Greetings!
Laptops: Efficient and useful tools for gaming...if you're the DM. I'm not particularly a fan of laptops at my games. They seem too distracting for players. I'm no tyrant, but I do want to keep the attention of ALL players, participating or not. (repeating yourself is very anticlimactic and destroys the mood when an evil demon lord is sighing...) Here are a few of my fears of laptops at my games.
Those of you smiling and shaking your head slightly, please reply! I'd love to hear the justifications of large and bulky machines on or around the table with drinks, miniatures, and dice. Those of you who have almost spilled your Dew screaming "THANK YOU!!!", you're very welcome, and I would love to hear your stories of computron horrors.
I hear that they also make great kinetic force bombs.
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I'm not a huge fan of laptops, but my players are poor students who aren't likely to be able to afford the rule-book any time soon. I'm definitely not a fan of 7 people having to share 1 rule book between them. A laptop gives my players the option of quickly looking up the rules either via the PDF version, or through handy sites like d20pfsrd.com.
I still require physical character sheets, and real dice rolls.
I don't allow music without permission (it's usually distracting), and if anybody is looking up other social network type things then they'll politely be asked to stop. Do it a second time then I'll ask if I'm doing a good enough job as a GM, because its clear I can't hold my player's attention well enough.
Laptops: Efficient and useful tools for gaming...if you're the DM.
There're certainly benefits as well as drawbacks to having laptops at the table. If you're concerned with player attention just inform your players that if they're going to use their laptops/iPads/whatever that everything that's not game related is banned, and if you catch them out slap them with an XP penalty. Do you allow mobile phones at the table? Same thing. I find the constant ringing of mobile phones pretty annoying at the game table.
Laptops take (possibly) valuable table space. They can prove an impediment to new players gathering rules knowledge and really "knowing" their character. On the other hand, a sheet like Heroforge or TOS+ is invaluable at high level when a dozen or more buffs, debuffs and other status effects are being thrown about. No more forgetting the +1 from this or that. No more "I hit AC 21...no...22, wait what round is it?" Laptops can be used to access the campaign website to find that NPC's name from three sessions ago, or update the last adventure's loot log when the wizard finally gets around to identifying those wands (happened in my game last session). A player with a laptop can become an asset to game flow, because PDFs are much easier to search than hardcopies. MUCH easier.
Really, it's all about your players and your druthers as a DM. If you find they're more hassle than they're worth, so be it.
Zo
I used one as a DM for a while, but gave it up for a 3 ring binder and notes. I found it too distracting for myself to have one up and running. I did allow players from my old group to use them if they had them, but now not so much. The new group doesn't use them (only 2 actually own laptops) and that's the way I like it. I diverge from the game enough on my own, I don't need computers helping us lose focus.
So no. No more lap tops at the game "table". I'll politely ask any player who might want to use one, not too.
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I hear that they also make great kinetic force bombs.fixed it for you.
I find them awesome when people who know how to be adults are the ones using them. I find them detestable when those using them do not.
I'm definitely not a fan of 7 people having to share 1 rule book between them. A laptop gives my players the option of quickly looking up the rules either via the PDF version, or through handy sites like d20pfsrd.com.
A good point. In my groups, there typically is about 2 copies of the rule book floating around the table (1 is mine, another a player's) and it would be absolutely wonderful if there were 4 for each player, and an additional 5th for the DM, however it doesn't always work out that way. I'm currently searching the web for anyone selling, if not handing out a free copy of the Player's Handbook because as the DM, I believe it is my responsibility to be much like a teacher; have a 'loaner' copy.
Players who can afford an expensive laptop, but cannot afford a $35~40 book of a game they are interested in progressing into is something I find hard to understand. If anything, ask for one for X-Mas, or your B-Day, or buy one as a keepsake in the end, but I find more solace in owning a copy of any book though I have every copy in PDF form. But that is just my opinion...
Most of the time, I prefer hard copies and dice.
However, if one is expecting to have to update a character mid-session (or make a new one quickly), a laptop can be invaluable for me.
For example, there are one or two sessions coming up (as a player) where mid-way through EACH session I will have to administer a level advancement. I'd *really* rather not print out that many pages of paper for the final two sessions of a campaign. I can easily have the documents on the 'puter ready to go with a few clicks of a mouse.
