Any tips for gaming on the cheap? I have no qualms with torrenting PDFs or just playing fast and loose using SRDs, but I was wondering what I should prioritize money on, or ways to save a bit of cash.
>>47757687
If you get a game that uses d6s, you can salvage dice from your old childhood boardgames if they're still laying around.
>>47757687
You can play most free tabletop games (such as Microlite20) entirely for free. There are online dice-rollers, most of it is in the minds eye, hell you can even use microsoft word instead of paper. So long as you can afford to make this post, you can afford to play tabletop games :)
>>47757687
Prioritize books with monster art in them. Print out pictures at work.
>>47757807
This. If you're alright with pirating books, then tabletop RPGs are a free hobby so long as you have a computer. PDFs exist. Online dice rollers exist. Many games have form-fillable PDFs for character sheets, so you're good on that front. If you're fine with being all digital, there is almost no reason to ever spend money on this hobby unless you want to.
>>47757807
>>47758189
Yeah, that does make sense. Information is free and it's such an imagination heavy hobby that a lot of it can be done digitally. I'm not adverse to spending money on anything physical, but I don't have as much money as I'd like to spend. Thanks!
Learn to use lined paper for character sheets and planning forms. Pre-made boxes that walk you through the calculations are great and speed things up and remind you to get the stuff calculated ahead of time but there's something kinda freeing about a sheet that only has the actual things you use on a regular basis on their in black and white.
Absolute baseline:
- Pirated PDFs/SRDs/free games
- Online sheet sites/Word etc. for sheets
- Theater of the mind/crappy paint or word maps/stuff like non-premium Roll20
- Dice rollers
- If IRL game, someone's house or something. If online, either one of the various free chat programs or something like non-premium Roll20 or whatever competitor you prefer.
That just costs whatever you're paying for internet already/some kind of computer. Where to go from there partially depends on how you're playing - if online, you don't really need to spend much more to improve things. If you're using a Roll20-like thing (I forget their proper name, if one exists - virtual tabletop I guess?), you might consider switching to a paid-for one or getting whatever premium setup they have if you/your group feels that it's worth the cost (depending on how you'd sort out costs), but that's really it.
For in-person games, it's really a question of how much you want people to have to be looking at their computers (since tech can be distracting for some people). If possible, getting hold of some dice is good, since rolling dice is fun (and really you only need one each of a few types, depending on the system/what you're playing), and having pencils/paper is always nice. If you want physical sheets, then you can either write it all down on paper or print out proper sheets, if you have a place nearby where you can print on the cheap.
A nice aspect is that particularly for in-person gaming, you only really need to sort yourself out, which assuming you're still using a free rule source won't run you that far cost-wise.
>>47759199
And http://donjon.bin.sh for quick generators for all kinds of stuff.
>>47758726
What's your rough budget, OP?
>>47759592
Pretty slim. I just moved out of the folks' house and things are pretty tight in general. I don't have any more I can spend in the immediate future, but I'd like to maybe gather up about $100 at the max for some quality of life improvements. I'm DMing an IRL game for just two people, my friend and my little brother, and we've been playing at my folks' place up to now. We're started fine, I'm using a laptop myself for calculations, we've all got dice, and I even spent a bit on a dry erase grid mat. They're using a monopoly piece and a polished yellow rock for their miniatures, and I've been digging through a big bin of old Legos for minifigures for monster and NPC miniatures.
>>47759781
To be honest, that's an OK setup. Miniatures are a money sink and frankly I've never enjoyed them. My group moved to using zone maps (like in FATE) and never looked back. Just put rough ranges for each zone in case of projectiles.
Maybe get a bag of mixed glass beads of amazon (about $6) to use as markers, tokens, etc. You can make a DM's screen from three clipboards and duct tape.
>>47757687
Get a set of dice. You have to like your dice.
Beyond that all you really need is some paper and a pencil. Many games are free altogether of have free quickstart rules, many free scenarios are available from publishers and fans. You don't have to buy expensive books. Not even to play DnD. It's just convenient.
You might want to consider giving to the community a little. For example a game like Reign is one of the best options for Fantasy. It's no big publisher and pretty much Greg Stolze's passion project. You can get much of the fluff from the 'wiki' (it's really a blog). But you may spend the $10 to download Enchiridion legally and support Greg for his effort. It will pretty much determine how much time he will have for Reign after Delta Green and Unknown Armies. Same with Luke Crane, or a hundred more publishers and indie designers.
Bring snacks and soda to game night.
build a projection gaming table so you can save on paper and ink and stuff
>>47757807
>MS word
>Not notepad for extra cheap.
Print books you want on lulu and don't go cheap. Use the deluxe quality paperback and the highest grade paper. With the 25% off coupon codes you can buy soft covers for like $6 shipped.
