I'm looking for a bigger means of moving my books and minis around to and from games, which are rarely at my place, despite me being the GM. My question:
What bags/boxes/products do you use to move your gear around? Any recommendations on what I should buy?
I currently use a messenger bag, but it'll only hold my laptop, three books, some folding maps, and then I wedge in a bunch of card packs for character art. I carry all my mini's, dice, Bestiary Boxes, etc...
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The big question is about your means of transport. If you're driving to your gaming venue, you have a lot more margin than if you're walking or taking the bus.
For game books, I'm a big fan of using the box that photocopy paper comes in. It's the perfect size, and can easily hold a dozen books and a few odds & ends like dice and cards. Plus, it won't ding the corners of your books.
For miniatures, try the Stanley Fatmax Deep/Shallow Pro Organizer. I have like a dozen of them in stacks of 4-5. I use tissue paper to cushion the miniatures inside each compartment. The shallow ones are fine for most human-sized figures, and the deep ones hold most mounted or larger monster figures with ease. The Fatmax cases clip to each other, and 4-5 of them makes a good-sized stack to fit in the trunk of my car.
For terrain, I've got a number of cardboard boxes. But taking very much terrain is always a pain. And not feasable if you're not driving, or if you have much distance to cross after or before driving.
I love playing with miniatures and terrain, so transportation is definitely an issue.
I am driving my own truck, so space inside isn't too much of an issue. I'll likely upgrade my figure box to one of those (Dewalt, my brand, rather than Stanley). I don't have any physical terrain yet, I'm not worrying about buying those until I have a permanent game room, rather than just our extra room.
I'm searching more for a single bag, be it a suitcase, duffel bag, shoulder bag, or anything else that not only holds a GM's worth of books and accessories, but also has pockets in which I can categorize somewhat. Any ideas in that field?
Someone should make specialty backpacks like chefs have
ChefPak
Their top case goes for nearly $500.
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Frame challenge: how many physical items do you need to bring?
I'm limited to public transport/bicycle, so I have to minimize physical objects. One tablet holds all PDFs easily, that's a huge load off my back. Pawns instead of minis reduces it from a 3d to a 2d transport problem.
I like proper 3d minis, but 2d pawns work fine and are vastly cheaper and take up vastly less space.
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I recently bought this GM-specific bag for my wooden screen. It holds books, has a top-compartment for miniatures and deep pockets.
ENHANCE Tabletop RPG Adventurer's Bag.
Frame challenge: how many physical items do you need to bring?
I'm limited to public transport/bicycle, so I have to minimize physical objects. One tablet holds all PDFs easily, that's a huge load off my back. Pawns instead of minis reduces it from a 3d to a 2d transport problem.
I like proper 3d minis, but 2d pawns work fine and are vastly cheaper and take up vastly less space.
Yeah, this is exactly how I feel. I have to commute a bit to one of my games, which means the books get left at home. I only bring a foldable whiteboard, a select number of pawns, my laptop, and dice. I tried to bring my multitude of books, but having them on pdf makes my life easier, especially when I have players who keep Core Rulebooks on hand for reference.
So, yeah, how much of what you're planning to bring is 100% necessary?
I usually run my own games at home, so I don't have to transport anything, but when I play out of my house I just take my iPad. I have all of Paizo's Pathfinder PDFs* on the iPad in PDF Expert which allows me to run searches across the whole library in a matter of seconds.
* Except for those six pesky society scenarios I can't get access to, yet...
From my many years of playing Warhams, I usually use battle foam cases if I need to bring any delicate minis and tons of books. I think I have one of their suitcase models that has a handle and can be wheeled around.
But if you're a player a simple EVA Case can do you just fine. If you need to carry just some dice, book, paper, and your own miniature. I think we have some options on our store here: https://paizo.com/search?what=all&q=case
As for carrying all of your books to a location that isn't your home. I carry all my books via PDF on my Surface Pro to keep things light. But if you're like me and prefer physical books every now and again, a big airport-style suitcase is what my friends usually use. Can pack all your books inside, use smaller cases to hold dice and minis in the mesh pouches, and the smaller amazon ones can fit a lot of stuff and make carrying your library easier.
Other people may have fancier options than me, however.
how many physical items do you need to bring?
Need is very relative. I do what you do, carry what mini's I need for a single adventure, use pawns rather than minis on most occasions, and use a lot of .pdf's. I do like the have the Core RuleBook, Bestiary, and NPC Codex in physical format on me, along with a blank folding map, my dice/pencils/markers case, and a laptop. Oh, and I keep all character sheets for my party too, which means five Folio folders. That bogs down my messenger bag enough that I end up carrying the case.
I recently bought this GM-specific bag for my wooden screen. It holds books, has a top-compartment for miniatures and deep pockets.
