using the software for paper and pencil RPG

[andydm]

I am looking for a really good program to run a paper and pencil game with. I see that this is designed to do that on the internet, but I want something to use for game night, at my buddy's house, with everyone in the same room. Will this work, or should I look elsewhere?

[Morfedel]

Hm. I'm a bit new to this, but what exactly are you looking for your software to do? I mean, if you are already at the table in real life, what do you want the software to do exactly?

[Stuart]

This will work ... also look at DMGenie

[sunbeam60]

Yeah, you could get something up and running by putting a client computer on the other side of your screen, facing the players, and then log it in to your DM client. The players would have to occasionally adjust the size and position of maps, but you determine when maps open up to the players/clients, so you could use it as some kind of presentation tool. Advantages is of course the gradual reveal, the token support, the area-of-effect support etc.

[danielpryor]

Here's how I plan to use this program (by next wednesday): I have a newer laptop running the DM Client end software with a wireless G card built in for access over my friends high-speed wiresless network. My friend Mike will be using an older but useeable laptop to login as a player client. (There are a total of six players though!). Mike's laptop (player) will be hooked up too a non-moving sealing fan that will hold a digital project face down in place so the maps are projected on a white poster board that has been laminated for shinniness and also if we want to use erasable pens on it. We are using 3d miniatures. The maps are all preploaded and ready to go and zoomed in so that each mini fills a 5' square on the grid.

This will work better than our previous setup I think because I was running:
Acrobat read (for module info),
Excell spreadsheet (containing player info, initiatives, etc.)
Paint Shop Pro X for maps (Using a masked layer to gradually reveal the maps)
Media player (for sounds and music).
Wordpad (for general note-taking),
And of course a big bag of dice, a calculator, pencil, pen, and 7 core AD&D 3.5 edition books.

Now of course I can reduce the dice, pens, paper, and all the other applications into one program. I'm hoping this will work great, I'l let you know how it goes....
-Dan

[richvalle]

Wow, that sounds pretty cool. Yes, let us know how it goes!

rv

[sunbeam60]

Mike's laptop (player) will be hooked up too a non-moving sealing fan that will hold a digital project face down in place so the maps are projected on a white poster board that has been laminated for shinniness and also if we want to use erasable pens on it.

Hey, are you the guy with that AWESOMO gaming den that got showed off at ENworld.org a couple of months back?

[richvalle]

Hey, are you the guy with that AWESOMO gaming den that got showed off at ENworld.org a couple of months back?

https://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=122099
?

https://www.d20srd.org/extras/mapProjection.htm
nice too

[sunbeam60]

https://www.d20srd.org/extras/mapProjection.htm
nice too
That's the one I was thinking of ... though the other is just as cool.

It's almost as cool as FG ;)

[DarkStar]

It's AWESOME! But I'm afraid it might kill the spirit of pen & paper RPGs... Don't you think? We're going away from imagination into a computer powered limited 2D map. Sure, it looks pretty cool on that table, with figures and so on, but I wouldn't like to look on some digital screen that takes away my visions. I'm also against using laptops as DM screens, the fantasy mood goes off a bit.

Still, I'd like to give it a try. But the costs are high, unfortunately. :(

[danielpryor]

It's AWESOME! But I'm afraid it might kill the spirit of pen & paper RPGs... Don't you think? We're going away from imagination into a computer powered limited 2D map. Sure, it looks pretty cool on that table, with figures and so on, but I wouldn't like to look on some digital screen that takes away my visions. I'm also against using laptops as DM screens, the fantasy mood goes off a bit.

Still, I'd like to give it a try. But the costs are high, unfortunately. :(

Trust me, if you had the money you'd do it. I couldn't imagine DMing without the digital projector at this point and the players love it too. Imagine not having to have a bunch of dice, have draw out maps, etc. It save us hours gaming time!

[sunbeam60]

I hear you DarkStar, but you don't have to project something generated by a tool. I personally don't find that the hand-drawn maps I share in FG kill the fantasy experience.

[Bumamgar]

In my situation FG is what has allowed my Wife and I to start playing DnD again.

Sure, we own a bookshelf full of source books, dice, miniatures, etc. But, we also have two adorable little children who don't understand that it's not OK to eat dice, rip pages out of the PHB, knock over miniatures, etc :)

So, between our two chaos elementals and the hastle of setting everything up for each session, we would only play rarely if at all.

Now, with FG, we don't have to worry about the children getting into everything, and we can "setup" for a session in minutes. This lets us play for an hour or two whenever we like.

It's been a real boon to us. We now play several times a week with our solo campaigns, as well as a regular Saturday session over the internet.

Worst thing that's happened is that my wife had "adfhaldighwliurgbvaskjbv" in her inventory one time after our 2 year old got a hold of the keyboard :)

[richvalle]

I'm pretty sure thats a rare and powerfull magic item. Its just not named in Common.

:)

rv

[sunbeam60]

adfhaldighwliurgbvaskjbv
AL CG; Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 15; Speech, 60 ft. darkvision and hearing; Ego score 13.
Languages: Common, Gobbledygook
Item can read any language it can speak.
Lesser Powers: Item has 13 ranks in Spot, Item has 10 ranks in Knowledge (Diaperchanging), Item has 12 ranks in Bluff.
Dedicated Purpose: Bring parents to tears.
Dedicated Power: Item can use rusting drool as ranged touch attack.
Base Price Modifier: +82,000 gp

[danielpryor]

Just got through using it tonight in a game, it totally rocked! I also am putting all the d20 module info in the FG software too. It was much easier than jugggling five progams around. The only other source material I needed was the DMG to generate some random magic items and that was it. I didn't even use real dice! I'm totally sold on this software. However, the learning curve on this thing is steep (not really great user manual! LOL!) and I don't recommend this software to the computer illerate or those that don't have enough patience to learn it.

After putting in the dz20 ruleset, modifying the map sizes so it goes over 700 x 700, putting some new monsters in the database, etc. it is a great tool. Next I'm going to try to get better spell templates put into it and possibly a random magic item generator and the thing would be pratically perfect. Although there are a few things here and there I like to change, this thing has gotten much better since the last few versions.

As to whether or not it would "kill" a gaming experience, give me a break! If anything it enhances it. I don't have to waste time adding dice, drawing maps, etc. And since I use a digital project to project map images on the table top and use REAL D&D miniatures, I'd harly say it detracts from the gaming experience. Because the FG program frees up some much in play time my adventuring party can do in one 6 hour sitting what most other parties do in four game sessions. (Geez almost sounds like an army add slogan! LOL!) Dungeon masters be all you can be, buy Fantasy Grounds and Dundjinni! LOL!

And no, that wasn't me on the DRSD.d20 site with the gaming loungue. We project an image on someone's coffee table using white poster board. If anyone wants pictures I'll post some up by next Thursday.