My group is quite new to Pathfinder and after some testing games and the first few evenings of an adventure path(hells Rebels) we decided to change the path, because we werent to happy with it. Now we started in new path(Wrath of the Righteous) and again the whole group hasnt have much fun. So our gm announced that he's about to change the way we play: without digital media. It's like back to the roots and focusing more on the actual game instead of just looking at a screen and not being in contact with the world. And then I got curious about how other people play their Pathfinder games, do you use much of digital media like a screen for the map, initiative counter and some pictures or do you play the old fashioned way? Did you try both? What kind of play do you like more and why?
(no native speaker, sorry for mistakes)
I keep a laptop with all the relevant character sheets in spreadsheet form (with macros so I can turn buffs and things on and off and get accurate numbers), but everything else is analog. Maps are sketched on a whiteboard, all my notes are on paper, big stack of dead tree books, etc.
Mostly because I don't really know how to run a game without that stuff (the laptop is a recent addition primarily to cut down on "on the fly" math.)
My rule is simple: Anything that breaks immersive verisimilitude is bad. I want players talking in-character as much as possible.
We don't use tech. We use *physical* aids. Figures (painted, of course!) and dungeon walls (Dwarven Forge, mostly) and dungeon decor and hills and trees (homemade) and so on. Sure, it takes a few extra minutes to set up, but it pays dividends in actually seeing where everyone is located, where the terrain is, where you can find cover, where there are movement restrictions, and so on.
Sure, you can use a whiteboard or cardboard tiles or other objects to set up the tactical game map, but it just isn't as *pretty*.
Like Caizarlu's lab
Or Thistletop.
YMMV.
We don't use tech. We use *physical* aids. Figures (painted, of course!) and dungeon walls (Dwarven Forge, mostly) and dungeon decor and hills and trees (homemade) and so on. Sure, it takes a few extra minutes to set up, but it pays dividends in actually seeing where everyone is located, where the terrain is, where you can find cover, where there are movement restrictions, and so on.
Sure, you can use a whiteboard or cardboard tiles or other objects to set up the tactical game map, but it just isn't as *pretty*.
Like Caizarlu's lab
Or Thistletop.YMMV.
*sniff* That's beautiful.
I wish I could afford that kind of set-up.
IN playing at the table, players may use their personal devices for tracking their character sheets or Hero Lab. Other than that, we don't, as a rule, use or avoid multi-media. Everything else is readily available; maps, miniatures, props, etc. It is best to turn all such distractions off and focus on the game.
It sounds like you guys just need to do a little more research before you pick your next adventure. Start with something simple like a module such as Crypt of the Everflame and just play the game. Wrath of the Righteous involves mythic play and it should only be attempted by advanced players looking for that type of game.
Most of my group has a digital character sheet now. I find tablets less physically intrusive on the table that laptops dut to the smaller size. I think this is fine as long as people are using them for reference or to make changes to inventory and such. Looking up cat videos and other such distractions that keep eyes on the screen should be discouraged. That’s why I track HP on paper.
I keep a log of all events at the session and I do that by hand. I typed it one session, and I did not enjoy that. Lots of tapping sounds, and too much time looking at the screen.
I have a sound bar below my TV that picks up Bluetooth signal. One GM has used it a couple times for background music. Watch the volume though! And I have a rule that the music can have no lyrics. Words in music distract from gameplay. Words in a language no one understands might be OK. Haven’t tried that yet.
I like the GM being able to show players an image of a monster, location, or NPC on-screen. It seems to only consume 30 seconds or so.
I have never uses a digitially displayed combat map. It seems cool, so I would like to try it out some day. On the other hand I have never felt lacking when using a mat and wet erase markers.
I play with one guy who prints out his paper minis and combat maps, and another who over the years has purchased a vast assortment of pre-painted minis and terrain. I myself have hand-painted hundreds of minis and a bit of terrain. We each have a preference. In an all digital game, I would miss not using my customized mini.
Dice? Just roll them. You know, with actual, tangible dice. Exceptions exist, such as if you need to roll 20d12 or something else crazy. I mean, I have nearly twenty of them, but that’s just unnecessary and unrealistic. :)
All in all, even though tech is available in just about every arena of gameplay, I would try to minimalize it. Does it improve your game? Figure that out.
We use a plain white grid mat and miniatures (usually the Paizo pawns because we have a ton of those). A digitally displayed combat map would be neat, but we just don't have the setup for it--our place is tiny, so we typically play sitting on the floor.
We always roll physical dice, unless it's a really huge number of dice and we don't have that many. We just find that more fun.
Laptops are used to reference spells and abilities and such, but we do use physical character sheets.
We also use Syrinscape or online ambient sound programs for background noise/music, etc. I'm fond of it, but it depends on your group; some people might find it distracting.
We use roll20 with a GM station and the players all able to see the 'player version' on a television. Personally, I think it works better than tabletop and miniatures, although in my case that is exacerbated by not really having a good space to set up such things for our usual 6-7 player group.
The nice thing as the GM is that you can set up multiple maps and encounters ahead of time, and easy hide and reveal explored areas. Depending on how much time you want to spend, the 'dressings' can be pretty elaborate or quite plain.
I don't use other aspects that you could, like sound effects or playlists, I find them more distracting than enhancing.
Character sheets, dices, grids and figures are good to have physically, but any GM would love to have a laptop or a tablet with their library, especially since Paizo offers digital books.
I'm very much a fan of paper and pencil whenever possible. I do use Herolab for drafting character sheets and checking spell details, but I always have a paper character sheet to use in game, and scrap paper for tracking HP, abilities used etc. It's often faster to calculate bonuses in your head and scribble them down than to check boxes on a PC, and doesn't lead to "oh, I forgot to remove the prone condition I applied three rounds ago" scenarios.
We have a large collection of minis and I like the physicality of them - I'm also a bit a a dice addict, so choose specific sets for specific characters, and love the feel of a handful of Fireball dice.
As a ref I would love to ban any non-game media, including phones from the table, because they slow everything down as one player ignoring the game means others have to wait for him, but sadly that isn't possible at conventions.
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Player preference. I usually run from my laptop, so it doesn't bother me to have other players use Herolab and other digital tools. I don't break out the VTT unless we are gaming with remote friends. The dynamic lighting options help players see only what their characters see, both increasing immersion while also causing some uncertainty and confusion, so it's a tradeoff. (I would like to set up maps on my television however, with all the players gathered around the living room. Just don't have to proper setup yet.)
As a GM I use MapTools because I find it much easier to show people a good image of what the map looks like and trying to find the right physical mini's infuriates me.
I also use Combat Manager so that I don't have to look at the stat block, grab the correct dice and do all the math for each of the bad guys.
I'm a horribly lazy GM that uses his energy for getting the story and NPC's ready for the players rather than the tactical fight portion ready (beyond setting up the map, blocking vision, and making the tokens.)
That being said, combat, to me, is the most boring part of a role-playing game whether you're using physical or electronic media.
As a player, everything is done physically. I like having a character sheet, I like rolling the dice, I like flipping through the books to find the answer I'm looking for.
When I'm a player I'm only in charge of one thing. When I'm a GM I need to use the quickest way to find an answer which, for me, is searching on my laptop.
For most games I have a digital character sheet I created in Google Sheets - it's especially handy for complicated builds; the sheet does most of the math for me so I can just focus on playing.
For more casual games I have Herolab on a tablet.
Unless the player is distracted by it I don't see the issue.