What do you bring to your D&D games?


3.5/d20/OGL

Sovereign Court

I used to host D&D at my house, which was very convenient considering the amount of books I own, but later, when my friends were blessed with a child, getting them over to my place became near impossible! So these days I pack everything I figure I’ll need to play up and take it with me. This got me to thinking: Do many other people do this? What do they bring to their games? What do they figure they can’t play D&D without? So let’s have at it! Tell me what’s in your tool bag? <A tool bag is the list of items you need to get the job done . . . in this case the job is D&D> I travel pretty heavy actually. With me is my:
PHB
PHB II
DMG
MM
Spell Compendium
Dragon Compendium
Rules Compendium
Various Dungeon / Dragon magazines
Pound o’Dice
Miniatures
Binder with characters, notes, handouts, extra character sheets and scrap paper
File folder with extra maps and encounter ideas
Gamemastery flip-mat
Dry erase markers
Regular markers, pens, pencils, and erasers

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

It all depends on whether I am running or playing. When I run a game I like to have all that stuff. My list would be pretty much the same as yours give or take a book or two, plus beer and food. When I play, I take just the bare essentials and expect the guy running the session to have all the gear needed. I happen to have a crap load of D&D gear and will bring anything needed for the session if someone asks me ahead of time. Carting all that stuff around in a big ol' crate does get kinda tiring though. I kinda miss having game night at my house.

Dark Archive

For my AD&D Game:

2nd Edition PHB
2nd Edition DMG
2nd Edition MM
Tome of Magic
Whatever issue (currently #3) of Pathfinder we are playing.
Dice bag
Campaign notebook
Jim Beam

For my other Game:

OD&D Rules Cyclopedia
Creature Catalog
Dice Bag
Whatever module I'm running
Jim Beam.


Dice
PHB
DMG
MM
notepad
notes/adventure
fritos&spicey chipolte hummus
Beverage of the week which depends on who I am playing with. One group I bring Mountain Dew for them and Coke for me. The other group is whatever beer I am into at that point.

That's what I bring, and I'm usually the DM.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

When playing, this is what I bring to the table:
Char sheet & blanks
PHB, DMG
Pencils
Dicebag

When DMing:
DM Screen
Laptop with SRD
Adventure notes
Dice

Scarab Sages

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

Damn, this is going to take a bit. Alright, let me just say I'm a rules smurf, and Can't leave home without anything if I'm DMing. If I'm playing, usually I just bring books that help my character, like the Complete Mage for a Sorcerer for instance.

If I'm the DM, then the list is as follows:

*PH
*PH2
*DMG
*DMG2
*MM 1 - 5 + Fiend Folio
Heroes of Horror
Heroes of Battle
*Complete Mage
*Complete Arcane
*Complete Divine
*Complete Warrior
*Complete Champion
*Complete Adventurer
*Complete Scoundrel
Book of Exalted Deeds & Book of Vile Darkness
Races of the Dragon
Races of Stone
Races of the Wild
Races of Destiny
Races of Eberron
*Draconomicon
*Libris Mortis
Lords of Madness
Drow of the Underdark
Fiendish Codex 1 and 2
Stormwrack
*Dungeonscape
Planar Handbook
*Book of Nine Swords
Dragon 320 - 360
*Dungeon Tiles

Not to mention any Greyhawk books, adventures, dungeons, pathfinders or Eberron books.

The ones marked with a star usually show up the most often if I notice that someone isn't using a particular book. Granted, if it's possible, I'll still lug everything around. I've blown my shoulder twice doing this and yet still don't learn. I believe in giving players all the options in the world to abuse. And yet, they still die.

Dark Archive

Wow.

Scarab Sages

I've always played DnD either at home or in my own dorm room so never had to cart anything around.

Currently though this is what I carry to the table with me.