When I'm the GM and unique baddies are on deck for an encounter, I always have them in the laptop unless for some reason I'm faced with having to be running somewhere without a usable power outlet.
All this having been said ... there is something very satisfying to have my character sheet / dossier / Red Folder of Death in hand, dice in tray and mini on the table, ready to loot, pillage and plunder. Yarr!
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I'm definitely not a fan of 7 people having to share 1 rule book between them. A laptop gives my players the option of quickly looking up the rules either via the PDF version, or through handy sites like d20pfsrd.com.A good point. In my groups, there typically is about 2 copies of the rule book floating around the table (1 is mine, another a player's) and it would be absolutely wonderful if there were 4 for each player, and an additional 5th for the DM, however it doesn't always work out that way. I'm currently searching the web for anyone selling, if not handing out a free copy of the Player's Handbook because as the DM, I believe it is my responsibility to be much like a teacher; have a 'loaner' copy.
Players who can afford an expensive laptop, but cannot afford a $35~40 book of a game they are interested in progressing into is something I find hard to understand. If anything, ask for one for X-Mas, or your B-Day, or buy one as a keepsake in the end, but I find more solace in owning a copy of any book though I have every copy in PDF form. But that is just my opinion...
The thing about a Laptop is you can justify the exorbitant cost because it can be used for work or university as well as fun. I love owning my rulebooks, they are how I support my favorite hobby, and I enjoy reading rules.
Still, I'm a poor student, and after pathfinder was released, I bought a PDF of the bestiary, but decided not to buy the physical copy because I need money for university text books.
The reason I use Pathfinder as my introductory game for new players is that all the rules are available for free, right here on the Paizo website.
That said, eventually, players do get to the point where they want to own a book. So every time I see a new Pathfinder book get pulled out at my table my heart grows two sizes larger.
I actually provide my laptop to my players when they gather at my home to game. Its primary function is so that they can quickly access the PRD for spell lookups rather than having to leaf thru the book or navigate the PDFs. Also, since it's a netbook (Dell Mini 9) it takes up very little space, can be passed around easily, and doesn't clutter the table.
On the flip-side, the 2 players who bring their own laptops often cause problems looking at youtube and other videos. Now they've gotten better about doing this since I Sparta-kicked all the part-time players out of the group, but I'm still thinking about setting up a rule on my router to block sound and music for all computers except my own.
At any rate, quick spell lookups for the players outweighs the negatives.
NOTE: I require my players to use physical dice (rolled where others can see them) and I print their character sheets from my master database for them to use at the table. For large numbers of die rolls, they've started to accept/get-used-to simply taking the average roll rather than rolling endless d6/8s.
Having laptops has helped to streamline my game tremendously - we currently have two in use. Admittedly, though, my opinion is a bit biased since I use virtual tabletop software...
I use D20Pro for mapping and battles, which saves me heaps of time since I no longer have to draw out maps by hand (and make space for said maps and minis where I really don't have any!). ;P
One of my players hooks her laptop up to our LCD TV and then logs into the software. I can then send info over and have it up for everyone to easily see.
On my laptop, I pull up the PDFs of the adventure I'm running, files for NPCs or enemies, a dice roller (I'm the only one who uses a digital roller), D20Pro, the PFSRD, and the Paizo Boards if I need to bounce an idea or look something up I read there. Being able to quickly pull up pictures of creatures, people or maps without having to hand a book around (and hide parts of it) is also a plus.
My prep work is different now, but much less time consuming. Instead of trying to carve hours out of my week (which were never all together) to draw maps on graph sheets, I now just import maps from the PDFs into my software and I'm done in a few minutes. Same thing with the pictures of monsters and NPCs - I don't have to settle for just approximating what something looks like with a mini anymore. My players love seeing the new art, and trying to guess what some of the things are they're going up against! :)
As usual, just my humble 2cp...
Your Friendly Neighborhood Dalesman
"Bringing Big D**n Justice to the Bad Guys Since 1369 DR"
I used to be against it, but now that I've made the switch, my games run so much smoother it's not funny, no matter what side of the screen I happen to be on. The pfsrd site is everything at my fingertips, and with my houserules snapped up next to them, life is indeed good.
