Software for Laptops

[Shikarr]

Alright. It is that time when my curiosity is awakened once more. I use my laptop for keeping track of all sorts of things in my game to speed play for combat and such. But I know that what I use works but am always on the lookout for better. Here is what I am using at the moment for my game.

Herodesigner to create and make characters as well as exporting a variety of combat records. (As always good things about herodesigner)

Firefox with the combat records tabbed in for easily switching back and forth for stats and such, and also Simon's little die roller app in another tab.

RPG dice 2 for other general rolling of dice.

and combat seq to keep track of segments.

So what is everyone or anyone else using, what do they think about it, and what do they think is needed?

[Starwolf]

In addition to hero designer, I use an old DOS app called GMAid to roll dice, track combat phases, track END usage, Track Damage, etc. I have downloaded the Phaser alpha test program, and Simon's die roller but I have not yet played with them. I am also on the lookout for MO-BETTA software.

[mudpyr8]

I run my games in Klooge but use paper to track phases and such.

[AndyStaples]

I don't have a laptop yet, but I do have several programmes that will be installed as soon as I do. All of the below (except HD) are Windows-only programmes.

First off, stuff I use on my desktop for pre-game prep:

Hero Designer (natch).

Campaign Cartographer Pro (http://www.profantasy.com/), with all the trimmings. Absolutely my favourite mapping software - especially if you also download the freeware Mappa Harnica Toolkit (http://www.thechmp.com/), which makes Harn-style fantasy mapping a cinch. I'll admit to some bias - I had a hand in developing the MH toolkit. ;) When I do get a laptop, I'll probably use it as a battleboard rather than just producing maps to print out.

EBON - the Everchanging Book of Names (http://sky.prohosting.com/kurimus/). Top notch name-generating shareware, and highly adaptable. It's well worth paying the five dollar registration to unlock the extra features. Creating name lists is now easy - just a click of the mouse.

Weathermaster (http://www.milieusim.com/). The best of several weather generators I've tried. It makes some attempts to handle non-Earthlike worlds (multiple moons, different planetary diameters, rotation periods and year lengths) but nothing too exotic. It gives an extraordinary amount of detail, and can also be used to keep a campaign log. The Hand of God feature is nice - if you need a storm, two-week blizzard or whatever for dramatic purposes, you make sure you get it.

One that I'm playing with on the desktop to get ready for when I get the laptop:

RPG Soundmixer (http://www.rpgsoundmixer.com/). Basically, used to make in-game sound-effects. Can handle most common soundfiles (MP3, WAV, MIDI etc) and use CDs for backing tracks. You can blend numerous sound FX and music to create a mood for battle scenes, play with tension, tavern scenes, etc. Totally customisable, so you can add effects in the middle of a pre-prepared sound file at the touch of a button. There are tons of FX files available on the web, so you can do pretty much any genre you want with this.