-1 big bag of dice
-1 Binder containing handouts, legal pad, pen, and sometimes monsters printed off the SRD.
-Rules Compendium
-The issue of Pathfinder we are on (#2 at the moment)
-PHB (for spell descriptors)
-Kalamar DM screen (mostly for the easy access to the exp. chart)

Jon Brazer Enterprises

DangerDwarf wrote:
Wow.

.... yea... I have to agree. That's .... ummmm ..... wow.

I certainly do hope that you play at your place.


When I DM:
Gamemastery Flip Mat
World's Greatest Screen by Hammer Dog (panels of PC info, maps, dutch words to add flavor, etc.)
Glass counters as minatures
Dry erase and wet erase markers
PHB
DMG
Box of Note Cards with monster and NPC stats
Binder with adventure notes, maps, adventure hooks, descriptions
Clip board
Dice

When I PC:
Binder with character sheet, party notes, maps, etc.
PHB
Dice

Jon Brazer Enterprises

For both games, I bring the following:

Dice,
PHB,
Spell Compendium,
FR Campaign Setting (only to the 1 game).


I think Modera needs a van.. Maybe Pimp My Ride could design one with bookshelves with inside it.


a milk crate of books; a belt pouch of dice; a tape measure; pens and pencils of various kinds, a calculator, snacks, drinks, graph paper, notebook paper, clipboard, miniatures if needed, my game mats if needed, whisper paper or 3.5 cards, and even sometimes my character sheet :)


PHB, laptop, dice.

Food. <-- Thats probably the most important ingredient to a succesful adventure.


Imagination
My games are always held at my house; everything is here!

Liberty's Edge

PHB
dice
beer
some kinda figure


Currently, i bring the following:
PHB
DMG
MM
Rules Compendium
Current AoW AP
Notebook
Dice
Miniatures

Two of my players have the spell compendium, so I do not have to.

I bring the following as needed:
Magic item Compendium (for player downtime)
Heroes of Horror
Dragon Magazine Compendium

Sovereign Court

Like the fellow above, I tend to bring a small library of books with me when I GM, as well as an Army Transport case full of painted minis, a battlemat (Chessex 1" hex mat in forest green), big dice, and often my laptop. This is why I prefer GMing at my house - it's alreay there.

As a player I'll bring a backpack full of books and the minis, as well as my dice. I forgo the laptop then in favor of my Pocket PC.


Heathansson wrote:

PHB

dice
beer
some kinda figure

What more do you need Heath, right...


Character sheet
Travelling notebook (for dinner orders, treasure, spells, the occasional notes)
Dice
Pencils
PH
Books immediately relevant to my character. For my changeling, that's Races of Eberron, ECS, and Complete Champion. Varies by character.
Inhaler, Nyquil (we play in homes with cats, so I need to be prepared)
Change of clothes (tend to stay overnight when we play)
Mindset of my character
Patience. Lots and lots of patience.

Liberty's Edge

When I just play a character I bring:

PHB
MM
DMG
Rules Compendium
Unearthed Arcana
Gamemastery Flipmats(Tavern and Unadorned)
A composition book which I take ideas down for Tyrra
A folder with masters of the character sheets for everyone, as well as at least one copy of each for the other players.
"Bag of Holding" Messenger bag, holding each of the previously mentioned items
Dry Erase Markers
Dry Eraser
A Permanant marker
Marker Erase Spray
Miniatures
Dice set of 8(standard 7 plus 1d3)
Two extra dice bags for anyone who forgot dice
Dice Boot
3" by 5" cards(blank and lined)
Any suppliment I may currently be using.
Any setting sources I may currently be using.

When I DM I bring everything above, plus each non-setting specific suppliment book I have, and any setting specific book I have that is needed.

Oh, and I bring a few energy drinks, too. We normally play durring the day before I work.

My group plays in my hotel, so we all travel.

Dark Archive

We are usually playing at the house of a friend of mine, so I have to carry some stuff around when I'm DMing.

