GM Tools, What do you use? Options

[CypherDragon]

Basically the title says it all. I'm looking for some GM tools to help me run my campaign. Here's what I would like something that:
SR4a compatable
Tracks multiple char sheets, including advancement
NPC sheets
GM Notes
Storyline tracker

Would be nice to have:
Chargen
Die Roller

Things I've tried/looked at:
OpenRPG
iTabletop
ShadowDice
cndblank's GruntBuilder spreadsheet
all the dxi apps
DarkSeven's awesome chargen spreadsheet

I've seen a couple software packages out there, but they generally seem built towards online play, or are no longer maintained (hence, not SR4a compatable). So what do you all use...the classic manila folder system? Multiple spreadsheets? Something you built yourself? As a note this is for an in-person game, so online capability isn't really needed. I'm also willing to look at paid software, but it must have either a free trial or an extremely good recommendation...

[suoq]

I've considered writing a dice roller for the Android phone. If that would help, let me know. I'll have some more free time to program in about 8-9 days.

For CharGen I'm addicted to SR4CharGen by Daisybox.

[tifunkalicious]

Excel 2007 has the tools to keep effective track of characters, you can split stats/equpiment/advancement on multiple sheets and simply remember to update them often

[Glyph]

Invisible Castle is a great tool for dice rolling, especially for forum games.

[Daylen]

The only software I have really used to assist in tabletop stuff is LabVIEW.

[Straight Razor]

one or two stenographers note pads.
small bag of props.
one large rubber cudgel

[Traul]

Why rubber?

[Tanegar]

Assault carries a lesser penalty than murder?

[Straight Razor]

1: carry laws.
2: humor

[nylanfs]

Basically the title says it all. I'm looking for some GM tools to help me run my campaign. Here's what I would like something that:
SR4a compatable
Tracks multiple char sheets, including advancement
NPC sheets
GM Notes
Storyline tracker

Would be nice to have:
Chargen
Die Roller

There isn't anything out there that handles everything that you listed. About the best one that does the majority is Fantasy Grounds, with the free ShadowRun gameset from their community wiki you can fill in a character sheet w/ skills/weapons/qualities etc. You can have multiple characters & NPC's, you can create an adventure or campaign including GM notes, there's one of the BEST die rollers that I have seen.

There is a free demo, but it's about two years old and the code base has improved quite a bit, but it gives you a good look at the possibilities.

[Platinum]

I use the Omnihedron by wordman for a dice roller, random encounter/random contact generator. It's incredibly extensible with xml.

I use notepad extensively for character sheets and notes.

We are gaming over skype so we use google maps a great deal and photoshop with screen sharing.

[Draco18s]

Someone had me do some quick changes to a SWF I had to make it an ammo tracker, if that'd be useful to you.

[DMFubar]

For keeping track of how everything ties together in a game, I am using Personal Brain. It is freeware (30 days free use, after that some of the functions shut down, but still more than enough to be extremely useful). With it I am able to keep all the character info, background, and associations in one place and tie it all to the different scenarios they are dealing with. You can also drag and drop office files, graphics, sound files, etc. into the workspace, though I am not sure if this option is available after the 30 days end (I still have a few days left before my trial ends).

[Runner Smurf]

I've put together some tools on my web page that I've built to use when running a game. They're Mac apps, so you're SOL if you use PC/Linux.

Anyway, the tools I use/need/recommend:
- A combat management tool that rolls and sorts initiative for a bunch of NPCs and grunts. In combat, speed is king to keeping the players engaged - rolling initiative for 30 entities (which can happen all too easily) takes waaay too long.
- An auto die-roller. Sometimes I like to roll physical dice for dramatic effect and public "look, the GM isn't cheating" rolls. Sometimes I just want a result fast.
- A tool for doing the extended checks when purchasing equipment with medium to high availability. The rules are scattered in two different places and have all sorts of variables. The end result is that a simple "How long to get ahold of equipment X?" question from a player can take a few minutes to answer and a whole bunch of dice rolls.
- A character builder. Plenty out there. I use my own Numbers-based homebrew. Great when your players know the grunt templates all too well.
- A vehicle builder. I have my own homebrew, but if you have any rigger PCs/NPCs, something that takes care of that quickly is a godsend. A gun-builder for the weapon modification rules might not be a bad idea either, but it hasn't come up often enough to justify doing the work.
- A contact/location database that gives quick rundowns of the various contacts the PCs have and the people they meet.
- A list of random names to give to new NPCs that show up.
- PC Reference cards. I put the basic stats, gear, implants, pos/neg qualities for all the PCs on little 3x5 cards that I keep on hand for reference. Great for when they forget their character sheet, and for making perception tests and the like for them.
- I also do 3x5 reference cards for all the major spirit types (it is the rare and blessed mage player who has all the powers for their spirits right on hand) and keep them on hand.
- And when I have the time, I put together the 3x5 cards for NPCs, vehicles, system nodes, etc before a given run.