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good parts about laptops at the table:
Calculator in the Excel/Openoffice.org Sheet. Cuz adding up a long string of numbers in your head is annoying. Same thing for percentages and other large-number mathematics
pfd20srd.com. an invaluable resource, and too darn slow on my Droid. Laptop = easy searching for rare rules/spells.
efficient character sheets. I trust my players to do their own math and not cheat. This way, with a little (or a lot) or setup, Cleric Player can mark Cleric 4 on his sheet, and get saves/bab/skills/spells/etc. automatically figured.
cons:
WoW. One of our players is a diehard fan, must get his dailies in, etc...i have to yell at him every so often to close the machine.
youtube/other internet nonsense. if we're distracted, this is a death sentence. I have taken it on myself to keep everyone focused as much as possible, but it gets difficult sometimes.
space: our WoW player has an Alienware machine. it's awesome, but takes up a lot of space. Another player has a Macbook Pro...smaller, but still pricey in terms of table real estate. 3 of us have Netbooks in the 8-9" range. These are PERFECT for the table...little table space, not shutting down on close, full functionality. If you HAVE to use a computer to game, get a little one.
finally, the power supply issue can be a bit of a challenge...we run a power strip beneath the table, but we're still tripping and pulling wires from time to time.
iPhone/iPod/Droid/Motoblur + Pandora + AV-In for home stereo is pure win, though.
-t
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Block internet access during the game, possibly with an exception for the PRD site - 90% of distraction problems solved at a stroke.
It isn't as easy as brock makes it sound.
That doesn't mean it is difficult... Just you have to do a little research before hand with your router to figure out how to do it.
For example, on my D-Link DGL-4300, under the Advanced section under the Web Filter tab, you can enter a list of Allowed Web Sites (examples: PRD, and Pandora) and when you enable the feature only those sites will be allowed, and all others will be blocked.
But, each router is different - and some might not have the feature built into the interface. (And for those, I'd recommend looking into dd-wrt, openwrt, or tomato firmware.)
The biggest distraction I have found with a laptop is the size. A netbook lends well to the gaming experience, as it does not become a distraction or restrict the field of view. If you are talking about a 17 inch screen or equivalent, then it is akin to someone having a newspaper they are reading while everyone else plays (same level of irritation).
But with any type of distraction, there are plenty of other opportunities for players or DMs to stray from the game, so you should have some basic rules set forth on what is appropriate.
As an electronic reference with the appropriate PDF or online tools, it is priceless. The same applies if you have a character generator.
There is only one lap top allowed at my games and the lap top is only acsessible to the DM. The reasons why are the same reasons given by the OP.
I also ban smart phones and PDF readers.
I must say that in general I am also strongly opposed to any electronic device at my game table.
This includes laptop, notebook, PDA, iPhone, iPod, PSP, Gameboy and cellphone.
However, one of my recent new players is bringing her notebook, takes notes of the campaign on it.
I must admit that she still stays alert to what's happening at the table, actively participating to the combat or the roleplaying.
So I guess that it depends on the players, some lose focus in the game but some don't.
The problem of course is that you cannot really allow one player to use a device and forbid another one to do the same.
So that's all or nothing and in the end it is a matter of dedication of the players to the game. As for any other possible disgression.
Interestingly enough, I run a long distance game (I'm the DM, and I'm 300 miles away from the players). They all gather in the ol' gaming room in my home town, and I run the game from my living room, formerly with a web cam, now with audio and a free virtual table top.
I had to literally give them a computer so that I could play with them long distance, now all but one of the players has a laptop or the desktop there. We get distracted easily enough, but they seem to be fairly mature with the laptops (and they love the d20pfsrd and the PFSRD to look up info). Plus, now everyone can move their 'miniatures' and not argue with me about the exact path they take!
But I also have a problem being so far away, I can't watch the players to keep everyone interested, and to read responses to make sure they're involved. It's frustrating.
Actually, it can be REALLY frustrating, but it's better than not gaming.
The group I had up here (that blew up) had a laptop(that didn't blow up)-based player. He rolled everything on it, kept track of his character in real time. I do think that he spent so much time journaling the adventure that he didn't spend enough time enjoying it. But each to their own.
Again, maturity tells. Even smart phones can be useful tools. I have the SRD bookmarked and most of my PF books in PDF form on it. Handy!
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IT'S A BLOODY PEN & PAPER GAME! ACT LIKE IT!!!
Amen!
You will find that while spilt Coke causes you to need to hang the book/character sheet out to dry (separate the pages first)or just blot off and continue using - Coke has a far more permanent effect on a laptop... Just saying.