Nearly all of my players own the core rules, so I don't have to bring these along.
I usually bring the spell compendium and the magic items compendium and additional scource books or issues of Dragon that I plan to use.
The Fiend Folio and MM 3 are among the books I use the most often (besides those already mentioned).

Besides these books I have to bring the huge binder that contains all the maps, background information etc. of our homebrew, Critical Hit Deck, DM Screen (I'm using the one that came with Dragon back then. Best DM Screen I ever owned...), dice, graph paper, my note book and soundtracks.

Gladly, one of the players buys all the food and drinks (but we're sharing the cost of course), so I don't have to carry this as well.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Just two books, PH and MM. Campaign notebook. Pad of paper. Big bag of dice. Giant hexmat with markers. And my favorite grownup toy--a big box of assorted pawns in different shapes and colors, plus some cardboard cutouts for Large and bigger monsters. We don't use miniatures because I find saying "this skeleton is really a minotaur" way too distracting, but I love the pawns.

You can sometimes find these at game stores but educational-supplies stores are a better bet. I have six different shapes in about eight different colors.

My player has the SRD on a computer. If we need other books he brings them. I'm a Core sort of girl myself.

Mary


I've been fortunate to play at a game store (The Warhouse in Longbeach California), Therefore, I usually have most of my gaming supplies there. Good thing too. My group and I love to play with lots of miniatures. I have about 8 metal toolboxes containing "most" of my painted metal miniatures. I also have a large plastic set of drawers contianing about 500 plastic pre-painted D&D miniatures.

Of course, when I DM I usually bring the following items;

PHBK
DMG
Spell Compendium
MM 1
Rules Compendium
Sword & Sorcery D20 (optional rules)
Current Paizo AP (Savage tide at the moment)
Assortment of Dragon and Dungeon mags (whatever I think I need)
Calculator
Pens,Pencils, and box of dice
Notebook w/paper, notes, 3X5 index cards, maps, adventure notes
Mega Battle Mat
Wet erase markers
DM screen from Goodman Games DCC (Awesome tool)
Paizo combat pad (again, must have)
Mountain Dew & Pizza or other food item of the week
Jacket (gets drafty inside a closed gamestore)
lots of imagination and.......

a very patient attitude!!!

when I play, I bring much less....

PHBK
Spell Compendium
Rules Compendium
Character sheet, notes, group notes, and maps
extra paper, 3X5 cards, and graph paper
Pens, Pencils, and the box of dice
My personal character miniature (painted of course)
Jacket (see above)
A six pack of mountain dew
Money for food
lots of imagination and .........a friendly attitude.

However, lately I've upgraded and gone high-tech. I recently purchased a laptop and the DMgenie software. I have been bringing it when I play to cut down on books. I plan to use it fully in my next campaign (3.5 ed no doubt!!! Eat your heart out WOTC.) Also, since I own everything for 3.5 ed. I bring whatever book other players ask me to bring.

Like I said, I'm glad I can keep most of my things at the shop and not have to port much around. Otherwise I would need a horde of hirelings to port the stuff in. LOL.

Scarab Sages

I bring the PHB and the Spell Compendium. Sometimes I also include the Magic Item Compendium. If I'm using a class out of one of the Complete boosk,t hen I'll bring said book.

I also bring the usual: 4 bags of dice, 2 mechanical pencils, a clip-board, paper, a calculator, extra character sheets (including sheets for animal companions), and a book to write down treasure in for the party.

Lastly, I bring a "family size" bag of doritos, a can of pringles, a one-liter of Dr. Pepper, and the occasional six-pack of Abita Amber beer.

Scarab Sages

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber
DangerDwarf wrote:
Wow.

Yeah, I'm kinda the guy who buys the books, as opposed to downloading them. I also kinda hate reading books on a computer screen, and not having what I need to reference something.

Oh, and yes, after awhile the games just started happening at my house no matter what.

As for the whole van idea, though it sounds kinda fun, I'm cheap and hate paying for gas. A Corolla fits all the books I need (surprisingly roomy)...

but enough about me.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Hmm well since we can't play in my *sigh* one bedroom apartment where the great Hermitage Library is...