Things I'd like to have in the future (and may build):
- A VR/hacking simulator. I've taken a crack at it in 3rd edition, but got crushed by the complexity of it. I think in 4th it'd be a bit easier, but still tough. Basically have it be a system node simulator, and allow the GM to just select, "This IC attacks this target, rolls X dice, gets Y hits." If the PC wants to do action X, it automatically tells me how many dice he should roll, what the threshold is, etc.
- A quick utility for dealing with the attacks/blasts against barriers. It's not that they are especially complex, it's just that I never remember the rules and it takes me a minute or two to work out again every time it comes up.

[Draco18s]

Things I'd like to have in the future (and may build):
- A VR/hacking simulator. I've taken a crack at it in 3rd edition, but got crushed by the complexity of it. I think in 4th it'd be a bit easier, but still tough. Basically have it be a system node simulator, and allow the GM to just select, "This IC attacks this target, rolls X dice, gets Y hits." If the PC wants to do action X, it automatically tells me how many dice he should roll, what the threshold is, etc.

I may also build something like this.
Though it likely won't be for a while.
Ideally the GM just puts in a few parameters about the system and the player then interacts with it, the system running on a series of rules and automating everything without the GM's input.

This does two things:

1) Removes the GM from spending too much time working with the single player to resolve his actions without it resorting to "I hack the system, 8 hits" "it defends, 5 hits, that's 3 net here's your paydata."
2) Makes hacking fun for the player by giving them something to play with.

[rstehwien]

I use Maptools for my games (around the table but we use a projector to run the map). There is a Shadowrun 4a framework for Maptools
http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9002
http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=maptool

So far it is pretty good, but I've only used it for one session (and didn't prep as much as I'd like). I need to take a little more time to see if it does everything I need.

[CypherDragon]

*snip*

Found some problems with DarkSeven's spreadsheet (not calculating some things properly) and DaisyBox definitely works better...still doesn't have everything I'm looking for though.

*snip*

I am not an Excel hacker...if you have some templates to do that, I'd be interested in looking at them. Otherwise, Excel is not a good option for me.

*snip*

Yeah, Invisible Castle looks nice, just the OpenRPG die-roller on a website though, right?

The only software I have really used to assist in tabletop stuff is LabVIEW.

Do you mean this software? http://www.ni.com/labview/ If so, dear gods dude I want your gaming budget! $1200 is quite a bit outside of mine...

*snip*

Old-school; I can respect that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Why rubber?

Because it's dull you twit, it'll hurt more! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

*snip*

Took a look at that, but it looks like the SR4 stuff hasn't been updated in a couple months...or do you have to be a member before you can see all the forums?

Someone had me do some quick changes to a SWF I had to make it an ammo tracker, if that'd be useful to you.

That's actually really cool and handy. Thanks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

*snip*

Hmm...that looks interesting, I might have to check in on that.

*snip*

Yeah....unless you're willing to port to PC, can't use any of that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) I'd really like a port of the Combat Utility, it looks very nifty!

[JesterZero]

I've never been thrilled with dice roller programs. YMMV, but in my experience, getting them setup, clicking on the window, changing values, clicking buttons, squinting at the screen...by the time everything is up and going, you're not really saving time over actually rolling actual dice. Sure, you don't have to lug dice around, but that's still not really a net gain for convenience.

What I've done (which changed my games, and makes me VERY happy), is simply create an excel sheet that generates lists of random numbers from 1 to 6. Then I simply use conditional formatting to make the 5s and 6s easy to see. Since everything in SR4 basically has a TN of 5 (or 4 if you use the optional rule), I can simply cross off a number of pre-generated numbers equal to the dice rolled, count the hits, and move on.

Each sheet contains approximately 300 rolls. Generally I'll randomize and print out 10 or so, shuffle them before the run, and just go from there.

