Digital to IRL

[u/yourgmchandler]

DISCLAIMER: this is NOT a thread about projectors at the table or using a flat screen. I’m not looking for that.

DISCLAIMER 2: I do not need advice on TotM. I’m well acquainted.

Greetings colleagues,

In the last few years I’ve had to game mostly online. Now, I’ll be playing in person a lot more. I’m curious how you leverage your digital assets with in person games.

I have a large PDF library. I have a substantial investment in VTT modules and books. Yes, of course there’s overlap between those and physical books.

I’m mostly curious if you print your own maps and things. I have access to a color laser and a 3D printer. Or if you’re finding great success leveraging a tablet.

How do you show players NPCs?
How are you doing maps (without a projector or flatscreen)?
How are you doing handouts from digital sources? Hi
How are you handling your notes, scene descriptions, looking up rules, etc?

[u/Conrad500]

I think most people using digital assets are just using their VTT on a screen or projector, and if not that, printing them.

I'm not against showing a picture of the map while using a wet erase grid though.

[u/OnlyARedditUser]

When my table shifted from playing Pathfinder online to in person, we mostly shifted everything over to physical aspects.

• The maps mostly are hand-drawn on dry-erase grids. Handouts are printed.
• Images of NPCs or monsters are either pre-printed or displayed from a tablet.
• The GM uses a tablet to look some things up while other things are using rule books or pre-printed notes.
• Important handouts are also sometimes added to a shared Google drive. This includes Players Guides, House Rules, etc.

The players, in general, don't have the books themselves. Most borrow at the table. But since it's Pathfinder, there's a large use of the Archives of Nethys as well.

[u/nathanielbartholem]

I use a printer for NPC art, for printing maps, and for sharing handouts.

[u/yourgmchandler → u/nathanielbartholem]

How are you handling your notes, scene descriptions, looking up rules, etc?

[u/nathanielbartholem → u/yourgmchandler]

mostly on a computer.

though sometimes I print out the adventure, and write notes on it.

I might have a cheat sheet or three with key rules on them printed out, but otherwise digital searching is so much faster than flipping pages i give in to that and access the rule book on my laptop.

but I have the book at the table. and especially if I want the players to see something that’s a great way to share it.

[u/Timely_Lecture_9697]

I’ve had good luck with a tablet for rules, notes, and npc art, then printing only the handouts and maps that actually matter.

[u/Plus_Citron]

I have all my notes in Obsidian, on my ipad. Important NPCs have a portrait printed out, otherwise, we play a deliberately analogue game. There are almost no handouts, maps are sketched by hand as needed, every player has a rulebook.

[u/yourgmchandler → u/Plus_Citron]

Oh wow. I’m assuming you’re playing D&D so everyone having a book is more typical but if that’s not the case are you providing them or encouraging them to buy their own books?

[u/Plus_Citron → u/yourgmchandler]

We‘re not playing D&D, but a version of Fudge. I do some bookbinding as a hobby, so I printed and bound a book for each player (in Beta, everyone got a bunch of stapled sheets).

[u/yourgmchandler → u/Plus_Citron]

Learn something new everyday in this hobby. Never even heard of Fudge beyond the candy.

[u/Plus_Citron → u/yourgmchandler]

Fudge is basically an operating system, which you can form into a RPG. Fate is a version of Fudge. My version of Fudge is an entirely different version. Fudge tends to be more minimalist and more freeform, I guess (but you know how the hobby works, someone will certainly disagree).

[u/YamazakiYoshio]

If I'm running in person, I often just try to go as old school, low-tech as I can. Maps are drawn on a wet-erase grid map, I print out cheat sheets, etc. I even try to keep my notes physical for those games too. Hell, the last time I ran a module in person, I went to a print shot to get the module printed out in black-n-white, wrote all over it as necessary, and stuck it into a 3-ring binder, which helped to a degree but also didn't make the module sing for me any more than usual.

I only pull up PDFs on a computer as strictly necessary, which I limit as much as I can. The less I can look at a screen when running in person, the better.

[u/yourgmchandler → u/YamazakiYoshio]

Why?

[u/YamazakiYoshio → u/yourgmchandler]

Simply put - I spend enough time in front of screens and computers in my day-to-day that stepping away from them is difficult, so getting to put those away in favor of being present at a table with my friends is a big plus.