Add iPhone and I guess now iPad to the list of things that deserve an unfortunate "Coke accident" at the gaming table.
Of cause there are those that will say that use of computer speeds up the game play. Question. Why do combat encounters take SO much longer now?
Perhaps people computers are too slow? May be gaming companies should required you buy an official laptop from them so we can play the "pen & paper" game as the designers envisioned?
:)
I have not faced any of thous problems at my table, and the player that brings his had .PDFs so he always has his own books. If some one at my table was that disruptive laptops would be baned with out a second thought.
IT'S A BLOODY PEN & PAPER GAME! ACT LIKE IT!!!
It is, for now. That doesn't mean it's going to stay that way, nor does it mean that the transition to what's next isn't already taking place. I find a laptop behind the screen indispensable, and I very much prefer to have one at my fingertips when I play as well. I wouldn't even consider telling someone they couldn't be on their own laptop/smartphone at one of my games - my players are busy, with lives and commitments, and laptops make it easier for them to balance that with playing D&D.
I'm not saying that everyone should allow them, but I do. I think this is just part of the natural progression of the hobby, and I've found it much more helpful than harmful. In my book, resisting a natural change like this requires some pretty solid reasons against, and I don't have them.
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In my book, resisting a natural change like this requires some pretty solid reasons against, and I don't have them.
It's the fear of taking things to their logical conclusion. Death of the Pen & Paper game (with real pens and real paper). I think computers are a fantastic resource for preparing for a game, both for players and DM's. The 4e Character Gen and Tools are in my opinion the best example of this. I personally don't use or like the idea of them in game - especially for the players.
I am uncomfortable that in time to come as software becomes more powerful the need to actually go see your friends will no longer be required. Again in some cases this is a good thing where say members of a group have gone their separate ways but still wish to play as a group. If we look at things like phone texting and social networking sites, they for all their power to connect people, they connect people in an artificial and impersonal manner.
I hope the poster will correct me if I speak out of turn, but the point is that in time the picture of a bunch of geeks sitting around surrounded by junk food and weird shaped dice are numbered (no pun intended). Natural change, correct, but change for changes sake can sometimes be a false economy.
S.
People can play video games against one another online, but you still get friends showing up at each other's houses for co-operative play because they actually want to see each other face to face.
Its hard to see where tabletop RPGs are going long term, but I do love my laptop.
And I still roll dice even when I have my laptop at the game table.
It isn't as easy as brock makes it sound.
That doesn't mean it is difficult... Just you have to do a little research before hand with your router to figure out how to do it.
For example, on my D-Link DGL-4300, under the Advanced section under the Web Filter tab, you can enter a list of Allowed Web Sites
Most manufacturers offer the PDF versions of their instruction manuals on their websites. This is a good way to learn how to use the functions on your hardware. Also, be mindful that just like computers, the hardware in your router can be updated.
For instance, on my D-Link router, that same screen that Disenchanter lists has a couple additional options:
- You can specify keywords instead of URLs (i.e. adultswim will count for adultswim.com and adultswim.co.uk)
- You can toggle if the list contains only websites to block (thus allowing all others), or if it contains only websites to allow (thus blocking all others).
- You can turn the feature on/off without losing your list of sites.
Just a few minutes of time setting this up once, and a quick 30-second configuration change at the start/end of each gaming session is all it takes to lock down your wi-fi for gametime.
It's the fear of taking things to their logical conclusion.
Now that's a fear I can certainly understand, but I don't think you need to worry. I'll explain why.
Death of the Pen & Paper game (with real pens and real paper).
The position that I'm going to take here is that there's nothing inherently "sacred" - or fundamental to the RPG experience - about physical pens and paper.
I think computers are a fantastic resource for preparing for a game, both for players and DM's. The 4e Character Gen and Tools are in my opinion the best example of this. I personally don't use or like the idea of them in game - especially for the players.
I think this is the sort of thing we can expect to see more of as time goes on - aspects of the gaming experience (largely ancillary aspects, which is to say those portions of the game experience outside the gameplay itself) being replaced or augmented by new technologies.
I am uncomfortable that in time to come as software becomes more powerful the need to actually go see your friends will no longer be required.