Satruday (where I DM)

Whichever Pathfinder I'm on
DMG
PHB
MM I
Adv Monster book
XPH (Just in case)
Edit: Whoops forgot Rule compendium
Notebook

3 sets of dice
Assorted tiles
Eberron DM screen (because it's landscape and has more space.
minis I need.

All that fits in the Battlehive I

Friday (Where I play an elan psion)
PHB
XPH
(in)complete psionic
Untapped Potential (love my print copy)
Hyperconscious
(as soon as I can print it) races of the mind, Elan.
Two sets of dice.
Cleric of Sune mini (good proxie for Amber Iron, the psion)
notebook


MM, dice and current pathfinder or gamemastery module. Also beer if it's weekend.


Not much, currently; since I moved, I have only been PbP'ing and playing D&D with webcams with my old group. So, I have all my stuff in my room plus the laptop at my disposal. Works for me, except I have to supply my own drinks and food.

When I was going to sit-down sessions, I'd bring PHB, DMG, MM, Dragon Compendium, PHBII, my folder of character sheets, some issues of Dragon I could use, my sack of dice and minis, my Crit-Hit Deck, and some Green Ronin/Third Party supplements.

If I was DMing, I'd bring all that plus a binder of notes, maps, and the adventure (usually from Dungeon back-issues).

I only recently got my laptop, so if I were to go to a session nowadays I would bring it, and all the gaming goodness it has on it. (I have most of the books on it, as well as as much free adventure/supplement downloads I can get my hands on.)


To my C&C game: My character sheet & dicebag. Maybe if I was feeling underloaded my PHB.
To my D&D game: Rules Compendium, DMG, PHB, MM1, KoK Atlas, Dangerous Denizens, Ultimate NPCs, and newest issue of Dragon. Oh, wait ... no more Dragon magazine. Newest issue of KotDT. Dicebag, DM screen, satchel case of minis, tackle box of minis, Chessex battlemat, FlipMaP, Clipboard, Folder, and whatever else fills up the gym bag (like DVDs I'd borrowed, or other books that ended up at my house).


I'm always the DM, so I bring:

The 3 core books
A copy of our current adventure with notes
Dice
Writing utensils
Item cards
erasable battlemats and wet-erase markers
homemade minis (they take up less space, weigh less, and are disposable)

All of this fits neatly in a soft-sided attache case.


PHB x3
MM I
DMG
Spell Compendium.
Chessex mat.
Minis
Dice.
Dungeon.
Pencils.
Ipod and speakers.
Water.
Printed Dungeon PDF.
DM Screen.
Maps blown up to one inch scale from the module.
Coffee chocolate bars with 2x caffeine.
Laminated Greyhawk map.


To run Storyteller.

65d10
Lonely Planet America.
Notes.
Npc folder.
Ipod and speakers.
Cabernet sauvingnon, merlot or Shiraz.
Candles.
Three different maps of NYC. One is isometric.
Timeline.
Handouts.
Architectural Photo reference books x2.
Printed photographs of people 3 x 5 in., laminated for npc portraits.
Post-it paper for private notes.

They provide photocopies of their character sheet each session.


Character Folder
Laptop
Dicebag
Diet Soda


Since I normally GM

PHB, DMG, MM, relevent setting book and/or alternate monster compendium depending on the game.

Box o' dice

My dice demons (my kobold minis, which guard my dice from the players)

Paper, pencils, maps

A copy of a random Ravenloft or Call of Chutulu book. Not that I intend to use them. Just because the sight of them make the players nervous.

You'd be surprised how quickly the words "You notice a strange mist rolling towards you" can straighten up a problematic party.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Bardsandsages wrote:


A copy of a random Ravenloft or Call of Chutulu book. Not that I intend to use them. Just because the sight of them make the players nervous.

You'd be surprised how quickly the words "You notice a strange mist rolling towards you" can straighten up a problematic party.