The players still love rolling dice, and I wouldn't dream of denying them that pleasure. But this lets me streamline the game without sacrificing granularity. (Note: we generally prefer more narrative games, and we're comfortable with "winging it" slightly if it keeps the story rolling. If you have a group that insists that the RANDBETWEEN= function in excel is inadequate because it fails to take into account the fact that the kitchen table is not a truly level surface...well, I can't help you there.)

The only other objection that I could see being raised is that the GM could conceivably "cheat" since he/she could peek ahead and know what the number of hits will be on any given roll. I'll grant that possibility. But I'd also suggest that if you don't trust someone enough to fairly count numbers that represent imaginary events...get new friends.

Anyhow, we use very little in the way of software aside from customized character sheets...but that one little tip was a huge help for our game.

[Draco18s]

That's actually really cool and handy. Thanks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Sure thing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

It came out of a simple UI test* for handling ShadowRun-like gun combat for a semi-turn based top-down shooter. I wanted to see how well I could handle the multitude of firing options available to the player at any given time without having a clunky interface, so I created a little popup menu that showed up when you clicked on a target (which survived as the grid of firing modes).

I never did anything with that UI (beyond the ammo counter), it was just a "how would this work?" exploration.

*Version online handles up to long bursts; I don't recall if I coded FA at all or if the weapon that's there only handles up to BF.

[deek]

I've never been thrilled with dice roller programs. YMMV, but in my experience, getting them setup, clicking on the window, changing values, clicking buttons, squinting at the screen...by the time everything is up and going, you're not really saving time over actually rolling actual dice. Sure, you don't have to lug dice around, but that's still not really a net gain for convenience.

What I've done (which changed my games, and makes me VERY happy), is simply create an excel sheet that generates lists of random numbers from 1 to 6. Then I simply use conditional formatting to make the 5s and 6s easy to see. Since everything in SR4 basically has a TN of 5 (or 4 if you use the optional rule), I can simply cross off a number of pre-generated numbers equal to the dice rolled, count the hits, and move on.

Each sheet contains approximately 300 rolls. Generally I'll randomize and print out 10 or so, shuffle them before the run, and just go from there.

The players still love rolling dice, and I wouldn't dream of denying them that pleasure. But this lets me streamline the game without sacrificing granularity. (Note: we generally prefer more narrative games, and we're comfortable with "winging it" slightly if it keeps the story rolling. If you have a group that insists that the RANDBETWEEN= function in excel is inadequate because it fails to take into account the fact that the kitchen table is not a truly level surface...well, I can't help you there.)

The only other objection that I could see being raised is that the GM could conceivably "cheat" since he/she could peek ahead and know what the number of hits will be on any given roll. I'll grant that possibility. But I'd also suggest that if you don't trust someone enough to fairly count numbers that represent imaginary events...get new friends.

Anyhow, we use very little in the way of software aside from customized character sheets...but that one little tip was a huge help for our game.

Yeah, I loved doing this as well. There is a webpage out there (I can't find it at the moment) that lets you do a page of random dice rolls. I used to print out a few of those each session and do the same. Players love to roll dice. Me behind the GM screen, not so much.

I love the idea of building a little hacking app, especially for ad hoc stuff that the player is intent on doing but I really don't care much about. Hand it over and the hacker can go at it on his own time while the rest of us keep playing. At the end of his actions, the hackers either dead, dumped or has full control of the system and can ask me some questions. It would save a lot of table down time...

[Draco18s]

I love the idea of building a little hacking app, especially for ad hoc stuff that the player is intent on doing but I really don't care much about. Hand it over and the hacker can go at it on his own time while the rest of us keep playing. At the end of his actions, the hackers either dead, dumped or has full control of the system and can ask me some questions. It would save a lot of table down time...

I'll look into it when I'm done with this artpass contest for TF2. Best not to get side tracked by (yet another) project when I've got one with a deadline.

[CypherDragon]

No other suggestions? Well frak...I guess I need to dust of ye old compiler and get to work then...

[Daylen]

Do you mean this software? http://www.ni.com/labview/ If so, dear gods dude I want your gaming budget! $1200 is quite a bit outside of mine...

actually I mean http://ohm.ni.com/advisors/devsuite . so close but mine is a bit more pricy. The student version would suffice for my gaming needs I think though, which is $105 on amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/LabVIEW-2009-Student-Robert-Bishop/dp/0132141299/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281481752&sr=8-1.

I use the software at work though so I get the good stuff for free. Can you really put a price though on in depth statistical analysis and simulation?

[nylanfs]

I like Fantasy Grounds, and there's a free SR4 gameset add-on or it.

Of course PCGen has an awesome random name generator.