Computer

[Taliesin_Bardwolf]

Well, I am wondering if anyone of you uses a computer as another tool for his Star Wars Game. I mean, not when you are building the game, but in the session games. I have a portatil pc and I have begun to use it in my sessions, and it's easier to me now to access fast to all the stats, images, NPCs, etc.
Besides this, as there are many fanmade sourcebooks that I used, I burned all of them in a DVD, with other material, so I have many many data to play.

And now I am making a star wars database in Access with weapons, equipment, NPCs, etc, in order to have access to them even faster, so the computer is a very very useful tool for me.

¿What do you think guys?

[Akari]

Yep, I use my laptop quite frequently... Wish I had one of those cool Tablet PC's though, I bet that would make life even easier! I use it mainly for reference and I have some NPC sheets where I keep track of fights and all. Stats, Initiative, wound status, etc... I also keep a copy of all player character sheets for hidden rolls...

I still roll dice normally though. Just gives me a better feel for them...

[Gry Sarth]

Oh that's for sure. Computers can be a useful gaming aid, but for god's sake, roll your dice manually. There's no substitute for that.

I never really use the computer during play, probably because I don't have a laptop. Otherwise I can see it would be useful to have all the book PDFs in there (just the fan-made books, hehehehe), pictures to show your players, stats, music, etc....
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Tejma_Muhog]

I use my laptop constantly. It's tough now for me to function as a GM without it. (Which is the main disadvantage.) Not only is it great for looking up stuff and organizing combat (I use MS Access to rank people by their initiative roll), it's also great for recording events, so your campaign stays consistent. I have a several-hundred-page history document chronicling everything important that has ever occurred in all my campaigns.

Mostly, I have not been rolling my dice manually (partly because I use OpenRPG for one campaign, where the PCs are separated by hundreds of miles). I don't think there's a REAL difference, but there is certainly an IMAGINED difference, and even someone as anti-superstitious as myself will still whip out the physical dice when the campaign's fate hinges on one particular roll.

The other advantage of non-physical dice is that, if you have naughty cats, they can't play with them.
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Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

[Taliesin_Bardwolf]

Hahaha. Of course, Gry Sarth, ¡¡¡I roll REAL dice!!! Maybe I don't use now rulebooks, or pen and paper for maps, but... real PC sheets and real dice are very very important. ¿How could you play without holding your breathing while that piece of plastic is rolling? jejeje.

And yes Akari, a Tablet PC will be marvelous...¡¡that's why I am saving money for one!! ¡Oh my Goddess, drawing in it like in a paper!

[Robert]

A Tablet PC would be marvelous - if you risk giving him to your players... those thingies are quite expensive.

I always have my laptop with me during my regular gaming sessions. Mostly because of the pdfs, often because i can play some sounds or music, seldom to print some sheets. We are a very well-equipped gaming club with a printer
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"We don't stop playing because we grow old...we grow old because we stop playing." G.B. Shaw

[garhkal]

Other than to store the word docs of stuff i make, not recently though for ADND i use it for tehe Core rules program, which allows me to make character sheets.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Taliesin_Bardwolf]

¡Ho ho ho! Now I have a tablet pc Gun

At last, I have buyed it, and I have to say to all of you: buy one of this stuff. If you must, ¡¡¡steal one!!!.

It's a marvelous thing in many ways (hey, I have a private life besides my roleplaying life ), and for RPG it is very very very useful.

Well, that is. It's not a very helping post, but I do need to say how happy I am

[Akari]

Very cool, Taliesin! What brand and model did you buy?

Please enlighten us!

[Taliesin_Bardwolf]

¡Ha ha ha!ok,I'll enlight you :p

It´s a Toshiba Portégé M400,with a centrino dual core. ¡Hey, and it´s the first one that has arrive to my City!

It has even a sensor for ¿finger signatUre?¿is it said this way? Here you have a review.

If anyone is thinking buying one,I really recommend you to take a look to one of this.

PD: no,Toshiba doesn't pay me anything for publicity :p

[KageRyu]

I tried throwing my PC tower at a player who seriously fragged me off one day...does that count?

Seriously though, no. I wanted too, but aside from research and preperation, my computer sits idle during the games. Now, if I had a laptop or portable, it would be another matter.
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[Rasputiza]

[Camero]

I have just started trying to use my laptop for gaming and I think it will be a great tool. I am going to do an intro game for a couple of friends who are completely new to RPGs and not that well versed in the Star Wars Universe. I am finding pics to show them what they are imagining (aliens and ships and planets) and music to help them feel it. I will let you all know how it goes. I just wish I were more computer savvy so I could do really useful stuff.
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"What a wonderful smell you've discovered"

[Hellcat]

[Darth_Hilarious]

I have both a Blackberry Torch and an Iphone4 and use both in gaming especially maps and star charts. They also work really well when you want to describe something that a PC has seen and you can whip one out and tell them "Ok, you see THIS in the distance".