12mo ago

What tools can you not live without for playing around the table?

(Posts for GMs and for online play to come later.)

13 comments

Recently, the Pocket Bard app for music and ambiance. You can select a setting like a town, dungeon, forest, etc. and it will pick thematically appropriate music. It has an intensity slider that will subtly change the music on the fly, becoming more soothing/playful at low levels and chaotic/dramatic at high levels. You can switch between exploration and battle music depending on what players are doing, there's even victory music for after a battle.
It's definitely a step up from shuffling between various YouTube playlists.
- I use a sound board (Custom Soundboard on Android) to do the same. Need to provide my own sounds, but I like that for me.
  It's been a big hit at the table.
  Just wish I had a sound system. My bluetooth speaker is not good enough.

seconding pf2easy.
Also Foundry VTT - it's really slow but better than printing or drawing maps.

I'm a GM and have only every played PF2 as a GM, but my players all use Pathbuilder 2e since it integrates nicely with tools I use as a GM. I'm wondering what tools others might use and enjoy?

Foundry tab, pf2easy tab, and the adventure PDF open on the side in case I need a quick reference.
- Oh interesting. How do you use Foundry in IRL games?
  
  Not OP, but my buddy built a table with a recessed TV. On the DM’s side, there’s an HDMI splitter; One split goes to the TV, and the other goes to a portable monitor mounted next to the DM. So the DM can see what is on the TV, without worrying about rotating everything 180° to face the players.
  The advantage of dual screens is that you can run multiple instances of Foundry on a single PC. So the DM’s main laptop screen (which the players can’t see) is the DM side, then a second instance (displayed on the TV and external monitor) can be the players’ view. It allows the DM to sequester the players’ view just like an online game.

13 comments