Topic: How do you use a computer to help you play RM?

[mocking bird]

Character sheets and background note documents only.  Our GM does have a lot of supplimental stuff from the net as well.  I also have a spreadsheet for figuring exp per the book.  We also use pdf's every now and then but mostly only printouts.

A former GM used a laptop quite extensively for dice and encounters.  He was planning on setting up a network for the group so we could pass notes, look at maps and he would just read from the screen for encounters.  Alas he married a woman with three kids and the other player got engaged so the group disbanded.

Hate dice generators - they are too random.

[PiXeL01]

Our group have the same Computer ban as GoblynBite, though for character creation and general preparation a computer is a help, which speeds things up. Computers and PDF files also help people be able to have their own lists printed out, which is a nice bonus.
So most things are now prepared digitally then printed out in one form or another.
Recently I have bought the RM2 books as pdf as well as all the classic books to have a peek before I decided if I was gonna buy them as paper copies. I prefer books though. It just isnt the same browsing through files as book

[GoblynByte]

I have to say I don't exactly find computers at the gaming table "distracting."  I have tried it in the past (before laptops were viable options so it was a desktop PC off to the side of the table) and it didn't really distract me.  But I found that it didn't really help me organize things all that well (computers don't organize people...people organize people...nothing can organize my scatter brain).  In all fairness I swore off computers at the table at a time before PDFs were really an option so I still had to have the books on hand.  In fact I might have started using computers if not for the "true" reason:

I use game sessions to "unplug" and have fun.  I spend 8 to 9 hours a day at work staring at a computer (and an our or two checking e-mail and playing games at home) so I just need a break from it all.  RPGs have been, and always will be my main outlet for that sort of "shutdown."

On the other hand I did have one GM not too long ago use a laptop for a Mutants and Masterminds campaign.  Aside from it being the coolest laptop I had ever seen he used it with good results.  Instead of having 3 or 4 books set out across the table he was able to jump to bookmarks and leap between books with lightning speed.  The screen of the laptop could turn 180 degrees around and lay flat on it's "back" so it was no more obtrusive than a single book.  I don't know...I'm a tech geek, but every geek needs his low-tech outlet.

[Justin]

Seriously, I used random.org for dice rolling (rattling d10s in the cubicle at lunch draws attention) and Visio for maps.

Visio for maps? Really? which function?

[Old Man]

Seriously, I used random.org for dice rolling (rattling d10s in the cubicle at lunch draws attention) and Visio for maps.

Visio for maps? Really? which function?

Basically just for drawing them. (See -- http://picasaweb.google.com/acdurston/ArdaDungeonSamples -- for some examples.) I do saves as .png and upload to the yahoogroup. Lots of shading, basic shapes and assorted stencil elements. I can draw to scale and update sheets as rounds pass.

Ciao,
Old Man

[Griffonbait]

I had the same thought too Justin - Visio, cool Old Man.

GoblynByte, you make a good point about using computers at work and reducing their use at home. I have come across that many times from others. I am lucky enough to use computers for only an hour or two at most per day, so I do not suffer the feeling of being around a computer too much.

Although the following is from my Space Master campaign Energy Curve it serves as an example of how I have used the computer to enhance gameplay through the use of an mp3 file. The file represents the best playback PCs could obtain after a successful skill check to clean up the deteriorated recording.

Right-click and Save As the following URL: http://users.tpg.com.au/ackling/ShipLog4-Internet.mp3 if you want to listen.

Cheers,
Griffonbait