This is already the case, and has been for many years now - first there were BBS systems, then MU*s, then forum-based games, then MMOs, and we are already seeing the impact of the most recent round of technological advancements, with games incorporating software like Skype, or Google Wave. It's been possible to get together with your friends (or anyone, really) and have a shared fantasy world experience with them for a long time now. But while World of Warcraft and other similar games may have possibly eaten into some of D&D's player base, they have also brought a fresh new batch of players to the game, and D&D continues to forge ahead strong. This is because there are aspects of the game that people are not willing to sacrifice: the intimate social interaction, the free-form possibilities, the uniqueness of story that only a DM can provide, and so forth. We continue to see face-to-face, tabletop gameplay being the most popular form of D&D precisely because it remains the best way to achieve these things for your average player. That doesn't mean that things will stay that way, though. When we reach a point where all of those essential, attractive elements of the game can be kept intact in some other way, we will see people change the way they play.
The Character Builder is a good example of what I'm talking about. Digital character creation programs are relative novelties that focus on simplifying a complex process that many (if not most) players consider secondary to the action of actually playing the game. The Character Builder makes the process of getting your character ready for play so much easier that a lot of people now consider it indispensable; it may actually be singlehandedly responsible for the lack of success that 3rd party player-focused products have had. It is just in the last two years that this technology has reached its "tipping point", where a significant enough portion of the player base considers it a "must have". DM's laptops are quickly reaching this point as well. Campaign wikis are becoming increasingly popular. These are good technologies, by and large. They make the game more accessible, smoother-running, and immersive, and they do not significantly detract from any of those "essential elements" outlined above.
I don't believe that having a pen and a few sheets of paper magically makes one game "more D&D" than a bunch of guys playing the game around the table with laptops out, nor do I believe that the presence of laptops at the table in any way endangers or foretells the doom of our hobby.
Again in some cases this is a good thing where say members of a group have gone their separate ways but still wish to play as a group. If we look at things like phone texting and social networking sites, they for all their power to connect people, they connect people in an artificial and impersonal manner.
I don't believe that digital social networks are inherently "worse" than more traditional ways of interacting. While it's certainly true that far more superficial interactions take place, it's also true that far more interactions on the whole take place. It's funny to think that not too long ago there were people foretelling the death of man as a social creature because of the rise of computers and digital convenience, and yet here we are, experiencing the rapid rise of the influence of widespread, online social networking demonstrating that humanity's desire to connect with others is far too strong to be stalled by such a revolutionary sphere of technology.
I hope the poster will correct me if I speak out of turn, but the point is that in time the picture of a bunch of geeks sitting around surrounded by junk food and weird shaped dice are numbered (no pun intended).
I think it's safe to say that the common, mass public conception of how D&D is typically played could use a facelift.
Natural change, correct, but change for changes sake can sometimes be a false economy.
Change for its own sake is typically pushed rather hard, and tends not to stick. No one is really pushing the use of laptops at the table but the players, and I for one have little desire to go back to the pre-digital days when it comes to gaming.
Cheers!
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for what it's worth, the asthetic of paper character sheets and nice dice (preferably color matched and exactly as many as I could possibly need to roll.) will never be matched by computer effects. the best online tabletops are the ones emulating sitting around the card table in the basement.
that's an interesting trick, and one i will suggest to our hosts next game session. i am sure they can handle the system network stuffs.
digital projectors, and hand-writable tablemats...like the big screens on CNN or FOXNews, combined with custom made photoshop layered maps...on the other hand could get me totally digital.
-t
digital projectors, and hand-writable tablemats...like the big screens on CNN or FOXNews, combined with custom made photoshop layered maps...on the other hand could get me totally digital.
If you haven't already, check out the SurfaceScapes project for an example of what is possible and where these things might be headed. I got the chance to spend some hands-on time with it last month and I was blown away (and I was already expecting great things from the videos I'd seen).
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aspects of the gaming experience (largely ancillary aspects, which is to say those portions of the game experience outside the gameplay itself) being replaced or augmented by new technologies.
Reiterating WotC can be held in the highest regard for their efforts to minimize the amount of number crunching pre-game. I see your point, todays iPad is yesterdays A4 lines Pad and by taking my argument backwards to an illogical point - should characters only be allowed if chiseled into stone in cuneiform.
