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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Technology and Index Cards - Perfect Together

When I used to DM regularly, back in the Way Back (1980-1997) I took quickly to using index cards to keep PC (and significant NPC) information handy.

Most of the time, the index cards were paper clipped to my DM Screen, as I had already memorized most of the charts in question, and the screen was mostly there to keep certain dice rolls and dungeon maps out of the player's views.

Running an RPG via G+ Hangout (or really any VTT) pretty much does away with the need to hide rolls. If the interface allows for online dice rolling, and you need to keep the roll secret, just roll real dice off screen. Can't get more secret than that.

The need to view PC info or charts does take up valuable screen space if you are using your computer to run the game. Even with a 27" screen, I'd rather refer to my deadtree copy of ACKS, or print out the material I need for the session, than pull it up on the screen. I need the screen real estate to run the game, not read the material (obviously, if you are gaming in person, a laptop can be THE awesome game master aid).

So, time for me to go to the dollar store and get some index cards. Look at me be all organized and shit ;)

3 comments:

  1. Erik.. any chance I can sit in on one of your G+ sessions just as an observer? Would love to see how things play inside a hangout.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @The Dave - I'll see how it works for the group. If it doesn't work for them, i have a couple of folks looking to play that a ret in the group, so i could always run a one shot.

    Then you could plat and not just look ;)

    ReplyDelete

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