My group plays mostly online because of COVID and I've switched from physical books to D&D Beyond. While I have a laptop, I'm strongly considering buying a tablet. Is it worth it and if so, which tablet would you recommend?
If you play online you could easily use D&D Beyond in the browser. But if you want to buy a tablet, and it sounds like you do, I'd recommend an iPad. More expensive than other tablets, but it's the top of the food chain for a reason. I use a iPad Pro and have been completely happy with D&D Beyond on it.
The browser version of the books has been superior to using the DDB "App" version of the books for a long time. So much so that I haven't used the app in months. Dunno if they ever patched the app to make it not... well, suck.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I used to use an iPad only, and after a while I switched to a laptop, and I've used the laptop throughout the quarantine. It works better for me for these reasons:
Easier to move between tabs (one for the character sheet, another for looking up spells, rules, possibly a VTT) and programs (notetaking app, web browser, discord)
Not only is moving between programs this way easier for me, the flash memory the iPad uses means it spends a lot of time reloading pages when I move between them. Sometimes this means my place gets lost or extra pausing during a combat turn - just generally a lot of extra loading.
I find it easier to search on a laptop than on an iPad. Laptop is just ctrl-f and type. iPad is tap URL bar, type, scroll past all the other autofill suggestions to the very bottom and tap 'search page.'
If you are a heavy note-taker, especially typed notes, you'll probably prefer a keyboard for speed, so if you do go with a tablet make sure you also get a keyboard for it. Also if you have a preferred notetaking app, you'll want to factor in if you'll have to pay again to get the tablet app version, which is possible.
If you are using voice chat and/or a VTT, I've found it necessary many times to plug in to the good old fashioned ethernet, which is ...hard to do on a tablet.
Really, the biggest benefit of a tablet, for me, was the smaller footprint on the game table, which didn't win out over the other benefits of a laptop even before COVID. But if you really want a tablet, you can make it work for you. And if you're going to use the laptop anyway and are thinking of the tablet more as a dedicated screen for your character sheet, that's definitely workable. But I advise you to think about what resources you use over the normal course of a session, how they interact with each other, and how they function differently on a tablet. If you're able to try one out I'd recommend that, but that might not be possible right now.
I enjoy my iPad, but it's for browsing on the couch or watching a stream in bed, things like that. I'm not saying it can't be useful, but for online rpg sessions you're almost certainly going to stick with your laptop for probably everything other than your character sheet as that's much more convenient, and going to the charsheet on your laptop is as easy as clicking on a tab. If you want to buy a tablet, go ahead - but don't do it for just this purpose.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I currently use a tablet when gaming at the table, but I borrowed my GF's laptop once when she didn't need it and it made all the difference. Everyone has different opinions, but I would say stick to laptop.
If you were only going to use it for the character sheet, sure go for it. It is awesome at face to face table games... where you have your dice and notepad and drinks at hand. Playing remotely, I use too many tools to be able to slim down to an iPad (and yes, this would be my route as well). With my laptop I use the largest segment of my external display for Roll20 and I need DNDBeyond to be in the same browser as Roll20 for Beyond20 to work correctly (can be different windows, but has to be on the same computer), then I have Discord open on the laptop monitor where we use voice and for interactive gifs aimed at each other, and I take notes into Obsidian Portal (choose whatever you want there). It works better when I have two external monitors connected, but I can get by with 1. Mostly I want Roll20 to have a lot of real estate and I like being able to have the full character sheet up in DNDBeyond as well. Until we get back to face to face gaming, it has to be laptop for me. But the day we do go back, I could go either way... because it does help me to focus better if my only electronic device is just used for the character sheet. And when I take notes by hand, I remember details better. So it really is the optimal way to play... but somedays writing out notes by hand is a pain and I go for easy data entry and use my laptop.
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My group plays mostly online because of COVID and I've switched from physical books to D&D Beyond. While I have a laptop, I'm strongly considering buying a tablet. Is it worth it and if so, which tablet would you recommend?
Now everything you know has disappeared
It's gonna get weird...
If you play online you could easily use D&D Beyond in the browser. But if you want to buy a tablet, and it sounds like you do, I'd recommend an iPad. More expensive than other tablets, but it's the top of the food chain for a reason. I use a iPad Pro and have been completely happy with D&D Beyond on it.
+1 for iPad if you want a tablet. I love mine.
The browser version of the books has been superior to using the DDB "App" version of the books for a long time. So much so that I haven't used the app in months. Dunno if they ever patched the app to make it not... well, suck.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I used to use an iPad only, and after a while I switched to a laptop, and I've used the laptop throughout the quarantine. It works better for me for these reasons:
Really, the biggest benefit of a tablet, for me, was the smaller footprint on the game table, which didn't win out over the other benefits of a laptop even before COVID. But if you really want a tablet, you can make it work for you. And if you're going to use the laptop anyway and are thinking of the tablet more as a dedicated screen for your character sheet, that's definitely workable. But I advise you to think about what resources you use over the normal course of a session, how they interact with each other, and how they function differently on a tablet. If you're able to try one out I'd recommend that, but that might not be possible right now.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
I enjoy my iPad, but it's for browsing on the couch or watching a stream in bed, things like that. I'm not saying it can't be useful, but for online rpg sessions you're almost certainly going to stick with your laptop for probably everything other than your character sheet as that's much more convenient, and going to the charsheet on your laptop is as easy as clicking on a tab. If you want to buy a tablet, go ahead - but don't do it for just this purpose.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I currently use a tablet when gaming at the table, but I borrowed my GF's laptop once when she didn't need it and it made all the difference. Everyone has different opinions, but I would say stick to laptop.
If you were only going to use it for the character sheet, sure go for it. It is awesome at face to face table games... where you have your dice and notepad and drinks at hand. Playing remotely, I use too many tools to be able to slim down to an iPad (and yes, this would be my route as well). With my laptop I use the largest segment of my external display for Roll20 and I need DNDBeyond to be in the same browser as Roll20 for Beyond20 to work correctly (can be different windows, but has to be on the same computer), then I have Discord open on the laptop monitor where we use voice and for interactive gifs aimed at each other, and I take notes into Obsidian Portal (choose whatever you want there). It works better when I have two external monitors connected, but I can get by with 1. Mostly I want Roll20 to have a lot of real estate and I like being able to have the full character sheet up in DNDBeyond as well. Until we get back to face to face gaming, it has to be laptop for me. But the day we do go back, I could go either way... because it does help me to focus better if my only electronic device is just used for the character sheet. And when I take notes by hand, I remember details better. So it really is the optimal way to play... but somedays writing out notes by hand is a pain and I go for easy data entry and use my laptop.