It's perhaps not the item or technology of the device used for storing the character I take issue with, I look at this from a DM's PoV. If I've spent a lion's share of the time to organize a game I DO NOT expect individuals to be trolling facebook, FHM (mind you picture dependent there...) or whatever rather than involving themselves in what is meant to be a joint story telling experience. I see it as a matter of respect, pre-computer/iPhone/techy-thing, disruptions were verbally based and were in themselves "social". Now a player can hide in the corner not saying boo while arranging a Russian bride and a pirated copy of Windows 7 to be delivered to their door.
Hope to understand my point, I'm not anti-tech as such, just anti-mood killer during game play. Personal PoV of course.
S.
I hope the poster will correct me if I speak out of turn, but the point is that in time the picture of a bunch of geeks sitting around surrounded by junk food and weird shaped dice are numbered (no pun intended). Natural change, correct, but change for changes sake can sometimes be a false economy.
S.
Greetings!
I apreciate the criticism (otherwise I would keep these posts to myself really)! No, I will admit that natural change will cause pen & paper games to slowly disintegrate or osmosis into World of Warcraft. When I wish to speak and play with friends around the US who have gone their ways, we play on the XBOX360 or online, and I can understand to a degree that so will p&p games.I don't know if it's the sad song "Deora Ar Mo Croi" by Enya in the background, or if it's because I've been consciously denying this realization; that D&D and other p&p games will not be around many years from now, and my children and my children's children won't be able to fathom the idea of a non-visual game.
Now this is completely off-topic but years ago, when I was 7, I came across a cozy coffee shop in the outskirts of Beaverton, OR. Upon entering the store, I glanced over to my left and saw five very different people sitting by the window. They were different genders, age, and race, yet here they were; a testament of what D&D and other P&P games are all about. War, politics, everything really; it didn't matter. These strangers found something that the rest of the world didn't seem to understand, or forgot about.
It's been 16 years since then, and I don't know if it was because of the pretty dice, or the strange and haunting tales the DM told, or the complexity of this strange game that I became interested, but I do remember one thing about that night that will forever be burned in my mind; they were all smiling. Smiling and laughing together though they didn't seem to know one another personally. And that ladies and gentlemen is what I see envision within every story I write.
Now it may be because of this that I disregard technology at the table as "rude" or "improper", but I know the less visuals you have to destroy what little imagination reality has burned and scraped away from us day-by-day, the better. Ever wonder why movies are never like the book? This to me is a large portion of it. Our imagination is what's left of our childhood, and I'll be d@/V\l7ed if I lose it.
Sorry for the rant. Laptops, aside from the space used, the teasing access to the internet, and the other distracting implements of a laptop/iPhone/etc., I honestly can say I would hate to be constantly reminded every game that our pen & paper games are dissolving.
I forgot to add that the branched topic of MechaTECH vs The Mighty Pen and Paper will be added to the forums. (If you didn't understand the title, it's new "modern" technology vs old fashioned P&P gaming)
My gaming groups tend to shy away from using laptops at the game table. We've used them in the past, but there were always too many distractions. Maybe someone found some funny pics on lolcats, or there's a new game trailer everyone's just gotta see, etc. One of our players has an iPod with wireless internet access and it's quite distracting enough.
That being said, a laptop can be a wonderful tool for keeping important info organized, and saves the DM from having to slog through multiple books to find a rule or monster. We usually have a desktop nearby, so if by some chance we need to look something up online or in a pdf we can do so fairly quickly. I suppose it just varies by the attention span of your group.
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Bring on the future! Table-top surfaces that read the 'bottom' of the die you roll on it. Shows the light spectrum as you move around. Keeps track of loadouts, initiative, and buffs. The big 'distraction' of any new technology is the learning curve. Once everybody 'gets it' the game will roll smoother.
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Allay the fears of cheating by requiring character sheet googledocs sent to you as a backup. You'll see if they fudge anything.
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I use a tablet my BF uses his Laptop and 2 of us us Android phones for ICrit/IFumble. Another uses an IPad. In all cases we ALL send our character sheet to our DM before hand. In ALL cases none of us use the laptop for dice rolls. Dice is the better way to go for that not a phone or tech.
Not a one of us plays music unless the DM requests it. As for a distraction? It's more distracting when I am cooking for 8 people than if I decide to look up something on the web.
As a DM I use my tablet to track all combat and it works well for me. I make far less mistakes than those using paper or charts or what ever.
DM's have found that when I use my laptop for my characters that I make less mistakes than those who just use paper.
