there's the NPC index; a list of important NPCs, split down on location / city. When I GM'ed I also kept a spreadsheet with the most basic character info and had the players update it every now and then.

Having the players computer hooked up to the TV, we can look at maps etc, which our GM e-mail us.

I really cant understand how you old timers managed GMing RM back in the days when Bill H. Taft was still in office...

[yammahoper]

Opps.  Said Desktop, which is what I use for gaming, not roleplaying.  Mix up of terms here.

Several use laptops.  I do have some character design programs on my desk top, but I do not use any type of computer when table top playing, not even combat trackers. 

[DavidKlecker]

I've changed the name of the poll but cannot change the name of the topic to fix the confusion that yammahoper faced. It's my own fault for forgetting that gaming actually fits two things.

[Marc R]

fixed

[Marc R]

If you want people to be able to change their vote, that checkbox needs to be checked inside the poll set up itself.

[markc]

 At one time or another all of the above.
MDC

[DavidKlecker]

fixed

thanks!

[rdanhenry]

I've changed the name of the poll but cannot change the name of the topic to fix the confusion that yammahoper faced. It's my own fault for forgetting that gaming actually fits two things.

Oh at least three distinct things. It's also a euphemism for gambling.

Which some people also do on a computer.

[jdale]

We use a laptop for combat tracking software.

I also like to have something to take notes on. A laptop or last time I used a Touchpad (with bluetooth keyboard). We also have a notebook (a real notebook with paper) which people take notes in, but then I transcribe it all afterwards into a single document with each character's part in appropriate fonts, so I figured I might as well save myself the trouble by typing it all in the first place. I type faster anyway. One other player also typed on his own laptop, and emailed me his notes.

[TerryTee]

I use a laptop for our weekly games, since we play online.
When we meet in person I don't use anything, but tend to print important stuff.

[Witchking20k]

Abacus.  I'm OOOOOOOLLLLLLD school.

[jdale]

Abacus.  I'm OOOOOOOLLLLLLD school.

You should write an app for that. And tape it to the side.

[markc]

Abacus.  I'm OOOOOOOLLLLLLD school.

You should write an app for that. And tape it to the side.

 I would write an abacus app for the iPad and hope for some $. Then do a slide rule app as well.
MDC

[DavidKlecker]

Combat using an abacus. Now that would be something to see.

[thirqual]

At my previous home, the GM (I) used a big screen facing the players to display maps, informations (what is a zeolite again), to provide something to convert to useful (for us) units (how many liters in 24 cubic feet ?), and I used a laptop as a GM screen, for dice rolls when I did not want my players to know I needed to roll for something, etc. It worked pretty well.

Now that I moved from Paris to California, everyone will be in front of his computer. We only tested once with two players,  google+ hangouts and paint to scribble (I have found better things since).

I am also writing a small application which is (currently) able to look at the critical tables and attack tables for me. I can make have the result from an attack in a few clicks in a GUI, which is very convenient. The next step is the code to be able to assist spell casting and RR rolls.

[DavidKlecker]

I am also writing a small application which is (currently) able to look at the critical tables and attack tables for me. I can make have the result from an attack in a few clicks in a GUI, which is very convenient. The next step is the code to be able to assist spell casting and RR rolls.

Yeah, I find combat trackers being a very nice thing. That's something that is also a part of my software package in AutoHarp, and it does cast spells and perform Movement maneuvers. It will even track actions and initiatives and player damage. I used it once in concurrence with MapTools and I don't think I will ever go back to the basics. []

[Mando]

iPad with specifically formated PDFs for rules and modules here.

After having used a laptop for GMing for years, I got an iPad for work and tried to play with it. I first tried to go the epub way, but I found that, in the end, iPad formatted PDFs are much easy to read and use.

iPad is so easy to use behind a small GM screen for GM books, and easy also to pass around players for maps or illustrations. Definition and brightness are really amazing when you zoom in the illustrations, with PDFs generated at a mere 150 dpi.

I had to reformat all my documents at a 1004x768 ratio. You also have to take into account some specific things, like no recto verso, small margins (but margins anyway) illustrations or maps at a fixed ratio (so that they fit screen perfectly when you zoom in), good index generation, etc. InDesign "screen" layouts does all this perfectly.

And, by the way, the generated PDFs are also very usable on a laptop screen, with the "1 page at a time" "fit page to screen" view. I don't use specific apps for now, as the system I'm using now (FATE, Legends of Anglerre style) doesn't require me to use one.

[arakish]

I chose laptop, but actually depends on whether we are playing at my home or other's home.

Since I am currently only GMing, at my home, I use my workstation since it has a 25in x 15in SGI monitor, but is also hooked into a 52-inch TV, while the players may use whatever.  When at another's home, I always take my laptop since it has a larger screen (17-inch) than my netbook or tablet.

If I were a player, I would probably use my netbook and/or tablet since they are smaller and much more portable.

I really cant understand how you old timers managed GMing RM back in the days when Bill H. Taft was still in office...

When I first started RPGing back in 1973, we would use slide rules, pencils, pens, quadrille paper, photocopiers, protractors, compasses, French Curves, etc.  Sometimes, I think it was easier back then than it is today, even with the technology... 

rmfr