Noted and adding to my list.

Sovereign Court Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder

1st and foremost: Tim's Cascade Jalepeno Potato Chips. Hot, HOt, HOT!

PHB
PHB II
Complete Warrior
Complete Scoundrel
Complete Adventurer
Whatever Campaign setting book we are playing, plus any CS-specific books (e.g. Eberron, PG to Eberron, Dragonmarked, etc)
Notepad and binder
Bun-bun dice bag with dice
Character's miniature

Dark Archive

When I'm playing;

The three core books.
A half-dozen characters (since the first couple will get DENIED out of hand anyway).
Photocopies of any pages I'll need from those characters. (So if one character has a feat or PRC or whatever from Complete Warrior, I'll just copy that page and attach it to the character, rather than lug the darn book around.)
Any relevant setting book (Eberron or Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, Ghelspad setting book, Freeport: City of Adventure, whatever.
Diet soda.
Crown Royal bag full of assorted dice.
Cash for take-out and delivery dude tippage.
Clipboard with paper and pencils (spare, 'cause someone always ends up needing one...).

When I'm DMing;
All of the above plus;
Whatever adventure / maps / critters I'll be using (all monsters detailed on Game Mechanics monster cards, four to a page, to take up less room).
Big map.
Dry-erase markers.

We use random miniatures, Cardboard Heroes, poker chips, Hershey Kisses, Hero Clicks (I prefer Doc Ock, no matter what I'm playing) or extra dice as position markers, none of us give a rat's buttocks about minis, save as aids to mark where the characters are standing during an encounter. As a result, I don't bring them, since wherever we are gaming, there's gonna be something we can use as position markers.

Dark Archive Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games

Set, love the Hero Clix idea!

As a Player:
*Player's Handbook
*DM Guide (to look up Magic Items after they've been Identified.
*Monster Manual (Our DM doesn't own one)
*Complete <insert class role here>, depending on which class I'm playing.
*Rules Compendium
*Spell Compendium
*Dice (mostly cursed)

As a DM:
*Player's Handbook
*DM Guide
I bring the following books based on what I have planned for the session:

*Monster Manuals (Only those that contain monsters in the adventure I'm running that session)
*Published adventure/Adventure Path (most recently, Savage Tide)
*Campaign notes and encounter list (home brew campaign)
*Rules Compendium
*Spell Compendium
*Sourcebooks based on encounters (Stormwrack, Frostburn, Weapons of Legacy, etc.)
*Monster books based on encounters (Fiendish Codex, Dragonomicon, Lords of Madness, etc.)


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

For D&D, my husband and I were bringing (for the Red Hand of Doom campaign):

2x Player's Handbook (one each)
DMG
Monster Manual
Monster Manual IV
often the MM II, III, and/or V (for supplemental encounters)
Spell Compendium
Magic Item Compendium
Red Hand of Doom adventure
several Complete books (depending on current PCs in the group)
Book of Nine Swords (until the Warblade died and I banned it)
Rules Compendium

Plus:
A large tackle box (about 2 feet tall) with a wide assortment of minis
A single clear tackle holder full of dice for me
A large bag of (more than a pound of) dice for my husband
A pencil case with pens, wet-erase pens, item cards, and a calculator
A folder of handouts and maps
A large (easel-style) pad of graph paper
and TWO wheeled-luggage-style sewing-machine cases (because they have metal frames) for transporting all the books.

-----

Currently, my husband is running a Hero game, so instead we bring:

Hero 5th Edition, Revised
Ultimate Martial Artist
My laptop computer (has Hero Designer, plus PDFs of Hero 5Th Ed Rev. and Hero Sidekick on it, plus a phase-tracking spreadsheet)
Scott Bennie's Gestalt setting book
One folder of printed NPCs
And maybe three other books that have sample characters in them.

Oh, plus small bags for each of us with just 6-sided dice in them.
And one calculator.
And NO minis.

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