As for what I use? I use Hero Lab for my characters Combat Manager for my DMing.
So I am ALL for tech as long as it is used right by mature people
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they for all their power to connect people, they connect people in an artificial and impersonal manner.
This mindset and its brother thought process of "internet friends are not real friends" irk me to no end. I have a closer friendship with people I have met over the internet, living clear across the country or even across borders, than with 99% of the people I have met face-to-face. Why? Mostly because none of the people I know offline are gamers, none are geeks, none are big into fantasy or sci-fi, while I am not into sports, racing, animals, 99% of TV, or gawking at women.
Constantly being told that these people online are "merely acquaintances" and that our relationships are "artificial, impersonal friendships" at best is extremely tiring.
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When I game (as a player) I use either a laptop or my tablet and if a DM said NO! I would be a little put off by that. If the DM is a Little Dictator chances are his game is not going to be all fun either, so cut and run.
That said I do not play WOW, surf unrelated sites, or play inappropriate music when gaming--I am there to game not to be an ass.
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Reasons some of my players use laptops at the table:
- Rules reference, via pdf, PRD, or Combat Manager. This is all much faster than flipping through books.
- Two of my friends are blind and use laptops with headphones and screen readers so they can access their character sheets, die rolls, and rules reference without having to rely on other people to read stuff for them.
I've also seen SmartPhones in use, to access a die rolling app or an app like iCrit and iFumble (which I use myself).
Potential distractions:
- Wanting to check email/use Internet while on laptop. I have had to ask players not to do that a few times.
- Smartphones are worse in my experience--texting is the worst offender I've seen; everyone thinks it's innocuous when it's heavily distracting. Smartphones are also good at distracting you with notifs popping up.
A lot of these things are dealt with by saying, "Please don't do that, I know it's easy to get distracted but we've only got so much time to be with each other today and play. If you're bored, let's talk about what we can do to improve things for you." A lot of what cibet44 has merit -- while devices can offer their own distractions, if someone is blatantly always "Somewhere else" than playing the game, even if they're sitting in front of you, then there's a bigger problem than their using a device. They're likely bored or frustrated and they need to be talked to.
Here's a real life example of something like a device being a symptom of a greater problem:
I think it was maybe my 2nd time as a D&D GM, and I hadn't had much experience. I had a group of 6 people, large for a D&D group, which included many boisterous personalities and attention-seekers (I love them all and I doubt they'd disagree with that description).
One session, we were dealing with a complex resolution to a situation. A player who is usually a very good, attentive player, lies down on the couch he's sitting on, plonks his headphones in his ears, and turns on his iPhone, very clearly intent on shutting everyone out. I think he was trying to be surreptitious but it was very obvious. "ARE YOU BORED?" I shouted at him through his headphones. He sat up and took off his headphones, and I continued in a more civil tone of voice, "I'm sorry if this is taking too long for you, but first, I think you need to pay attention because it could affect your character, and second, it's really rude to shut me and everyone out. If you're bored or frustrated, let's meet after the game so we can talk about how we can improve things. And that goes for everyone here--please let me know how I can improve things."
The player profusely apologized and confided to me later that a few of the other players, who tend to dominate certain conversations, were driving him crazy; he was trying to shut THEM out and hadn't thought about how that would look to me. He also expressed some frustration as to indeed how long it took to resolve some problems. I talked to the players about some of the personality issues and also gathered some feedback about how to improve the pacing--and implemented those ideas as best I could. The game itself improved and the player never brought his iPod to a session again.
If I had simply said, "No devices at the game table," and left it at that, I may never have discovered the player's motivation for escaping to his iPod, and thus never addressed or tried to fix the deeper problems affecting the group and the campaign itself.
- Two of my friends are blind and use laptops with headphones and screen readers so they can access their character sheets, die rolls, and rules reference without having to rely on other people to read stuff for them.
AWESOME!!!
I forbid laptops and smartphones in my games; you can use them during character creation or when leveling up, and you can keep your phones in your pockets, but nothing on the table while we're playing.
There was a time when I allowed everyone to use their laptops to have their sheets on them, but ultimately it became too distracting. But mostly, it's because of the feel: I like my games to be about books, paper, dice, pencils, poorly-drawn maps and old notebooks crammed with notes. Full Amish roleplaying.