ENHANCE Tabletop RPG Adventurer's Bag.
I have been looking at that bag, wasn't sure if it was large enough. Ever find it doesn't suit your needs?
I found this gem. It has room for 3 boxes of pawns and several dozen books. It also has side pouches for dice, pens, pencils, etc...
I bought that one for a friend a while back, and it works well for board games. I wanted something with a few more pockets for myself, so I can split different objects up and keep some things in permanently.
if you're like me and prefer physical books every now and again, a big airport-style suitcase is what my friends usually use
I was leaning in this direction before I made this post. Mostly I wanted to test the waters and make sure I wasn't missing out on any gems someone else had discovered. Found some nice sized (carry-on 30x12x13) cases with a good number of pockets for $40-$50, which is likely the direction I'll go.
I do like the battle-foam cases, but I don't have many mini's and the ones I have aren't fragile, so it seemed unnecessary (at this point in time).
I have an external frame backpack from my misspent youth, so if I ever need to carry like 100 liters of books (which works out to be about 250 lbs), I'm good to go.
I use the Official Pathfinder bag from Battlefoam, of course!
Like others though, I mostly use my Surface Pro tablet for PDFs and hero lab. The new small format CRB rides along with dice, minis, other accessories.
For cons, or when I do need to have a ton of physical stuff, the Battle foam bag sits on a milk crate, strapped to one of those oxygen bottle carts. Milk crate is great for board games and other large things.
I'm typically playing online using fantasy Grounds so I have the reference documents in the program.
My traditional solution is a milk crate. I generally use the smaller ~ 12 inch one but have a larger one as well. I also managed to land a wheeled scrap-booking bag for free which I’m thinking of moving too.
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With a DEX penalty. For reals.
Personally, I'm really pushing to do all books on my tablet, which helps immensely (though I admit that I still greatly prefer the initial read-through of a new system be with a physical book -- oh well).
I've also found the best way to store pawns is in their original cardboard "sprues," at least from an organizational standpoint. Doing so definitely takes up extra space, though.
I've not tried them myself, but I've seen those large rolling toolboxes used to great affect with both minis and pawns.
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I use a backpack. I play in a bar after work and that limits options.
I bring:
1) Core Rulebook, primarily for my players
2) Dice tray with dice
3) Crit/fumble decks
4) Condition cards
5) iPad with PDFs
6) Adventure. I switch between iPad and adventure as needed.
7) Selection of figures
8) Dry erase maps in a tube.
9) Flip-map if suitable. Sometimes it can just help set the scene.
10) Initiative tracker
11) Hero point coins.
Hmm, maybe to need reduce this.
I recently started DMing again at a friends house.
My storage solution is2 parts: a messenger bag with the CRB, Bestiary and Module. One of my players also bought me the combat pad that I use as well.
The other component is a craft tote/suitcase I got from the container store:
https://www.containerstore.com/s/craft-hobby/artbin-deluxe-super-satchel/1d ?productId=11003039
This product has a deep storage chamber that holds my dry erase map tiles along with dice bags, dry eraser, condition cards. There are flip down side storage compartments that contain all my pens and markers. The top layer is perfectly sized for miniatures. The top layer has customizable compartments so I can split up the minis as I need to.
Previously I was hauling 2 bags and a large toolbox filled with all of my miniatures and I needed to downsize. Picking the miniatures I needed for just the module I was playing helped a lot.
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I recently started DMing again at a friends house.
My storage solution is2 parts: a messenger bag with the CRB, Bestiary and Module. One of my players also bought me the combat pad that I use as well.
The other component is a craft tote/suitcase I got from the container store:
https://www.containerstore.com/s/craft-hobby/artbin-deluxe-super-satchel/1d ?productId=11003039
This product has a deep storage chamber that holds my dry erase map tiles along with dice bags, dry eraser, condition cards. There are flip down side storage compartments that contain all my pens and markers. The top layer is perfectly sized for miniatures. The top layer has customizable compartments so I can split up the minis as I need to.
Previously I was hauling 2 bags and a large toolbox filled with all of my miniatures and I needed to downsize. Picking the miniatures I needed for just the module I was playing helped a lot.
85+10 litre backpack - which is completely full when I'm actively DMing[1] - or at least I would if mine hadn't broken and it is proving extremely difficult to replace (since the specific make appears to no longer exist and finding something credible in a) size and b) price (especially as I have found nothing so far as a suitable replacement even at stupid prices), so pending me having to search and try military surplus stores at this point. (UK-based by-the-by.)
[1]And this is with having one ARCS (Aotrs Reconfigurable Combat System, also known as an A2 plastic wallet with a square grid draw on variously coloured card inside it, incidently the single best idea for roleplaying I've ever had)) and a reasonable percentage of figures at the club.