Favorite DM or Gaming Aids/Tools

[Ashendale]

I've seen posts that touch on this topic, but the closest I've come is "GM Binder": viewtopic.php?f=30&t=124133

So here's my question, what do you use to aid in your role playing experience or campaign running? Dice, pencils, paper, sure.But are there other things you love to use or that you've found incorporating makes your job easier or your gameplay more fluid? It can be anything! I've known players who buy a specific PDA carrying case because it is just perfect for their pencils and pads, and some players had these cases that had a clipboard on top with a deep inside that could hold dice and notebooks. Had a DM once who had a tablecloth fashioned with a grid for minis.

I have:
*A foldable, pocket whiteboard that's blank on one side and gridded on the other.
*A case for sorting my dice/community dice.
*A DM binder complete with seperate sections, extra paper, labels, plastic sleeves, etc.
*An index card box complete with the basic info for all spells and psionics written out and labeled on index cards (easy to hand out instead of looking up or writing down every time, though it took a long time to put together.)
*An old cigar box repurposed as my campaign case for post its, notepads, pens, highlighters, label tabs, paper hole reinforcement stickers, etc.

I also have a whiteboard notebook on its way from a kickstarter campaign I backed, which I am looking forward to using a lot (no more buying and losing notebooks!)

[say652]

Imagination and fairness.

[filo_clarke]

Along the lines of the GM Binder, I have created what I call my Rifts-cyclopedia. I have accumulated pages and pages of rules found in the official books and in the Rifters that make sense for my game. Shock/Blood loss, Weapon Deterioration, Frostbite/Cold Weather, Heat Exhaustion/Hot Weather, Combat bonuses/penalties, Illness/Infection, Depth Tolerance/Holding breath, Smoke Inhalation/Extreme Heat, Horror Factor/Morale....

It is over 50 pages of indexed rules from across the megaverse, intended to make it easier for me to provide a complete and immersive game, without having to carry 300 palladium books around with me.

During gameplay I rely on my laptop/notebook, and an overhead projector (playing Dead Reign with Google Street-View for all to see is informative and intense).

[Killer Cyborg]

The Rack.

[PSI-Lence]

envelopes full of teams (mostly rolled with mercenary company rules) or sometimes small towns and outposts
as well as a few envelopes of random citizens/mercs/CS/ etc so i can pull a few of most char types if needed

i have still never done it yet but i want to colour code npc sheets from green/blue (low level or 'weak' occ) white for average (something like a 5-8 lv wilderness scout) yellow/red for high level or high powered occ's (lv 12+ or dragon, GB etc)

also haven't used them yet but just bought some dice rings that seem like they would be fun (so far just d4 3*d6 2*d10)

[Akashic Soldier]

I have random generators up the whazoo. Everything from critical hits to random civilian personalities and much much more. Keeps things more impartial and fair.