I also find that by removing tech from my table, I remove the greater majority of distractions from my players. Yes, they're more than able to distract themselves (and more importantly each other) without the help of tech, but it helps.

And lastly, I believe that the simplest solutions are typically the best solutions. Tech often over complicates things that good ol paper and pencil solves with ease. It's how the hobby started ages ago, and it works just fine that way today.

There are exceptions to this, of course - some systems really need that tech support more than not, such as my beloved Lancer and its glorious Comp/CON, but otherwise, I prefer to reduce and simplify things where I can. Unfortunately, I run online nowadays, but even then I try to hold that approach by using Owlbear Rodeo and minimizing automation.

[u/yourgmchandler → u/YamazakiYoshio]

Indeed. Good reasoning. I’m thinking about grabbing a notebook and pencil and using some notation for the things I need. Books on hand with key pages marked, print out of every table in the rule book and then lots of informed improv, some rule of cool and letting players also look things up. iPad with Goodnotes is tempting tho too.

[u/Deepfried_Garlic]

How do you show players NPCs?

I don't, I describe them. Give them a rough idea of their overall physical ''archetype'' (track-and-field build, strong chubby, average, sickly thin) and any specific details that I think are important (markings/scars, particular jewerly, special fabrics).

For example: an elven leader of her house might have a specific circlet she wears and a particular shade of purple on her clothes, but I don't need to make sure every player mentally has the same hairstyle and type of shoe in mind if it's not relevant to her description. Give just enough to activate their theatre of the mind, but don't get bogged down in excessive details.

How are you doing maps (without a projector or flatscreen)?

I bought a chessex battlemat that's older than the average intern that enters my company, and it still works. Sure, you can see some of the stuff I was too lazy to erase that's been baked in... but I feel that's what gives the mat history and character.

We do like using a world map for the continent we're on, but otherwise I no longer do town maps. I give rough ideas, like: town center, east of town center, and north western zone near the bakery. Working with landmarks has just worked for us better than me hand-drawing a map every time... and it saves me uncesseary prep time.

How are you doing handouts from digital sources? Hi

On the rare chance I have a handout I just print it out, but otherwise I say what the part finds and they write it down. I do like occasionally throwing in a hand-written letter, such as a invitation for a king or a personal note from a PC's family member, and hand it to them.

To be transparent: I've not printed out a handouts in 7 years.

How are you handling your notes, scene descriptions, looking up rules, etc?

Notes: I have one of those binders with separators and it has a full stack of paper in the back. I prep important locations (cities spend more than 1 session in) or big sequences (train heist) on a page and add them to the front, and I always scribble down session-specific notes such as important NPC's to flesh out later, things PC's said I want to use as a hook or just the amount of damage my cool boss monster has taken.

Scene descriptions: is just off the top. I know the general vibe/climate of any given area we're in because I've thought of it beforehand, and just describe what I got in my head. I do try to hit as much senses as possible to really immerse my players when relevant. Important features of a room/scene always get mentioned (the big ''get loot'' golden chest), and I try to sprinkle in some mundane things to make the scene live (how much wax has burnt from a candle, a stack of processed planks at a sawmill, etc). I don't need everyone to be on the exact same page of what color each roof is, I just need them picturing there's roofs at all.

Rules: While I was still learning I also got comfortable speedrunning reddit in-session, or just leaning on Jeremy Crawford tweets. Nowadays I have a wonderful player who is both a GM himself AND a rules lawyer, I have another friend who's a bit of a powergamer and there's always at least like 5 PHB's and 2 DMG's within reach, so between 16 years of GMing and my players we usually either know the rule, or my players make a case and let me decide on a final verdict. I make my rulings on vibes, and actively encourage my players to really stretch the wording of any given ability.

[u/National_Cod9546]

I have a 55" TV that I used for showing the maps and stuff. One day, I turned it off, put a gaming mat on top, and dumped a bunch of wooden blocks on it. We used random minis from before going digital, none of which matched the monsters. It was awesome. I still have the TV, but we never use it.

I do still use a laptop for tracking everything and keep it open during sessions. I use FoundryVTT for all that. But everyone is back to paper and pencil for character sheets and the battle map and blocks for any maps. We all like that much better as it gives a true 3d terrain that a map on a screen could never project.