I stopped using a laptop myself as the DM, and only keep an iPad handy on a side table to handle the background music. Eventually, the whole group agreed that going back to the old ways felt much better when gaming, and helps with the immersion.
Now I keep my campaigns the same way I used to back then: A thick notebook. Feels good having to archive them in my library every time we end a campaign. Better yet, my players have retaken their old customs of keeping well-stocked journals themselves, something which had been lost with the abuse of laptops and dynamic bookeeping.
Given the volume of PDFs available to longtime subscribers, the amount of books you can have in, say, a iPad is an incredible aid to the whole table. One of our players has a Kindle, and it's been an incredible asset to the whole table; I don't miss the days of bringing a backpack with eight hardback books and fifteen issues of Dragon Magazine on the bus.
And I've been doing my character sheets in Excel for years. There's never any ambiguity if I've recorded a particular bit of XP or GP use, and my sheet is never illegible.
If everybody at your table has laptops, you can take this the other way - you can skip the big battlemat and boxes of minis, and just put everybody on a virtual tabletop like Gametable. You keep the table chatter, the snacks, the facial expressions, the voices (if you've got a voices DM), but you have a combat log, simplified dice rolling, unambiguous IC/OOC seperation, etc. It's pretty awesome if your group can make it happen.
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I am almost completely incapable of playing this game without one. My character spreadsheet tells me what my attack bonuses are, what my AC is, where I spent my skill points, sources of everything (why my scores are such), there are tooltips that list the various uses of each skill, how many rays Scorching Ray has this level (that is, the effects of all spells based on caster level), how much weight I'm carrying, my net worth, notes on who we talked to and what we did...
The bard's singing? Enter the bonuses. Mage Armor dispelled? Uncheck a box. Haste? Check a box: reflex save, AC, and attack line updated. Polymorph? Drop down list for size, check a box, and ability scores, AC, Fly, and Stealth get updated.
Granted, it's probably my fault, as I made myself dependent on machines, but, there you have it.
Edit: Not saying it's wrong to have rules of conduct or anything, but rather my love for laptops. I used to hate 'em. I guess if you have people goofing off, you gotta do what you gotta do, but I have grown dependent on mine!
We also use them (4 out of 5 players) and we split the work. One player is logged on our Epic Words account for access to our files and the description of magic items they own. One other player uses the LootDivider program AND his XP calcuation sheet whil yet another is logged on to the SRD. We all use TheOnlyDheet for Pc management. Players for their characters and I use it for the major NpCs or bosses that have class levels and such to make sure I don't forget buffs and abilities. One player has a Mac so he can't use the sheet, so he operates the popcorn machine. :-) The only thing I regret is that it is still faster to use books to look up spells and monsters.
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I think distracted players is the problem not laptops. Having a player read an outside book while gaming would also be distracting.
I agree on laptops, mostly because of their physical presence. They sit on the table, take up a bunch of space, are annoying to move and create a wall between that player and everyone else. They sit there and don't really move much.
Smartphones are annoying, because people will be checking messages or sneaking in a game on them. They can be really distracting, though I've seen more than a few people who only pull them out for checking rules or something.
An iPad bothers me less. They're bigger than a smartphone, so it's harder to hide when you're playing a game on it. But they're less bulky than a laptop, and they lay flat and out of the way when not in use.
Also, I love my iPad when I'm playing a prepared spell caster. Having an app with all the spells together is so much faster. Other than the core book, I don't even know what book spells are from any more. And the hyperlinks to most of the monsters I can summon is awesome.
My experience with electronic devices, laptops, tablets, iPhones, and all of the rest has been bad...all of the things pointed out by the OP has happened. As such I enforce a ban of no digital media at the table. It got protested by everyone. My response? I said fine, you don't like it, then one of you can run the game now, I won't and I won't be a player at the table as long as you have digital media...here's the notes on the session and what was to come down the line for the campaign, enjoy. Fallout from this? I still run the game, lost one player who can't keep his damned thumbs from texting - CALL THE <CENSORED>ING PERSON!!! This is one table rule I absolutely will not budge on. Keeps my gaming options limited, but it's the prcie I am willing to pay to avoid the digital widgets. It's a table-top PEN AND PAPER RPG game, not a video game. I apologize if this sounds harsh, but the efficiency of digital media is very frustrating at the gaming table for me. There are enough copies of dead tree books at the table that sharing isn't an issue.