Transporting Books

[Shiki]

^So, is it not true at all or it depends on the person? 'cause I don't see the logic in your statement.

The statement that the argument is complete bullshit is not true at all because it depends on the person. For some, it's a perfectly valid argument. For others, it isn't.

Ok, I see where you're coming from here. Still, it is still a shitty argument against the use of laptops as reference sources. IMO, using one should be the norm (unless you cannot afford one/don't want one for w/e reason) not the other way around.

[Rejakor]

As a potential for distraction, a laptop is basically unrivalled, as anyone who's been in any kind of business meeting should know.

Maybe you never get distracted by laptops, Shiki, but that's not the general rule.  As a rule, people get distracted by laptops really easily.  And in DnD, a game where there's downtime, or, 'huge potential for distraction', and where one person being distracted detracts from the game for everyone else... having a laptop out all the time in front of someone isn't ideal, not ideal to the point of making the game worse, even.

[kurashu]

Heavy duffel bag + big binder looks like my ticket. I should have also noted that I'm the only person who has more than a single PHB. One player had one and another a 3.0 PHB that I let her reference provided any spells be double checked against the 3.5 SRD/PHB ahead of time. She's a rouge so it hasn't come up yet. So asking others to provide books is a moot point. I have encouraged that if anyone wants to buy a 3/3.5 book, just let me flip through it and I'll approve or disapprove of what fits in the game.

I shall begin my copypasta and cut extravaganza tonight. I'm about the only person without an iPhone in our group, so any SRD checks can be done by players.

[Cagemarrow]

Prior to getting my iPad/Asus Transformers I was expected to bring the books as the only one with the vast majority of the 3.5 ones.

Best thing I found was a Hockey Gear bag, basically a large duffel bag with a metal frame built into the bottom with wheels and an extending handle. Worked great for most trips where getting it in and out of the car was the hardest part.

[kurashu]

Just for reference, what has everyone else who's done a Big Book o' D&D put in there?

[Redeemer of Ogar]

I've only done character-specific ones, generally spellcasters, basically created their spellbook, and had a Forms supplement - a must for any druid, or any wizard/sorc who has alter self or shapechange. The cleric gets the printout of the turning rules.

If I was going to pull things out of the PHB, I'd say Grapple rules (hell, the entire special action section), the Type of Action chart (standard, full, etc) and whether they caues AoOs. Maybe the overland movement chart and the weapons chart.

From skills: Jump, Tumble, Spellcraft, Ride, Survival (if you have a tracker), Concentration.

[RobbyPants]

I pretty much always use a backpack. This is annoying right now as I just started DMing again, but it's not at my house, so I have to get choosy on which books I bring each session. Luckily the player has the staples like the MM and DMG, so I just need any niche books plus my own PHB and a 1" binder of Tome rules.

[ShadowViper]

Usually in my own bag(for actual books) I have Pathfinder Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Bestiary, Draconomicon, MM3, MM5, PHB2, and MiC. And I use just a good sized normal forest green duffle bag.

And then I also bring along my portable 500g Hard-Drive which has the entire(or close to it) 3.5 library on it, plus Pathfinder books.

[BruceLeeroy]

4 milkcrates for the whole 3.5 collection, cardboard tube for maps, bags for dice, backpacks for notebooks full of characters. That was when we didn't play at my place - I preferred to do the extra work to have hardcovers on hand. Admittedly a pain in the ass, but unloading it became a kind of ritual to start the evening off.

[heroicraptor]

Spiral notebook for character sheets and note-taking, and an iPad for books.