Finding a love of laptops at the game table

[mrloucifer]

Ive been very anti-PDF in RPG use since the get go. even beyond the obvious piracy issues (I'm very anti-piracy and believe people should be paid for their services) I cant highlight, tab, find, research, and do anything with a PDF nearly as fast or as clean with a dead-tree formatted book. So as a consequence I really hadn't been using my laptop in my games.

But in about the last month , Ive managed to make friends with it through a new method: my NPC's, and my game intro's

Ive been updating my NPC's to an excel sheet for awhile now, and I've come to realize that rather than printing them all up once created, Ive been keeping an NPC folder available and I can pull up the NPC as needed. as a bonus, they look cleaner, I can add lots of notes as needed, update them, keep the readable and so on.

Ive also been getting into a habit of writing up game intro's as I type pretty fast on the laptop, and I dont have to print them and waste the paper. I can read the intro's and scenes that I create, update as needed, take notes for the next game session and so on. Saving all of this intro material has an added bonus of chronicling our story and adventures together for referencing when needed.

I can justify putting this in the BTS forum area solely as Ive come to realize that I can write up a much better scene of horror/supernatural occurrences much better then I can jsut describe it off the top of my head, so Ive taken to creating scenes through my scribes, and in doing so I can read it in proper tones, pace and inflection... making it sound that much more horrific.

So now I'm wondering if there are other uses for bringing a laptop to the game that Ive haven't considered yet, but maybe some of you have. Any thoughts?

[Chronicle]

They can be fun. Lately tho the games i play with my group have been ruled out by smart phones and text msg

[Chronicle]

The messages are one particular player interrupting to show us what some other person sent

[Jasper]

I've been using my laptop more and more for my gaming needs. Like you I don't like reading .pdfs on a computer, I like using paper copies but for my ideas and campaign notes etc I use my laptop. I use Excel mostly but also Word. I use it mostly for the same things you do though. My main BTS Excel spreadsheet has 15 tabs for various lists, including my "Characters" tab of over 400 lines of NPCs the party has met. I don't use Word nearly as much but for intro stuff or writing it's great (of course).

One thing to mention - Flashdrives are super cheap - BACK UP!! I keep one on my keychain. I have a backup on an external drive and my desktop. If I lost all my campaign stuff I would be very sad.

[ffranceschi]

So now I'm wondering if there are other uses for bringing a laptop to the game that Ive haven't considered yet, but maybe some of you have. Any thoughts?

First of all, I suggest a little change: laptop for iPad. It is faster, more portable and practical to use in a game table.

Ok, now, right to the point. You can have the BTS-2 main book, one sourcebook, and 5 Rifters; after that the real books (I am also a dead tree book fanatic) become impractical unless you game in a huge library. In your iPad (or laptop), for example, you can have ALL The Rifters, and you can check them in a heartbeat. Besides, you can include hundreds of other books (Kevin is releasing the MI offers as PDFs!), reference material and PHOTOS, MOVIES!!! Imagine, you are in the middle of a BTS session and you SHOW them the picture of the Ghost and a MOVIE of the effects (youtube has lots and lots of material). I have never seen a GM use the full potential of an iPad (or laptop), because most of them limit themselves to use them as a e-reference and not as a tool to make the mood.

[mrloucifer]

These are all great suggestions thus far peeps. Keep em coming!

[mrloucifer]

I forgot to add that I have started using the iTunes for mood music/ambiance at times.

[One Hand Clapping]

Due to the massive quantities of R.C.C.s/races that exist in Rifts, my new players sometimes have difficulty making a selection, especially if they have no idea what to make and want to "browse" the books first. As a result, sometime ago my brother and I created an Excel database featuring every race from all the Palladium Books and Rifters. The player need only type in a search parameter/keyword and the race's name, size, book & pg. number, and picture appear. Searches can be made by physical characteristics (such as "reptilian" or "aquatic") or by aptitudes (such as "tech aptitude" or warrior race").
I keep the database on my laptop at all times, and I've found it useful even for situations outside of character creation.

[Jasper]

Due to the massive quantities of R.C.C.s/races that exist in Rifts, my new players sometimes have difficulty making a selection, especially if they have no idea what to make and want to "browse" the books first. As a result, sometime ago my brother and I created an Excel database featuring every race from all the Palladium Books and Rifters. The player need only type in a search parameter/keyword and the race's name, size, book & pg. number, and picture appear. Searches can be made by physical characteristics (such as "reptilian" or "aquatic") or by aptitudes (such as "tech aptitude" or warrior race").
I keep the database on my laptop at all times, and I've found it useful even for situations outside of character creation.

You should back that baby up! Sounds great.

[Jasper]

I use my laptop to keep track of Exp for my group. I created a Calc (open office version of excel) exp tracker with 43 different items to give out as exp. all i have to do is put in how many times an item was given (like if they used several skills i put in how many they used) it adds it up and it even gives me a total xp and till next level amount.

And jasper that is an awesome thing is it possible to get a copy (or is that against the rules andor law?)

I think you mean One Hand Clapping, he's the one that did it!

[One Hand Clapping]

I have no problem sharing the database, but it is a pretty big file (considering it contains 1,000+ pics). My brother and I are currently tweaking it to add the races from Lemuria. However because the artwork is Palladium's, I'm guessing there's a legal issue with me sharing the file; not sure. If so, I can still give you the database, but minus the pics.

If you don't mind waiting a few weeks, I can eventually get it to you. Just send me a private message a few weeks from now to remind me.

That said, the database only contains about 98% of the playable races from all Palladium settings (including some races that are not typically recommended as PCs). Keep in mind this database was designed based around my sensibilities. As such, I left out a few races from the Rifters or various books that I personally wouldn't allow in my games for whatever reasons.

[robertbc73]

I will be using my lap top hardcore when I run again, once I get a new battery of course; but yes a laptop or Ipad even is a great accessory for information not to mention 'a picture if worth a thousand words' and the proper mood music would also be a nice addition.

[Gallahan]

Cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc. are not conducive for games I run. I suppose I'm old-fashioned. Dramatic lighting, subtle background music and a dim setting set the stage for true role-playing. Dice are physically rolled. Lines are said. Roles are played. Music, dramatic lighting and perhaps a dimmed ambiance add to the mood. Laptops and other tech detract from that setting ---in games I run. Sure, they might fit into other games, other groups. However, like a good ghost story, all you really need is a campfire. A laptop detracts from that classic setting, IMHO.

[robertbc73]

Cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc. are not conducive for games I run. I suppose I'm old-fashioned. Dramatic lighting, subtle background music and a dim setting set the stage for true role-playing. Dice are physically rolled. Lines are said. Roles are played. Music, dramatic lighting and perhaps a dimmed ambiance add to the mood. Laptops and other tech detract from that setting ---in games I run. Sure, they might fit into other games, other groups. However, like a good ghost story, all you really need is a campfire. A laptop detracts from that classic setting, IMHO.

I can 100% relate but with health like it is (affecting memory) and when I next game I wont be home near my Palladium Books house weight (my source material) I am going to use for notes, stats, quick or often used references I have/will scan. Ect. But you are right. If thats the game feel your after, AWESOME! My best game ever was like that. Cold, quiet, (halloween and spoky game setting) nothing in the world outside of the building we were in.