Question on GM gear...


Gamer Life General Discussion

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, LO Special Edition, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps Subscriber

not a rules or scenario question but a more practical question. How does everyone carries all their stuff around?

It seems I have accumulated lots of things (books, maps, minis, cards,...)around my favorite hobby and I have started running more society events...so I am traveling around more and I need to carry my stuff. I have started looking for a new roller bag or something like that but I have not really found to much. Games Workshop has some of them but the are more focused on minis...I have a lot of other things. The back pack I have now is getting to small and too heavy! So any ideas or links would be great! Thanks in advance....


Most of the GMs I know use an iPad - problem solved. As soon as the iPad mini comes in a retina display version, I'm going to buy that to obviate all future carry problems.

But for now, luddites (such as myself), of course, have to carry the books (what can I say... I just like books!), but you really only need to carry a few (core assumption) materials: CRB and Bestiary are probably the only *essential* ones.

Remember, players are supposed to have any materials needed to justify their classes, prestige classes, and so on, so YOU don't need those. That said, I usually carry the CRB, the APG, the Pathfinder Society Guide, the Bestiary, and - if it's relevant - other bestiaries as needed (based on what I'm running). I just use a satchel which accommodates those books, plus dice bag, etc.

I do have a GM in my home gaming group who uses a rolling litigation case (if you've ever played RIFTS you'll understand the need for large, sturdy cases!), and it works well.

(The best carry solution I ever saw, pre-tablets, was at GenCon in 2001: the GM had a full-sized rolling wardrobe he'd actually installed shelves in, AND had built in a cooler in which he had a whole loaf of sliced bread, peanut butter, drinks, snacks, and so on. Total, total dedication to con-going. A beautiful thing.)


I use one of these guys when I'm GMing and hulking around minis, maps, printouts and other physical stuff.

As a player, I try to keep it minimal. I own a combo of hardcover and PDF books, so what I do is keep all my PDFs on my tablet, and photocopied pages relevant to my characters for the ones I don't have a PDF copy of to carry to PFS games.

Now, when only playing I can fit everything easily in a regular backpack. Every day I see more and more players running almost exclusively on their tablet (except for dice, mini, character sheets and chronicles)

Silver Crusade

I've given up on bringing hard cover books other than the Core Rulebook with me. I used to bring the Advanced Players Guide in hard cover, too, but I've since switched that one to PDF, along with most of the others, and I just carry them on an android tablet. I also have a few splat books in hard copy that I carry, because they're relevant to specific PCs I play.

But by minimizing my books that way, I'm able to get away with a backpack, though it's still pretty loaded.

I know a guy down in Florida who has one of those rolling things like CRobledo linked to, and carries all the books in hard copy that way. It seems like a pretty good idea, and not that expensive.

Sovereign Court Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

I use one of these. I paid a lot less than that by going into the store, though. I think it was around $60. Considering all the organizational options, this has been a godsend when I go to conventions or other stores.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32

Personally, everything that I use to GM fits nicely into a small messenger bag. Here's a list of what I carry:

1) Tablet (iPad), loaded with the scenario PDF, the Core Rulebook PDF (and all of my other PDFs; I also use it to play), and the PRD (in an offline format, to make sure that it works in areas with no internet).

2) GM Screen (Paizo) - I find the Paizo GM Screen to be very durable. I may be making my own GM screen at some point, though, which would have areas for me to use dry erase markers to keep track of certain things.

3) Binder, loaded with my character sheets, hard copies of every scenario that I have ran in person, my faction missions and my sign-in sheet. I also have 7 chronicles, with the GM only section pre-filled.

4) Initiative cards - I prefer to use cards to keep track of initiative.

5) Dice - I usually carry 3-5 sets of dice in case I have some newbies without them at the table.

6) Blank D6s - I use these for quick monster tokens. I use a different color for each monster type on the map. I may upgrade to the Bestiary Box at some point, but I like the fact that the cubes don't give away the identity of the monster up front.

7) Ink pens - Always good to have those around.

8) Dice tower - I hate having to chase dice around.

9) Bottle of soda.

Believe it or not, all of the above fits very comfortably in my small messenger bag.


For a long time, I too had to schelp all my books with me for Gming, I used one of these as there were tons of pockets and whatnot... and with using fishing lure boxes for dice and minis it was a good fit,

However, with the advent of a the tablet and pdfs ;) and finding awesome laser etched birch tiles for monsters (company defunct or I'd link) I was able to downsize to this in which I strong suggest paying the extra for the backpack straps..

The Exchange

The bestiary box has me considering selling my mini's for the first time ever. I love the little cut outs, they more clearly show the enemy, and they are really nice pieces of artwork. Also when there are human enemies it makes it easier for everyone to remember who is friend and who is foe :D.

