101–110 of 155 posts
I think this is a neat product but not one I have any interest in. I play board games in part to avoid the digital world. If a board game needs a computer to handle the rules, then it is a needlessly complicated board game.
Very cool product but at $500 you can get a meta quest 3. I get that the meta quest is not multiplayer but still.
Or what about getting a desktop PC instead for that same price? Or a snowboard? Obviously neither of these things are alternatives to a table-top device meant for playing table games together with other humans...
I think this is a neat product but not one I have any interest in. I play board games in part to avoid the digital world. If a board game needs a computer to handle the rules, then it is a needlessly complicated board game.
Surely a companion app wouldn’t count, right? I couldn’t DM without it. I would need binders and binders of information or my iPad. I prefer my iPad.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Surely a companion app wouldn’t count, right? I couldn’t DM without it. I would need binders and binders of information or my iPad. I prefer my iPad.
To be honest as someone who's built a dozen dice rolling and dming tools for myself I've recently switched mostly back to paper. There's just something really nice about rolling physical dice on a physical table while flipping through physical books and notes. It's super cumbersome and I don't think there's anything wrong with using digital tools. I play most of my games over a digital tabletop since those I play wit…
Physical books feel better because it’s physical. You can touch it, you can smell it, you can read it, and some you can hear (when you open them or turn the pages). This is why we prefer it. However, I reserve those for the shelves at home.
I think this is a neat product but not one I have any interest in. I play board games in part to avoid the digital world. If a board game needs a computer to handle the rules, then it is a needlessly complicated board game.
Surely a companion app wouldn’t count, right? I couldn’t DM without it. I would need binders and binders of information or my iPad. I prefer my iPad.
Using digital tools as a DM for any sort of TTRPG is justifiable for the same reasons we use computers instead of books.
But the real problem is that players need digital tools too as the character sheet for any character with spellcasting is unworkable by hand.
Any prepared caster would need to manually copy every spell of the right level from their spell list onto paper every few level ups. If they don't write out the spell exactly as written (i.e, if they summarize) then you're opening the flood gates of rules lawyering and googling/book opening mid session.
Many other TTRPGs don't have this problem because they are designed with "playing with paper" in mind.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Surely a companion app wouldn’t count, right? I couldn’t DM without it. I would need binders and binders of information or my iPad. I prefer my iPad.
It 100% counts. As a somewhat irregular DM, DnD is a very poorly designed game. Using digital tools as a DM for any sort of TTRPG is justifiable for the same reasons we use computers instead of books. But the real problem is that players need digital tools too as the character sheet for any character with spellcasting is unworkable by hand. Any prepared caster would need to manually copy every spell of the right leve…
As for rules lawyering... That is just playing by the rules. That is how the game is meant to be played: rules as written except as modified by the group by agreement. Rules lawyering just means sticking to what the rules actually are.
Maybe you mean something else?
As for googling, why would you need to google a spell?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be honest as someone who's built a dozen dice rolling and dming tools for myself I've recently switched mostly back to paper. There's just something really nice about rolling physical dice on a physical table while flipping through physical books and notes. It's super cumbersome and I don't think there's anything wrong with using digital tools. I play most of my games over a digital tabletop since those I play wit…
Yes on the physical dice rolling, no on the tombs and tombs of dead trees to lug around with me. Even just the handbooks are over 1,000 pretty printed shavings of poplar pulp. Having a cardboard paper screen and a small scratch pad and empty character sheets is the most paper I’ll bring. Physical books feel better because it’s physical. You can touch it, you can smell it, you can read it, and some you can hear (when…
If you don't want to cart books around that's fine but you can easily play the game with only the basic three (and players just need one).
If you are using a book just for a spell or an item or two you can just photocopy the page.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It 100% counts. As a somewhat irregular DM, DnD is a very poorly designed game. Using digital tools as a DM for any sort of TTRPG is justifiable for the same reasons we use computers instead of books. But the real problem is that players need digital tools too as the character sheet for any character with spellcasting is unworkable by hand. Any prepared caster would need to manually copy every spell of the right leve…
Book opening is fine. Post-it notes exist. You can easily open the book to the right spell. Just write down the names of the spells you have chosen to memorise for the day on a piece of paper and cross them off when you cast them. As for rules lawyering... That is just playing by the rules. That is how the game is meant to be played: rules as written except as modified by the group by agreement. Rules lawyering just…
All the old-school OSR inspired stuff doesn't have this problem.
You should not need to repeatedly and consistently open the rule-book to play what is essentially a board game. That's ok the first time you play a board game, not ok the 20th time. You google a spell because it is much faster than opening the book. DnD combat is already way too slow as it is.