Random aside; has anyone seen PF bestiary box bases in different colors available anywhere?

I use a tablet or laptop if I have the space.

Grand Lodge

Netopalis wrote:

and the PRD (in an offline format, to make sure that it works in areas with no internet).

I would love to add this to my netbook for GMing, as the Stores we game at don't have internet access. Is there any advice how to do this?

Grand Lodge

I have my iPad for scenarios, my Bag of Holding for my binders of handouts and chronicles and character sheets, my hobby cart for hardcovers and flipmats, and tackle box for minis.


Does anyone have options of minis that would make flying easier?

Grand Lodge

Ziplock baggies? :)


TriOmegaZero wrote:
Ziplock baggies? :)

lol .. there is that .. but if I'm going to take the time to paint minis and go to the trouble of schleping them along to a convention, I want them to look nice at the end of it....

The other weekend I saw a nice 3 tiered fishing lure box that would be perfect, but looking at the website, I cannot find it now :(

Grand Lodge

For transporting plastic miniatures I like using Plano available at most Wal Marts and Tackle Shops.


For miniature transport, I use a Professional Makeup Case. Each shelf in it is resizable.


Well, when I took the reins of my D&D group, I made the executive decision to change the location to my house. That way, I don't have to lug around any gear at all!

Liberty's Edge

Like TOZ and PFCBG, I use a Bag of Holding for my loose stuff (tablet PC, dice bags, dry- and wet-erase markers for maps, bag of colored glass beads, plus two Plano boxes for minis). Then I have a large portable file box for scenarios, flip-maps, and GM screen, and a smaller one for my and my wife's PCs (one manila folder for each character, to hold character sheets, notes, and chronicles). If the location is going to require a lot of moving around, all of the above gets strapped to a collapsible two-wheel dolly.

My biggest space issue is the scenarios, as I am an over-prepper, making printouts of NPCs and summaries of each scene, plus cardstock handouts and faction missions, and any difficult maps (especially for dungeon crawls). My scenario folders can be pretty thick, meaning they take up a ton of space. I will soon reach the point where I have to get another box, or else select which scenarios go with me to game days and which stay on the shelf. :-(


I use my wife's Chevy Malibu maxx, unless it is a big game, then, well, when the Dwaven Forge stuff is involved, it takes two cars.


A nice, decent sized hardcover suitcase. One of the ones with the multiple pockets on the inside so you can put books in one pocket, character sheets in another (or the same) lay the map and minis in the bottom, that sorta thing.

Purple Fluffy CatBunnyGnome wrote:

lol .. there is that .. but if I'm going to take the time to paint minis and go to the trouble of schleping them along to a convention, I want them to look nice at the end of it....

The other weekend I saw a nice 3 tiered fishing lure box that would be perfect, but looking at the website, I cannot find it now :(

Go to your local Wal-Mart, you'll find at least 5 brands with tackle boxes identical to that.

Silver Crusade

Our GM for Fridays used to use a very large rolling suitcase (way before I joined). He would stack the books with the spines facing out. While the suitcase was supposed to be laid flat when you wanted to pull out your clothes or shoes or whatnot, he would just lean it against a table so the books wouldn't be likely to fall out.

That worked for him for years. But we don't play with minis or draw out the areas much anymore. (I do, when I run goblins every so often.)

Nowadays he often takes a large backpack with a variety of essential books and an armful of extra books, character sheets, etc. when he runs his Saturday game. We don't own an e-reader. But that could work really well.

Grand Lodge

I used a salesman's catalog case for 20 odd years. Actually two, the first one lasted about 15 years, although I had to replace the shoulder strap twice. The second one was stolen and nobody makes that style these days (I don't like the wheeled versions - just something else to get in the way). So I ended up buying a leather expandable computer bag/ briefcase at Office Depot. It doesn't have as much room as I'd like, because I like to have the printed books with me.


When it comes to minis, Battlefoam is the only way to go. I have 20 of these now. I only have the isometric ones and a few custom ones that I use for my Hirst Arts Terrain.

As to books, I pretty much only carry my laptop and iPad now. The iPad is OK, but the laptop is so much more powerful. And I use Hero Lab to keep track of characters and D20Pro to keep track of fights when I am the DM.


Slamy Mcbiteo wrote:
not a rules or scenario question but a more practical question. How does everyone carries all their stuff around?

An 'outside-the-box' solution that I finally ended up employing was to simply host games at my home instead of lugging things elsewhere.

Barring that, a tablet and some of the foam-lined cases from Reaper Minis would be my solution for minis. As for maps, take a trip to a hardware store, buy some PVC conduit, add a handle and and then roll-up and store your maps inside those.

If you are looking for a backpack replacement, get some rolling carry-on bags. That way if you ever need to fly your gear to a distant convention you won't need to worry over whether it will pass muster at the airport.

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